Wilfred USA

Monday July 2 at 9.00pm on THE COMEDY CHANNEL

A fantastical comedy that follows the day-to-day life of a talking dog. WILFRED is about a guy, the girl next door and a mixed-breed dog, Wilfred, who is part Labrador and part Russell Crowe on a bender. Based on the Australian series of the same name.

Two And A Half Men
From the set of Two and a Half Men, comes a picture that may give a hint to the prognosis of Chalie Harper. In the first picture from the set we see Holland Taylor-who plays Charlies mother, dressed all in black. Has she just attended a funeral? Reports also have a lot of tension on the set as the crew adjust to Kutcher, with some claiming he is a diva, while others feel very loyal to Sheen. Two and a Half Men airs on Channel Nine – no word on if they will “fast track” the new season that premieres on September 19 in the USA.

Wilfred
Wilfred has been renewed for a second season in the US, with 13 episodes being ordered. Star Jason Gann said “I’ve been around long enough in this business to know until it’s happening it’s not happening. Once, in Australia, I had two TV shows and a feature film up and they all fell over. I got one show back up, Wilfred, and then the complete ass feel out of my career and I was evicted from my house. It was awful. I went form hero to zero. In November this year, it will be 10 years since I wrote the short film [on which Wilfred is based] with [co-creator] Adam Zwar. Even though we only did 16 episodes in Australia, and already we’ve done 13 here and by the end of next season, this [the U.S.] version will be the Wilfred that is the show. For me, it is the show. It’s incredible that the character has stuck around that long.”
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia has been picked up for two more seasons as well. Wilfred airs on Eleven at 9.30pm on Tuesdays and It’s always Sunny…. airs on the comedy channel at 10pm on Wednesday nights.

House
House will start season 8 an entire year after the end of last season. “The advantage of going forward a year is that everything’s changed, and changed dramatically. ”series creator David Shore said.
We will see House is in prison, serving a sentence for inflicting armageddon on Cuddy’s house; there’s a new Dean of Medicine, and he/she is someone viewers know well; and House’s diagnostics team has undergone a facelift.
The big leap also gives House time to adjust to life after Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein – who is headed to The Mentalist). “I think it’s a smart idea [in light of the fact that] Lisa left the show,” noted Aussie co-star Jesse Spencer. “I think it was kind of necessary to do that. If we picked up right where we left off and Cuddy wasn’t there it [would be strange].”
House airs on Channel Ten and will be back in 2012, while The Mentalist airs on Channel Nine and is also scheduled for a 2012 return.

Fringe
Joshua Jackson has opened up about the Fringe final that saw his character Peter Bishop flicker out of existence. But now, in the wake of Peter’s season-ending act and its dire ramifications, his connection to Olivia (played by Aussie  Anna Torv) “is on an epic scale as well,” Jackson notes. “This guy sacrificed himself for the woman that he loves, which made that relationship more interesting and it launched us into the off-season with this ‘Holy s—t!’ moment.”
“Part of the reason they ended up making the decision to go with that cliff-hanger is because there’s a belief, given how passionate our fans are, that there is a level of trust in us — and we are all keenly aware of not violating that trust,” he shares. “So as much as there was a freak-out and panic, it was done with the hope that everyone understands that we’d never [mess] with our audience, which has been so faithful to us and kept us on the air.
“It was just a case of stealing a page out of [executive producer] J.J. Abrams’ playbook,” he continues, “and keeping people on their toes with anticipation… and then hopefully satisfying their desire.” Fringe airs on GO!

Talent Vs. MasterChef Night

Australia’s Got Talent, Seven, 7.30pm
Australia has voted and now it’s time to join judges Dannii Minogue, Kyle Sandilands and Brian McFadden to find out who will be crowned the winner. This show includes guest performances, a special group performance featuring the grand finalists and the big decision as to who will be leaving $250,000 richer.

MasterChef Australia, Ten, 7.30pm
Looking back at their own personal experiences, all four of the contestants are challenged to create a food autobiography of their lives with food tonight. They must create a 3 course meal representing their childhood, formative years and where they are now. One will be sent packing leaving us with the top three.

