Television series
Wilfred
Wilfred is a dark comedy about a depressed man who alone can see his neighbor's dog as a cynical, foul-mouthed man in a dog suit. Wickedly funny and genuinely unsettling, it asks whether Ryan's visions are real or a symptom of his deteriorating mental state. Perfect for those who like their comedy twisted with dread.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy a sitcom that finds real melancholy under its absurdity, where a deadpan premise about a man in a dog suit slowly turns into a study of depression and self-deception.
Skip it if you want a tidy, laugh-every-minute comedy, since the jokes are often bleak and it lingers on Ryan's unhappiness longer than many viewers will want to sit with.
What it asks of you: Each episode runs about half an hour, so it is easy to binge, but it rewards patience, letting awkward silences and quiet moments do as much work as the punchlines.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
BoJack Horseman2014
An animated show where a talking horse wrestles depression, addiction, and self-loathing with brutal honesty. It finds the comedy in genuine pain and never lets you forget the cost of the jokes.
But Relentlessly bleak and self-critical in ways that can feel exhausting. The first season is uneven before it finds its footing.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia2005
Five terrible people scheme their way through increasingly absurd situations with perfect comedic timing. The show's willingness to let everyone be awful is liberating and consistently hilarious.
But Goes for shock value repeatedly and has aged unevenly. The humor is often cruel, which is kind of the point, but that's not everyone's speed.
Legion2017
A mutant with fractured reality follows a protagonist you're never quite sure is sane. Visually inventive, genuinely disorienting, and willing to make mental illness both terrifying and darkly comic.
But Deliberately confusing in a way that rewards close attention but punishes casual viewing. The second season turns frustratingly abstract.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Wilfred
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
A Prophet2009
Both follow a man learning to see the world through another man's eyes, and both use that relationship to ask whether he's being enlightened or corrupted. The mentor figures are unreliable guides you cannot help but trust.
A French film about a young man imprisoned in a brutal jail where he's mentored by a mafia lifer. Gorgeous, terrifying, and rooted in the particular intimacy that forms between prisoners. Every frame is precise and earned.
But Subtitled and long, filmed with such naturalistic density that it demands focus. Unflinching about violence in ways that never feel exploitative but still hurt.
More like this (8)
Undeclared2001
Judd Apatow's college comedy about young men adrift and self-destructive. It's warmer than Wilfred but shares that interest in male failure and the friendships that survive it.
But Only two seasons exist. The network didn't believe in it, which is its own kind of tragedy.
You're the Worst2014
Two self-sabotaging people fall into a relationship that somehow works. Bitterly funny, genuinely touching, and unafraid to show how damage passes between people you love.
But Takes several episodes to develop momentum. Some viewers find the leads too unlikeable to root for, even when the show is rooting for them.
Search Party2016
A woman's obsession with finding a missing acquaintance spirals into something genuinely deranged. Sharp, weird, and willing to let its protagonist be pathological without apology.
But Extremely niche humor that doesn't land for everyone. The satire can feel unmoored from any real target.
Fleabag2016
A British woman breaks the fourth wall to narrate her catastrophic life with wit and self-awareness. Painfully funny, shockingly moving, and structurally brilliant.
But Only three seasons total. Some find the protagonist's self-awareness a substitute for actual growth rather than an engine for it.
Catastrophe2015
An Irish man and American woman have a one-night stand, she gets pregnant, they try to make it work. Finds the comedy in genuine vulnerability and the specific pain of failed connection.
But The humor often comes at the characters' expense in ways that can feel mean-spirited. Darker than its premise suggests.
Enlightened2011
A woman returning from a mental breakdown tries to improve herself and expose corporate corruption. Laura Dern gives a performance of stunning specificity in a show about delusion versus insight.
But Frustratingly slow-paced. The protagonist's choices are so often wrong that watching her fail becomes wearing rather than illuminating.
Petite Maman2021
Both use a single impossible relationship to interrogate reality and identity. Wilfred asks if the protagonist is losing his mind; Petite Maman suggests the mind might be more truthful than the world.
A girl meets her mother as a child and they become friends. A French-language meditation on grief, time, and self-knowledge that is genuinely magical without ever becoming sentimental. Quietly radical.
But Only 72 minutes long and intentionally quiet. Its gentleness will feel slight to viewers expecting plot. Structured around metaphor rather than story.
The OA2016
Both feature protagonists whose perceptions differ from everyone around them and use that gap to explore whether seeing something differently means it's real. Both trust weirdness over explanation, and both pay a price for it.
A blind woman returns after a seven-year disappearance with vision and a wild story about parallel dimensions. Visually stunning, narratively audacious, and genuinely moving. Asks whether magical thinking is delusion or the only honest response to suffering.
But Cancelled after two seasons on a cliffhanger. The mythology becomes increasingly baroque. Some viewers find the protagonist's story implausible in ways the show never interrogates.
People
Cast
Production
- Gabrielle WallackAssociate Producer
- Marshall BooneAssociate Producer
- Jason GannCo-Executive Producer
- Randall EinhornCo-Executive Producer
- David ZuckermanExecutive Producer
- Jeff KwatinetzExecutive Producer
- Paul FrankExecutive Producer
- Rich FrankExecutive Producer
Recommended by
Resident Alien, A Dog's Purpose, The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town