Elijah Wood to Star in New FX Comedy Series 'Wilfred'

Lord of the Rings fans will get to see their favorite ring-bearer in his series television acting debut. An exclusive from EW's Ausiello Files yesterday reports that Elijah Wood has signed on to co-star alongside Jason Gann in the new FX comedy Wilfred.

Wilfred is an American remake of the Australian hit sitcom of the same name. Gann co-created and starred in the original Aussie version, and will play the title character in the American series. Wood will play another main character named Ryan.

David Zuckerman, of Family Guy fame, wrote the adapted pilot and will be the executive producer with Gann. The pilot will be directed by Randall Einhorn (The Office, Parks & Recreation), and shooting is scheduled to begin this summer, according to the The Hollywood Reporter.

EW.com says Wilfred revolves around a guy (Wood), a girl, and a mixed-breed dog named Wilfred (Gann). When asked about the dog, Zuckerman described him as "part Labrador Retriever and part Russell Crowe on a bender." Wood will be seen next on the big screen in the upcoming film The Romantics with Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, and Anna Paquin.

A good, solid actor like Wood and the comic genius of Zuckerman should make this show a big hit. FX has been striking gold with their TV sitcoms (like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and it seems like the network has the right mixture of good acting and writing to make another splash with Wilfred.

Hopefully, we will get to see a great adaptation of a foreign comedy and Wilfred will have as much success as British transplant The Office. How do you feel about Wood going to TV? Do you think the show will succeed?

-- Will Bonesso 

Comments

[BabaTaro]

I think Elijah Wood should work well for this role. I would expect that Ryan is the 'straight man' vs the comedian Wilfred, and I can see him doing that very well. Also, from his stint on SNL, Wood has a pretty good flair for comedy.

Looking forward to this!

[Danny Robbins]

Elijah Wood is Satan on MySpace! Elijah and I have a mutual friend. Elijah has an alter ego on MySpace as Satan! haha! I asked "Satan" (Elijah) about it, and even though he thoroughly denied being Elijah Wood, I KNOW it is Elijah Wood running the page at myspace.com/thedevilsatan I know it's him! It's a funny comedy page that looks like it's mainly populated by atheists, (I'm an atheist myself) which shares the exact same writing style as Elijah! I wish Satan/Elijah would just admit that he really is Elijah Wood! Perhaps he is afraid of people getting mad at him or something. Who knows?