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Wilfred is an Australian comedy television series directed by Tony Rogers, produced by Jenny Livingston and starring Jason Gann, Adam Zwar and Cindy Waddingham. Created by Zwar, Gann and Rogers, it was based on their award-winning 2002 short film and later adapted to a series. The story follows the lives of the eponymous dog Wilfred, his owner Sarah, and her boyfriend Adam, who sees Wilfred as a man in a dog suit.
Two seasons were broadcast on SBS One – the first in 2007 and the second in 2010. The series won three AFI Awards and was nominated for a Logie.
Independent Film Channel acquired the international broadcast rights to the original two seasons of Wilfred in 2010. A U.S. version premiered on the cable channel FX on 23 June 2011.[5]
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Two of Wilfred's creators, longtime friends Jason Gann and Adam Zwar, met at the University of Southern Queensland in 1990, where Gann studied acting and Zwar studied journalism.[6] Adam Zwar later met future co-star Cindy Waddingham and director Tony Rogers in September 2001 while filming a commercial for HBA health insurance (he was the buck-toothed client who sprayed the slogan "Three for free").[6][7]
The idea that became Wilfred was partly inspired by Gann's background working in children's theatre during the 1990s, where he found it amusing to see actors in animal suits swearing and smoking backstage.[8] However it was not until a late-night conversation between Gann and Zwar in November 2001 that the character was conceived. Zwar told of how he was invited back to the home of a young woman whose dog became suspicious and jealous of him. The pair began improvising a scenario between a man and a protective dog, and quickly realised the story was a great basis for a short film – they wrote a script that night.[9][10] With a self-funded budget of A$4,000,[11] they shot the seven-minute film the following week, and two months later it won Best Comedy at the 2002 Tropfest, with Gann additionally winning Best Actor. In January 2003, the film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Despite some reservations about Wilfred's brief use of the word "cunt", it was well received by the American audience.[12][13]
After the success of the short, Zwar, Gann and Rogers worked with Melbourne production team Renegade Films to extend the 7 minute short to a 20 minute pilot, merging the original footage seamlessly into new.[13] Networks were initially unenthusiastic about the pilot – according to Rogers, "Wilfred was rejected by every television network twice".[14] It was eventually picked up by Matt Campbell at SBS. Commissioning editor Debbie Lee offered the team unusually wide artistic freedom, saying "Go as far as you want – the more bent the better".[6] Finally, the 25 minute pilot episode was completed in 2006, comprising material shot over five years.[13]
The first series of Wilfred was shot in and around Richmond, Victoria[15] beginning in April 2006, with David Stevens as director of photography. It was shot in 16mm on a budget of A$1.6 million.[16] Of this, $210,000 was provided by Film Victoria and $400,000 by the Australian Film Commission.[17]
Film Victoria approved funding for a second series in early 2009.[18] With Germain McMicking as director of photography, Wilfred II was shot in Kodak 16mm on a Aaton Xtera Super 16 using ARRI/Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses. Although he and director Tony Rogers considered using digital cameras, they were so happy with the film tests that they did not bother enquiring further about digital. The flexibility of film suited the production's modest budget and tight schedule. "Rebooting a RED camera isn’t something you want with actors under the lights in dog suits or in a taxing scene" said McMicking.[3]
Series 2 was shot over eight weeks, finishing in August 2009.[3] The second season also received federal funding, with Film Victoria contributing $294,048 and Screen Australia contributing $580,000.[17]
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Adam Zwar | Adam |
| Cindy Waddingham | Sarah |
| Jason Gann | Wilfred |
| Kym Gyngell | Jack Underwood |
| Angus Sampson | Cyros |
| Damian Walshe-Howling | Keith |
| Kate Jenkinson | Caddy |
| Kestie Morassi | Kat |
| Josh Lawson | Spencer |
| David Field | Arthur |
| Crew | Job |
|---|---|
| Adam Zwar | Writer/Creator |
| Jason Gann | Writer/Creator |
| Tony Rogers | Director/Creator |
| Jenny Livingston | Producer |
| Joe Connor | Executive Producer |
| Sam Mallet | Music |
| David Stevens | Cinematographer |
| Richard Hamer | Film Editor |
| Rob Hornbuckle | Production Sound Mixer |
| Helen McGrath | Boom Operator |
| Mike Cowap | Project Manager |
| Paul Di Cintio | Location Manager |
Wilfred, Sarah's dog, is nine years old and 1/16th, dingo the rest of the mix is Alsation (German Shepard) and Labrador.[19][20][21] He is protective of his owner, and insecure and manipulative towards her boyfriends. He smokes cigarettes and marijuana, drinks beer, eats junk food, and is prone to foul language, malapropisms, and sexual urges. While Adam (and the viewer) sees Wilfred as a man in a dog suit, to everyone else he is just a normal dog.
