Wilfred (Australian TV series)

Wilfred
Season 1 DVD cover art
Genre	Black Comedy
Created by	Jason Gann Adam Zwar
Directed by	Tony Rogers
Starring	Jason Gann Adam Zwar Cindy Waddingham
Theme music composer	Sam Mallet
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Joe Connor Ken Connor
Producer(s)	Jenny Livingston
Cinematography	David Stevens (2007) Germain McMicking (2010)
Camera setup	Aaton Xterà (16mm)
Running time	Approx. 25 minutes
Production company(s)	Renegade Films
Distributor	Madman Entertainment SBS Productions
Release
Original network	SBS One
Picture format	576i (SDTV) HDTV 720p
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release	19 March 2007 – 26 March 2010
Chronology
Related shows	Wilfred (U.S. TV series)
External links
Website

Wilfred is an Australian comedy television series created by Adam Zwar, Jason Gann and Tony Rogers based on their award-winning 2002 short film. 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. It was directed by Tony Rogers, produced by Jenny Livingston and stars Gann, Zwar and Cindy Waddingham.

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. An American remake premiered on the cable channel FX on 23 June 2011.

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. 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").

The idea that became Wilfred came from a late-night conversation between Gann and Zwar in November 2001. 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. With a self-funded budget of A$4,000, 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.