The easy part of creating the new Nickelodeon series "100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd" was coming up with the concept.
"It's like everything else I come up with," said creator/executive producer Tommy Lynch, whose previous projects include "The Secret World of Alex Mack" and "The Journey of Allen Strange." "I think I'm demented."This time he's come up with another intriguing concept -- and, from all appearances, another winning show. (It debuts Saturday at 7 p.m. on Nick.)
Eddie McDowd is a school bully who terrorizes his classmate. But Eddie makes the mistake of being obnoxious to a drifter (Richard Moll of "Night Court") with magical powers -- powers he uses to turn the boy into a dog. He has to perform 100 good deeds to make amends before he can return to human form, and the only human with whom he can communicate is the last kid he bullied, Justin (Brandon Gilberstadt).
Once Lynch came up with the concept, the hard work began -- finding the right dog to play Eddie. And he looked at hundreds of canines before finding him -- an Australian Shepherd/husky mix named Rowdy.
"We looked at 700 dogs around the country before we picked him. Fun job, huh?" Lynch said. "I needed something that was a little rough and a little irreverent and, at the same time, had an emotional core to him. And we looked. We looked. I wouldn't have looked at 700 dogs if I had any clue before I started. But I wanted the dog to be like a kid. I wanted him to have a real kid perspective to him."
It was worth the search, however. Not only is Rowdy distinctive-looking -- more than a bit weird-looking, to be perfectly frank -- but the dog is also a darn good actor.
"When you look at the landscape of Nickelodeon . . . it represents all things. To me, it's colorblind. So I wanted to find a dog that would mirror that," he said. "And with the Australian Shepherd, you know -- they really weren't from Australia to begin with. He's brown and gray and he's got blue eyes.
"He just came in, and we talked about the part a little bit, and he sold me on his commitment," Lynch joked.
Although the "Eddie McDowd" team looked all over the country for the right animal, the 4-year-old former pound puppy lives with his trainer in Calabasas, Calif.
"A lot of dogs are trained well, but this dog has to act. I mean, it has to be working in front of a crew of 50 people," Lynch said. "It's hard enough for a human. And for the dog -- we had to find one that had a sense of personality."
Which is how Rowdy got the part.
"That's what won us over was its personality. And just his face and his attitude with the child," Lynch said. "We brought Brandon in to work with him. We had to make sure there was a connection there. It was absolutely the same process you do with a human except the communication skills, you do with biscuits.
"He was just like any actor. We define his inner character, and we let it come out."
(Hmmm . . . the image of actors as trained animals is inescapable, isn't it?)
Of course, Rowdy gets some help. His voice is supplied by Seth Green ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") and his "talking" is done by means of special effects.
As to what Eddie McDowd looked like before he became a dog, viewers may never know.
"What I wanted to do with the show was to create the worst bully ever," Lynch said, "and the best way to do that was to let the imagination of the viewer define that. . . . You'll never actually see the kid. And so our audience will imagine their worst fears as this bully."
THE AMANDA SHOW: Comedy/variety shows may be a thing of the past on the broadcast networks, but they're a happenin' thang on youth-oriented Nickelodeon.
And a youthful thang.
Saturday marks the debut of "The Amanda Show" (6:30 p.m., Nick), which is hosted by 13-year-old Amanda Bynes. She's a veteran of Nick's comedy/variety series "All That," and now she's the teen answer to Carol Burnett.
Bynes will take questions from the audience, and she and a cast of regular comedy troupers (also teens) will perform in sketches, parody commercials, do short films and introduce comedy shorts.
Nickelodeon remains TV's best channel for kids, never talking down to them and providing entertainment that's appropriate without being childish. Oh, and parents can watch these shows with their kids without being bored out of their minds.
IN CONCERT: Two of pop music's hottest stars share billing on the Disney Channel on Saturday night on "Britney Spears and Joey McIntyre" in concert at 8:30 p.m.
The reigning teen queen and the former member of New Kids on the Block perform their hits, answer questions about themselves and romp through the Disney-MGM theme park.
What's at least a little bit funny is that, after her appearance on Nickelodeon's "Kids Choice Awards" in a decidedly revealing outfit earlier this year, Spears has reportedly been banned from that kids channel. So she's too hot for Nick but OK for the Disney Channel.
"Who would ever think that could happen?" acknowledged Rich Ross, the Disney Channel's senior vice president of programming and production.
Actually, Spears manages to remain mostly covered during the course of the hourlong "In Concert" appearance. And she's a Disney Channel alumni -- Spears got her start as a member of the "Mickey Mouse Club" ensemble.