Who would have thought that the actor who played Froto Baggins in the Lord of the Rings would be the main character of an FX comedy?

Elijah Wood co-stars with Jason Gaan in “Wilfred,” a comedy series based on lawyer Ryan Newman who has become miserable and tries to commit suicide by mixing a bottle of prescription stress relief pills in a smoothie. Noticing that the pills have not kicked in, he struggles the entire night by rewriting his suicide note, exercising, and even downing an entire bottle of cough syrup in an attempt to get the pills to kick in, but to no avail.

Lifting his blinds to see the light of day, Newman hears his doorbell ring. He answers it to see his neighbor Jenna Mueller asking him to take care of her dog. But what Ryan notices is that her dog, Wilfred, is an Australian man wearing a dog costume. The pilot continues with Wilfred trying to make Newman open up by smoking marijuana with him, stealing items from his opposite neighbor’s home, and making him defy his sister Kristen’s authority for the first time in his life.

Though most viewers are unaware of whether he died or not, Ryan ultimately learns to live by the end of the episode. The program showcases his difficulties coping with both life and Wilfred while seeking a job opportunity that doesn’t lead him to suicide.

The show is wonderfully produced and is one of the funniest programs on FX (behind “Louie”) and “Family Guy” producer David Zuckerman adds a hint of laughter to every minute. Gaan is easily the best actor on the show, and the fact that he is an Australian man in a dog suit adds humor to all of his jokes. The show currently has three seasons on Netflix (four total) and has received a 7.9 from IMDb. Those ratings might not be particularly high, but individual episodes have received ratings as high as 9.0. But disregarding what critics think, give the show a chance. It has a stoner Australian man in a dog suit who likes Matt Damon, so enough said.