Little is revealed about Wilfred's past in the first series. It is implied that Sarah is not Wilfred's first owner, and that he served numerous stints at the pound before being adopted by her.[22]
In the second series, this backstory was changed. It is revealed that Wilfred in fact grew up with Sarah and her parents in Nambour. His grumpy father Arthur still lives there, but his mother left when Wilfred was a pup. Wilfred was the runt of the litter; his only brother, Walter, became an army dog and was killed in the Iraq War. Arthur thinks his only surviving son is a disappointment and blames him for his mother leaving them. Wilfred has been estranged from his father since Sarah first moved to Melbourne.[23]
Adam Douglas is an ordinary bloke from Ripponlea in Melbourne, Victoria.[24] He works occasionally as a media monitor,[25] but clients are scarce and he's pretty much unemployed. He does not cause any trouble and trouble rarely comes his way – that is, until he meets Wilfred. His ability to talk to Wilfred at first leaves him nonplussed, but he soon accepts this as normal, and sometimes has trouble remembering that others do not see Wilfred the same way he does.
When Adam hooks up with Sarah, he is eager to please and to make their relationship work, but he has a love-hate relationship with Wilfred. Adam tries to be friends with Wilfred but usually ends up being a victim of Wilfred's plots to sabotage his relationship with Sarah.
Adam's parents were key witnesses in a murder trial when Adam was still at school; they were taken into a witness protection scheme. After some years of living with relatives and in foster care, Adam returned to the family home and brought up his younger brother Spencer on his own.[26]
The character's last name was changed from Zavont to Douglas for the second series. This was done to incorporate a backstory that Adam was once caught masturbating at school, leading to the catchphrase "Tugga-dugga-dugga".[27]
Sarah Mitchell (Pickford in the first series[28]) is Wilfred's loving owner, an attractive young woman with some kind of undisclosed day job; she is effectively the straight man of the series.[29] From Sarah's point of view, Wilfred is an actual dog, rather than a man in a dog suit. She believes that Wilfred likes Adam and naturally doesn't suspect her dog of the manipulative behaviour experienced by Adam.
Sarah grew up in Nambour, Queensland with her nudist parents. Her previous boyfriend, Mark, died in an accident, and most of the first series takes place in his house as Sarah and Wilfred continue to live there. At the end of the first series, Mark's will is contested and Sarah and Wilfred are forced to move out of the house.[19]
The first season comprised eight episodes running from 19 March to 7 May 2007. Each episode follows the story about a girl named Sarah, her dog Wilfred and her boyfriend, Adam. After their first date, Adam goes home with Sarah and meets her scruffy pet dog Wilfred, but Adam (as well as the audience) sees the latter as a human dressed in an unconvincing dog costume. The dog develops a grudge against his owner's new boyfriend and tests him to see if he is capable of being his new "daddy". At the same time, Wilfred sees Adam as a a potential companion. It is the tension between these two competing desires that sets up much of the conflict of the series. According to Zwar, Wilfred is a story of Australian mateship: "...it's a story about two blokes; just one happens to be a dog".[6]
Season 1 of Wilfred was released on DVD in Australia by SBS and Madman Entertainment in April 2007.[30]
Filming for the second series of Wilfred occurred in the second half of 2009.[31] The series ran from 8 March 2010 to 26 April 2010 and also comprised eight episodes. The first episode finds the trio moving into a new house at 22 Dalziel St, Richmond.[32] While the series begins with the familiar domestic dynamic that characterised the first series, the story quickly branches out to explore new settings, characters and tensions. When Adam decides to ask Sarah to marry him in the first episode, the impending wedding drives the story arc between one episode and the next in a manner quite different to the first series. It also explores themes of maturity that accompany marriage (such as meeting the parents, family holidays, being supportive, parenthood and financial trouble).[32] The guest cast features many stars of Australian film, who enter the story in the form of "guest creatures" (also people in animal suits).[33]