Wilfred, Eleven, 9.30pm
When Wilfred decides to get rid of Jenna’s boyfriend, he convinces Ryan to help him.

Dating In The Dark USA, Fox 8, 7.35pm
In the series final, a set of twins moves into the house and the six singles bring an ice cream sundae bar into the darkroom.

The Motorcycle Diaries, SBS TWO, 9.30pm
Based on the journals of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara as he journeys, as a young man, by motorcycle through South America with his best friend.

Go Back To Where You Came From: The Response, SBS ONE, 8.30pm
Australians touched by the ground-breaking documentary series Go Back To Where You Came From can continue the important conversation about refugees and asylum seekers when this special forum event is aired. Host Anton Enus will join the participants Adam, Gleny, Raye, Raquel, Darren, Roderick and their family and friends for the forum. The remainder of the audience will be sourced from the many Australians who engaged in the lively debate on various social media platforms as the series went to air.

Wilfred (USA), ELEVEN, 9.30pm
This is the USA adaption of our smash hit, that has got massive ratings for the show. It’s the story of Ryan, a depressed man who believes he is getting nowhere in his life and plans to kill himself. In the middle of his attempted suicide, he is asked to watch his neighbor’s dog, Wilfred, but Ryan can only see Wilfred as a real person instead of a animal that everyone else sees. As they begin to bond more and become friends, Wilfred teaches Ryan a life lesson about people, love, and living.

Gasland, SBS ONE, 10.05pm
It is happening all across America – rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the ‘Saudi Arabia of natural gas’. Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground by a hydraulic drilling process called ‘fracking’, but is fracking safe? Josh Fox set out on a journey across America’s heartland to find out. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Movie Festival.

Bondi Vet, Ten, 8pm
Chris has some challenges ahead of him with a beautiful pig who is about to become pork chops if she keeps misbehaving and a guinea pig brought in after a trampoline accident.

Dating In The Dark USA, FOX8, 7.30pm
This show is so tacky and cringe worthy, that it’s actually quite addictive. Leave your brain cells aside for some light entertainment.

Go Back To Where You Came From: The Response, SBS ONE, 8.30pm
Australians touched by the ground-breaking documentary series Go Back To Where You Came From can continue the important conversation about refugees and asylum seekers when this special forum event is aired. Host Anton Enus will join the participants Adam, Gleny, Raye, Raquel, Darren, Roderick and their family and friends for the forum. The remainder of the audience will be sourced from the many Australians who engaged in the lively debate on various social media platforms as the series went to air.

Wilfred (USA), ELEVEN, 9.30pm
This is the USA adaption of our smash hit, that has got massive ratings for the show. It’s the story of Ryan, a depressed man who believes he is getting nowhere in his life and plans to kill himself. In the middle of his attempted suicide, he is asked to watch his neighbor’s dog, Wilfred, but Ryan can only see Wilfred as a real person instead of a animal that everyone else sees. As they begin to bond more and become friends, Wilfred teaches Ryan a life lesson about people, love, and living.

Gasland, SBS ONE, 10.05pm
It is happening all across America – rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from an energy company wanting to lease their property. Reason? The company hopes to tap into a reservoir dubbed the ‘Saudi Arabia of natural gas’. Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground by a hydraulic drilling process called ‘fracking’, but is fracking safe? Josh Fox set out on a journey across America’s heartland to find out. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Movie Festival.

Bondi Vet, Ten, 8pm
Chris has some challenges ahead of him with a beautiful pig who is about to become pork chops if she keeps misbehaving and a guinea pig brought in after a trampoline accident.

Dating In The Dark USA, FOX8, 7.30pm
This show is so tacky and cringe worthy, that it’s actually quite addictive. Leave your brain cells aside for some light entertainment.

The US version of Wilfred delivered stellar on Thursday night (23/6) as Wilfred (10:00 PM) posted the highest ratings ever for a comedy series premiere on the FX network.

