American remake of an Australian show. Stars Elijah Wood. On FX.
There are no more drugs left.
This show used them all.
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American remake of an Australian show. Stars Elijah Wood. On FX.
There are no more drugs left.
This show used them all.
It's kind of weird to remake a show with the same actor playing the titular role. But I haven't seen the original and I like this so whatever. Makes for a good lead-in to Louie. FX has some good programming these days.
I think Frogacuda just read the Wiki. As no one uses titular in everyday conversation.
I liked the first episode. A lot.
Also yes, FX is amazing lately. Look at their five comedy shows:
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
The League
Archer
Louie
Wilfred
Every single one of those shows is good.
This is a great lead in to Louie, first episode was a lot of fun. Good to see Ethan Suplee on TV too.
Anyone else surprised with how good Elijah Wood is in that role? I really like him as Ryan.
No, he's a good actor.
The first two episodes of this were really good. This show isn't what I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure what I expected, but it's better than what I expected.
Really funny this week! What other cameos does this show have lined up? I thought Chris Klein fell off a cliff 10 years ago!
Nope, he proved that he's the worst actor on the face of the planet (who actually gets some work) with his Charlie Nash in Street Fighter Chun-Li a few years back.
I didn't even notice that was him.
I did now when I checked, but fuck, he looked kind of different than normal. I guess he's just getting older and also less and less relevant.
Wait wait wait... He was relevant? I'd think that Rollerball killed his relevancy years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Opaque
Also, this show is great!
This new episode was pretty different but also very good.
I like the kind of show this is, it's unlike most comedies on today.
Agreed. But I have to say after this week's episode, it's hard to wrap my head around how much weight he's lost. He looks... odd so skinny.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
Yeah, he's lost like 80 pounds since Earl ended. Makes him look taller too. Although that would probably be true for most people standing next to Elijah Wood.
Does anyone know if the Australian show ended already and if they explained everything?
I think they did 2 seasons, no idea how it went.
It ended a long time ago. I only watched the first season though, so I don't know if they "explained" it but I'd kind of be disappointed if they did.
We all know he's just crazy, what is there to explain?Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
This is on Hulu, fuckfaces! (someone remind me why I pay for cable?)
Because it will do so well on FX the next season won't be available on Hulu.
I don't know, they keep putting Always Sunny up every season.
Yeah, but new episodes of Louie are like a month behind now
This show is turning out to be really good.
I really like that it's more of a sequel to the Australian series than a remake. It's something you could appreciate even (or especially) if you enjoyed the original without having to feel like it's a whole new thing.
This whole season is constantly surprising me with how different episode is from what I expect based on previous episodes.
There hasn't been a single bad one either, which is actually what I've come to expect from FX comedies.
Also the new episode tonight was incredible and again I was shocked to see Wilfred act obedient even for a second.
The phone call in the poisoning scene had me dying
Ethan Suplee also showed up with Jaime Pressley on an episode of Raising Hope, which is Greg Garcia's new show. I do not pay for cable so I use Hulu for everything so I am behind on my shows and have only watched the first episode of Wilfred. Sadly, it is not Hulu Plus so I always forget to watch (since I usually use my Xbox or Roku to watch Hulu).
The finale was tonight and it was great. I don't think there was an episode I didn't like to be honest. I can't remember seeing if it's been picked up for more but I really hope it does. Fits next to Louie really well.
Second season confirmed.
I agree about the show. It's been consistantly good! I liked when Ryan busted out the bubble machine. "Goddamn you, Ryan."
Disagree about it being consistent. I liked it at first but the implausably one-dimensional and annoying supporting cast (the sister, the neighbor's boyfriend, etc are not even remotely believable) and the obnoxious moralizing of Elijah Wood's character really wore on me. Wilfred himself is very funny but I feel like the show went downhill after a few episodes.
I think this show is amazing, and it is my current favorite show on TV. The humor just really works for me, and I think Elijah Wood is likeable. Wilfred himself is hilarious.
Go away Frog, it's still awesome.
It totally has it's moments. I don't dislike the show, I just don't like it nearly as much as I did for the first half of the season.
I haven't watched one since the Dwight Yoakum episode
Why not? They're assholes. There's tons of 'em walking around all around you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
You know in that episode of Louie where he's filming a sitcom and he breaks character and goes "Why would you say that?"
Wilfred makes me do that a lot. The characters don't act like people. The behave in whatever artificial way is convenient for the plot.
I tend to not question the one-dimensional characterization of the show with the imaginary talking dog.
The thing is, Wilfred himself is actually pretty well characterized and it's one of the reasons he's funny and the rest of the cast isn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
It's not a suspension of disbelief issue, it's that lazy, one-dimensional writing robs characters of their potency for telling stories and jokes. This is why sitcoms usually get better after the first season as the characters become more developed.
It's also why a show like Louie, which doesn't have the advantage of a fixed cast that appears in every episode like most sitcoms, will often spend seemingly half of its time on set ups, building characterization and context instead of telling jokes, because he knows it's absolutely necessary to do that to really sell a joke (or even a plot point) and do it well. If he jumped straight to the punchline, none of those jokes would work.
I had high hopes for Wilfred, but it would simply be a much better show if there were more thought paid to developing more complex characters and relationships that therefore expand the potential for comedic situations.
The one downfall this show has in my eyes is trying to go head to head with Louie when both are a similar style, at least in terms of trying to be serious instead of just nonstop comedy like Always Sunny.
They should have have mixed these shows up a little by airing Louie with The League and Wilfred with Always Sunny, imo.
