Culturebox: Stoner Dog to the Rescue

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television Stoner Dog to the Rescue A depressed lawyer befriends an unusual talking canine in the comedy Wilfred. By Troy Patterson Posted Thursday, June 23, 2011, at 10:05 PM ET The title character of Wilfred (FX, Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET) is a dog. Though I have sat raptly through the Australian comedy series on which it is based and--somewhat less raptly--through three episodes of the thing itself, I am not certain what sort of dog Wilfred is meant to be. An Australian cattle dog, perhaps? (Jason Gann, who dons a dog suit in each version of the show, goes over the top with a Down Under boorishness that is the best thing on-screen, but the patterning of his coat isn't at all right.) Is he just a lovable mutt crossbred with a nervous cur, a tramp and scamp? Does the Westminster Kennel Club recognize the "babehound" as a distinct breed? This pooch is very devoted to attempting to hump things, especially hot waitresses. In any case, Wilfred is a drug-sniffing dog in the sense that he owns a bong made out of a plastic juice bottle, and Wilfred, the FX series, is a stoner comedy that somehow behaves as if it's goofy on pills. Whereas the original had a homey shaggy charm and a coherent internal logic, the remake is crisper and weirder and queasily dystopian and slightly Apatowized. FX likes comedies with a dark streak, and this one certainly qualifies. It's a fondly nihilistic portrait of the relationship between an effete depressive (Elijah Wood) and the man's-best-friend-next-door. To continue reading, click here. Troy Patterson is Slate's television critic. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Real Reason It's So Hard To Predict Bubbles Cars 2 Just Doesn't Have the Horsepower of the Pixar Greats Phyllis From The Office Reminisces About Her Days as an NFL Cheerleader	Advertisement
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