Old dog has new tricks

Jason Gann climbs back into the dog suit for the American version of Wilfred.

The pernicious pooch is off the leash in the US.
THE last thing Jason Gann expected of his ''Aussiewood'' campaign was to be zipped up in a dog suit to reprise his role as the bong-smoking hound Wilfred.
For those coming in late, Wilfred is the eponymous man-dog who first appeared in a seven-minute film in 2002. To his owner and the rest of the world, he is a loyal pet who loves to be tickled and to snuggle up in bed.
But to the wannabe suitor of his female owner, Wilfred is a grown man in a kiddie-show dog suit. He's also cruel, malicious and sociopathic, his main mission in life being the torment of the man trying to come between him and his owner.

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The short film spawned a TV series that attracted a devoted audience during its two seasons on SBS, which, in turn, became a Hollywood calling card for Gann and his creative partners.
American television executives liked the concept enough to commission their own version of Wilfred and even managed to lure the very bankable actor Elijah Wood to play the lead.
However, getting Gann back into the dog suit was another story.
As Gann tells it, even after Fox's FX network ordered a full season of the show, his manager had to persuade him to appear in it.
''Being in the suit is a lonely place,'' Gann says on the phone from Los Angeles. ''People look at you like, 'What are you doing there?'''
The turning point came when an Australian fan approached him on set on the first day of filming.
''He was so excited and it reminded me of how much love there is for the character. From that moment on I've enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy filming the Australian version very much but I've really enjoyed this.''
While there are parallels between the two versions of the show, the new one, Gann says, is a ''reimagining'' of the original premise.
As we see in the new show's trailer, Ryan (Wood) is suicidal when Wilfred and a new neighbour, Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann), enter his life.
''There's an ongoing theme of recovery from a vague mental illness that we don't really go into the specifics of,'' Gann says.
''[Ryan] is in a dark place and Wilfred comes to him at that point. Every episode has to be about Ryan but it has to be driven by Wilfred.

''Whereas the Australian version didn't have anything like that … The dynamic was Wilfred shits on Adam [the boyfriend], Wilfred shits on Adam, Wilfred shits on Adam, Adam makes a breakthrough with Wilfred, then Wilfred shits on Adam.
''In this, there's more psychology of who is Wilfred. We have what I call Wilfred's Wilfred, Ryan's Wilfred and then there's the dog Wilfred. Ryan's Wilfred is the one that Ryan imagines, Wilfred's Wilfred is the manipulative p---k that f---s with him and then there's the Wilfred that everyone loves, who is a dog in other people's eyes. So whatever Wilfred does, we have to be able to justify it by all three realities.
''Each episode takes eight writers a week to write. It's gruelling and complex and it has the depth of a show like Lost but, obviously, it's a comedy first.''
The dynamic between Wilfred and Ryan is also notably different, Gann says.
''From the moment Elijah auditioned and I got into the suit, the physicality of me being taller than Elijah looked interesting. I said to [show runner] David [Zuckerman] straightaway it had a My Bodyguard feel to it.
''David said to me one day when we were shooting there's a lightness I bring to Wilfred … that didn't exist in the original series. We were excited about that because it gives the character a longevity but it also gives me a lot more room to explore.''
While Wilfred has been given a Hollywood makeover of sorts - in the original, scratchy mascara was applied to Gann's nose, while here a small army of make-up people ensure his nose is a shiny black pompom; he also has four different suits - there's been only cosmetic changes to Wilfred's broad accent.
During the pitch, a studio executive asked Gann's manager why he spoke with an Australian accent.
Don't you know all dogs speak in an Australian accent, came the reply. ''They all laughed and said that's as good an answer as any and from then on no one's questioned it,'' Gann says.
In the writers' room, Gann saw firsthand the rigour and craftsmanship of American television production (he wrote two episodes, served as a staff writer and is credited as co-creator and co-executive producer).
''David is known as one of the most thorough story writers in Hollywood,'' Gann says. ''His way and mine were polar opposites. I'd do a half-page outline of what I think the story should be, get a couple of notes but then when I sat down to write it, I would go off on tangents.
''Over here, every act has to have a button on the end of it, it has to be funny plus there has to be a twist. There's all these methods of storytelling that I wasn't aware of. It's been frustrating at times: 'Dude, this is the story, it's simple, we've broken it'.
''Then four days later, we'd break it and it felt like we'd climbed Everest.
''Looking back, I'm glad I got to work like this because as a writer I've been completely stretched .''
Wilfred debuts on Tuesday at 9.30pm on Eleven.