Frog, we know you want to have sex with Louie CK.
We Know.
Maybe if it was Patrice O'Neal instead of Elijah Wood.
Why are we comparing Wilfred to Louie? That seems really dumb. Mighty Max isn't quite as good as Breaking Bad, while we're at it.
I think you're missing my point entirely. I'm not comparing Wilfred to Louie, I only used Louie as an example because it's a show that transparently has to do characterization in every episode because there's no continuity. Ordinarily shows get to hide that a little more because they reuse the same characters in each episode. It was just a convenient example for illustrating that point because it's obvious in how it does it, not necessarily better in how it does it. Savvy?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mzo
Maybe it would be better to say that the characters are flat-out annoying as fuck? Like, for example, he's really not going to fuck an ok/mediocre looking woman one time to get out of a $3000 bill because it's not "special"? That makes no goddamn sense, except that the writer had the punchline in his head and didn't know how to get there. Bad writing, and it ends up killing the humor of the punchline anyway.
Same thing for the episode with the sister and the dead dog. Her reaction makes no goddamn sense, except that it's needed to drive the premise so they can get to the ghost dog stuff. They could have written a scene in where the Wilfred does something that the sister reacts to and we understand why she might hate him, but instead she acts like a batshit crazy dog-hating psychopath because it's convenient to the plot and the writer is lazy.
And then there's this whole supposed romantic subplot with Elijah Wood and the neighbor, but again it's just a way to get to a plot point and they never bother to even have one scene of dialog between the two characters where they seem to have any chemistry whatsoever. If I were to ask you what he likes about her besides appearance, could you even give me one honest answer?
Character is important to comedy, especially in a sitcom, and that's just where this show fails. The premise is good, the cast is good, and the Wilfred character is very funny. They could salvage it, but they need to stop writing stories backwards and actually write some characters.
Once again, TNL's inability to process reasonable criticism has forced me into railing against something I actually think is decent, just flawed. Hooray.
I actually loved this show for like the first 4 episodes or so.
So you can't relate to not prostituting yourself? That is an odd choice of example. He's so annoying, he won't fuck just anyone for $3000. I don't know what you've had to do to the pay the rent in the past, but I don't think a dude not wanting to fuck a 40 year old lady to drop legal charges is an entirely implausible scenario.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Of course not. No heterosexual man can. This is why men don't get paid to fuck average looking women. Because we'd all do it for free anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mzo
If he was married or in a serious relationship or had some real conflict of interest, then fine, but the way he goes on about how he won't do it because he wants his lovemaking to "be with someone special" is just gross. Obnoxious moralizing. That's what bothers me.
Speak for yourself.
I've never even kissed a chick that wasn't hot.
If every hot girl on the planet vanished, you'd be fucking a 5 by the end of the night.
Unrealistic argument.
If you have better options, fine, but that's not exactly taking an ethical stand. I only eat at good pizza places, I don't eat at Domino's, but I'm not going to cry about doing it for one night if it saves me three grand.
unrealistic comparison.
Isn't that the whole point? He's having a mental breakdown and projecting on to her. If he were good enough and able to fix himself (the whole journey of the show) he could get her. She is an ideal, not a real person in the sense that they are normal people who have a healthy relationship and fall in love. He's not normal, he's delusional.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
Haha, ok man. Wow. I'm getting out right here because it looks like there are other issues coming into play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
and you've proven time and time again that you don't know what an adult hot woman looks like, Mr. "my wife looks like a hot 16/18 year old"Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
Do you have to be shown everything on screen? In fact that's not even the issue here. Whenever the topic of Ryan's sister comes up, Wilfred ALWAYS talks shit about her and gives Ryan reasons to throw her under the bus. He doesn't like her because of the kind of person she is. It's not necessarily because she did anything to Wilfred himself, he hates her because how she treats Ryan. For fucks sake, the Wilfred character doesn't need first hand experience because he's Ryan's mental creation! Half the show is Wilfred telling Ryan to stand up for himself and not bow down to everyone because he thinks he owes them something because they are better off or "smarter" than him. She thinks she knows everything and holds things over Ryan's head as blackmail (which is why he never wants to be in her debt). The way she handled the dog incident for her own motives fucked him up for years and only admitted it because she was put into the position where she had to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
This really isn't a far fetched character. I have a friend who's sister is a lot like Ryan's. Oddly enough, they're in similar professions. She's a raging bitch, but can be incredibly nice when she needs to (to the extent that I think she's bipolar). She lies to everyone about everything and is unbelievably manipulative to get her way and can be incredibly cruel to her own family. She has this really odd sense of entitlement and loves the feeling of having power over someone. She can't keep friends or a boyfriend because of this. Cue the cliche, "Yeah, bitches be crazy!" but she goes way beyond that. There's no good reason for it, she's just a terrible human being. I honestly don't like being around her.
No fatties.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fe 26
No, I just want the reactions between people during the time they are on screen to feel natural, and they just don't. The interactions feel really forced to the point where they can be grating. Sometimes a little set up and background can alleviate that kind of thing, other times you can just write it in a way that can just subtly imply past history in a way that makes sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
But you can't just have two heads barking lines at each other to stumble to the next plot point or punchline. If the sister is a complete unreasonable psycho, the other characters should react to her like she's a psycho. They don't.
Part of the fun of the show is that no one but Ryan can hear what Wilfred is saying, but it almost seems as if they can't really hear or see what anyone is saying sometimes. It just bugs me.
I mean if it doesn't bother you, fine. It's not a bad show, it just wore out its welcome for me.