Season 2 was released on DVD, also by SBS and Madman, on 19 April 2010.[30][32]
Wilfred received generally positive reviews, and surprised critics by winning the 2007 AFI Award for Best Comedy over The Chaser's War on Everything, despite achieving only a tenth of The Chaser's audience. Adam Zwar also won the award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy for his portrayal of Adam.[1]
The series was widely praised for its original premise. Melinda Houston, writing in The Age, called Wilfred "a magnificent creation, magnificently realised", and that "operating from a deeply non-PC premise, Wilfred manages to be both broad and subtle, hilarious and creepy, utterly obvious and way-way-way left-field".[34] Phillipa Hawker, also in The Age, called Wilfred "An entertaining mixture of character-based comedy and quiet absurdity".[35] Natalie Craig from the Sydney Morning Herald compared the show favourably with another successful suburban comedy, saying "while Kath and Kim was straightforward suburban satire, Wilfred is a more complex beast that deserves a tasty snack for effort and originality".[36]
Conversely, Jim Schembri of the Sydney Morning Herald called the concept "muddled", criticising the show for everything from its character development and humour to its 16:9 aspect ratio, and wondering "how a show as lame as this ever got on the air".[37] Paul Kalina, writing in The Age, dismissed Wilfred as a "bogan show", saying of the decision to discontinue it after the second season "There's only so far the conceit can stretch and one senses that Gann and Zwar know this".[38]
The show was criticised in March 2010 when the Herald Sun reported that up to A$1.5M of government money had been allocated to the production of a series "peppered with profanity, full-frontal nudity and jokes about rape". Family First Party Senator Steve Fielding accused the show of displaying "acts of bestiality". SBS responded to the criticism by stating that "The money that has been invested(...) is in no way outlandish. Wilfred would cost far less to make than your average drama."[17]
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Won | AFI Award | Best Television Comedy Series | Jenny Livingston[39] |
| 2007 | Won | AFI Award | Best Performance in Television Comedy | Adam Zwar[39] |
| 2007 | Nominated | AFI Award | Best Performance in Television Comedy | Jason Gann[39] |
| 2007 | Nominated | AFI Award | Best Direction in Television | Tony Rogers for "Dogs of War"[39] |
| 2008 | Nominated | AWGIE Award | Comedy – Situation or Narrative | Adam Zwar and Jason Gann for "Dog Eat Dog"[40] |
| 2008 | Nominated | Logie | Most Outstanding Comedy Program[41] | |
| 2010 | Won | AFI Award | Best Screenplay in Television | Adam Zwar and Jason Gann for "Dog Star"[42] |
| 2010 | Nominated | AFI Award | Best Television Comedy Series | Adam Zwar, Jason Gann, Tony Rogers and Jenny Livingston[42] |
| 2010 | Nominated | Logie | Most Outstanding Light Entertainment Program[43] | |
| 2011 | Nominated | Silver Logie | Most Outstanding Actor | Jason Gann[44] |
The broadcast rights to the original two seasons of Wilfred were purchased by IFC in 2010.
In March 2010, Adam Zwar announced that the second series of Wilfred would be his last, saying he wanted to explore other characters. It was also revealed that the rights had been sold to an American network, and that Jason Gann was in Los Angeles working on a new series.[9]
In June 2010, cable channel FX announced that an American version of the series would air in June 2011.[5] David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad) will be co-executive producer and writer with Gann. The new series will star Elijah Wood and Fiona Gubelmann, along with Gann reprising his role as Wilfred. While FX has indicated that there may be some changes to the scenarios and dialogue, producer Jenny Livingston has offered the assurance that it will "still be our Wilfred".[45]
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