Elijah Wood goes to the dogs for FX comedy pilot

'Lord of the Rings' star will topline FX's 'Wilfred' pilot

By Daniel Fienberg Tuesday, Jun 29, 2010 5:57 PM

Elijah Wood

Credit: AP

Elijah Wood has decided he's ready to sink his canines into a possible TV gig, booking the lead in FX's comedy pilot "Wilfred."

Based on the cult Australian format, "Wilfred" was adapted by David Zuckerman ("Family Guy"). FX will only coyly say that "Wilfred" is about a guy named Ryan (Wood), the girl next door and a mixed breed dog named Wilfred who is "part Labrador retriever and part Russell Crowe on a bender."

The joke is that Wilfred is played by Jason Gann, who co-created and starred in the original version.

Directed by Randall Einhorn ("It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), the "Wilfred" pilot would shoot this summer.

This would be the first regular TV project for Wood, best known for his work in "North" and "The Good Son," plus his role in the "Lord of the Rings" films. Last heard in "9" and next to appear in the Sundance flick "The Romantics," Wood's TV credits include vocal turns on "Robot Chicken," "American Dad" and "Freak Show."

Should "Wilfred" go to series, it would reunite "Green Street Hooligans" stars Wood and Charlie Hunnam ("Sons of Anarchy") under the FX roof. That amuses us, if nothing else.

Check out this click from the Aussie original:

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

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How do you go from headlining one of the most successful film trilogies of all time to acting in an FX comedy?
June 29, 2010 at 6:24PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Laya - Does having been a hobbit make Elijah Wood superior to Glenn Close, Timothy Olyphant and Ron Perlman (or Charlie Hunnam)?
  
  -Daniel
  June 29, 2010 at 6:35PM EST
- Daniel - No, it does not. And that was not my implication either. It's just that I am saddened by the direction his career has taken off in, after LOTR. It is like a perfect mirror image of Mark Hamill, post Luke Skywalker.
  June 30, 2010 at 6:27AM EST
hermanthegerman

I don't get it why some people still think that acting in a TV-series is a shameful thing for movie stars. Are they even watching TV? Most of the shows on FX, HBO, AMC, Showtime and Starz are a lot better than the majority of the crap Hollywoods shits out summer after summer and year after year. Amazing character actors and oscar winners are working in TV.

Just look at the names which have a new series in 2010/2011 or are working on a pilot.

Kevin Spacey (as a cult leader on a show supposed for Showtime, FX or HBO)
Dustin Hoffmann, Nick Nolte (Luck, HBO, written by David Milch,. directed by Michael Mann. btw. any news on that?)
Jeremy Irons (The Borgias, Showtime)
Ellen Page, Diane Keaton (Tilda, HBO)
Forest Whitaker (Criminal Minds II, CBS)
William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum (Shameless, Showtime)
Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, HBO)
Maria Bello (HBO)
Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire, HBO, Pilot directed by Martin Scorsese)
Eva Green (Camelot, Starz)
Kevin Kline (HBO)
June 30, 2010 at 6:49AM EST Reply to Comment
- @hermanthegerman - You are right. I do not know much about TV, and it is certainly no insult for anyone to switch from movies to TV, especially when the movie produce sterile commercial junk whereas TV allows them to flex their creative muscles while keeping the paycheck coming.
  
  I, for one, am pleased as punch that Sean Bean and Lena Headey are in Game of Thrones, and can't wait for the show to arrive next year. I am also very happy about William Shatner signing up for Bleep My Day Days.
  
  It is just that, with Elijah Wood in particular, I find his career graph post LOTR quite depressing. That is all I wanted to say.
  July 1, 2010 at 12:23PM EST