Photo Credit: Michael Becker / FX

Wilfred is a half-hour, live-action comedy about “Ryan,” a young man struggling unsuccessfully to make his way in the world until he forms a unique friendship with “Wilfred,” his neighbor’s canine pet. Everyone else sees Wilfred as just a dog, but Ryan sees a crude and somewhat surly, yet irrepressibly brave and honest, Australian bloke in a cheap dog suit. While leading him through a series of comedic and existential adventures, Wilfred the dog shows Ryan the man how to overcome his fears and joyfully embrace the unpredictability and insanity of the world around him.

Wilfred is based on the critically-acclaimed Australian series of the same title and was adapted for FX by David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill).

Having never seen the original Australian series, I can say that viewers of the original comedy will be very proud of the American adaptation. The team behind this production is so smart and so incredibly clever. Wilfred is hilarious! Having seen them, I can say that the writing for the first three episodes will have viewers rolling on the couch laughing hysterically. The writers do not hold back, so the fact that these actors can deliver these lines (and actions) with a straight face is beyond me. But wait, did I mention that this is a dark comedy? Yeah.

In the first episode, Ryan attempts to kill himself, to no success, especially after going through a number of drafts for his suicide note. But when he meets his neighbor and her dog, his life is changed forever. While the world sees Wilfred as a dog, Ryan sees a man in a dog-suit. And this Wilfred loves to smoke weed. Needless to say, the two get themselves into some very adventurous situations. Ryan wants to impress Wilfred’s owner while Wilfred wants an honest friendship with Ryan, and there’s more that goes on but I do not want to spoil it. It is also wildly funny the situations that they get each other into.

Now while Wilfred is pretty crude, every episode has a message (the first three main themes being happiness, trust, and fear) and every episode begins with an intellectual quote. So if you plan on sitting down for a half hour a mindless television, this is the wrong show. You’ll laugh so hard until it hurts (especially if you get all of the puns) and after the fact you’ll realize that you came out seeing, say, happiness in a different light. Bottom line, Wilfred is a hit! Wilfred is such a great show! I highly recommend that you turn to FX and watch the series premiere tonight at ten!

Guest stars for season one include: Ethan Suplee, Chris Klein, Ed Helms, Rashida Jones, Jane Kaczmarek, Nestor Carbonell, John Michael Higgins, Mary Steenburgen, Peter Stormare, George Coe, and Dwight Yoakam.

Wilfred premieres tonight at 10/9c on FX.