For its first-run airing, Wilfred delivered 2.55 million total viewers, 1.6 million Adults 18-49 and 834,000 Adults 18-34. Wilfred ranks as the number one FX comedy series premiere in Total Viewers, Adults 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 18-34.  The men/women audience composition for Wilfred was almost dead even, 51%-49%.  Wilfred’s multi-telecast audience on Thursday night delivered 3.8 million Total Viewers and 2.4 million Adults 18-49.

Wilfred is a half-hour, live-action comedy about “Ryan,” a young man struggling unsuccessfully to make his way in the world until he forms a unique friendship with “Wilfred,” his neighbor’s canine pet.   Everyone else sees Wilfred as just a dog, but Ryan sees a crude and somewhat surly, yet irrepressibly brave and honest Australian bloke in a cheap dog suit. Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Happy Feet) stars as “Ryan” and Jason Gann, who co-created and starred in the Australian series, plays the title character “Wilfred.” Series regulars also include Fiona Gubelmann as “Jenna,” Ryan’s beautiful neighbor and Wilfred’s owner, and Dorian Brown as “Kristen,” Ryan’s sister.

Wilfred is based on the critically acclaimed Australian series of the same title and was adapted for FX by David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad). Zuckerman also serves as Executive Producer along with Rich Frank, Paul Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz of Prospect Park and Joe Connor and Ken Conner of Renegade, producers of the Australian version of the series.  Jason Gann serves as Co-Executive Producer. Wilfred is produced by FX Productions.

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox and launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 99 million homes in the USA.

Renegade Films, the Australian Production Company responsible for the highly acclaimed TV programs Rockwiz, Wilfred and the multiple AFI Award winning documentary Inside The Firestorm, witness a remake of their cult smash hit comedy Wilfred premiere in the US on June 23rd.   

The US Wilfred will air on the FX Network and stars Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) and Australia’s original ‘Wilfred’ Jason Gann.

Wilfred is the only Australian television program in our history to be remade in the US with one of its’ original stars.  In Australia the US series can be seen on Network Ten’s digital channel ELEVEN from Tuesday June 28th.

Renegade Films joins forces with Jason Gann, David Zuckerman (Family Guy, American Dad) and Prospect Park as Executive Producers on the highly anticipated show.  The US series is adapted from the original Australian series.

Recently Renegade Films were named in Encore Magazine’s POWER 50 which lists a select group of screen professionals who have achieved new heights in 2010/2011, whose decisions influence and shape Australia’s audiovisual industry, and whose work has stood out from the crowd. 

2010 saw Renegade named as a finalist for Encore’s Production Company of the Year as well as being awarded the SPAA Award for Best Documentary producer. Renegade won 4 AFI Awards in 2010 for Wilfred and Renegade Factual’s Inside the Firestorm. Renegade Factual was also included in Realscreen’s Global 100 list celebrating the best and most influential nonfiction programming for their 2 part documentary Immigration  Nation.

(From a press release)

Eleven is set to premiere the US version of Wilfred later this month. Promotions have already begun and with the original series that just finishing a rerun on SBS ONE, it should get ELEVEN some competitive ratings as the heat for second between the Nine and Ten networks heat up. Airing on FX in the USA, Wilfred is adapted from the hit Australian series of the same name and premieres over there on Thursday, June 23rd, at 10pm.

Wilfred is a half-hour, live-action comedy about “Ryan,” a young man struggling unsuccessfully to make his way in the world until he forms a unique friendship with “Wilfred,” his neighbor’s canine pet. Everyone else sees Wilfred as just a dog, but Ryan sees a crude and somewhat surly, yet irrepressibly brave and honest Australian bloke in a cheap dog suit.

While leading him through a series of comedic and existential adventures, Wilfred the dog shows Ryan the man how to overcome his fears and joyfully embrace the unpredictability and insanity of the world around him.
Elijah Wood plays Ryan and original Wilfred, Aussie Jason Gann is along for the ride. With Nurse Jackie ending on the Tuesday the 21st of June, is this the time slot the remake of a great Aussie show will air? More to come.