Looking through Nickelodeon's "Thankyou Nickelodeon" 1998/99 sales tape, I spotted what seems to be a pilot for Nickelodeon show that either didn't make to series, or became an entirely different series.
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| Stray Dog |
Nickelodeon's 1998/99 sales tape features a segment for a show titled Stray Dog. Although the sequence is only a few seconds long, judging from the footage, it would of featured a young girl (either in her pre-teens or early-teens) and a heroic dog. From the footage, the dog would of saved people in dangerous situations, such as grizzly bear attacks and bike accidents. The surroundings of which the show was set are also snow covered.
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| Stray Dog |
Although Stray Dog never made it to air, it could have ended up being a different Nickelodeon show entirely.
In October 1999, Nickelodeon premiered
100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, a comedy created for the network by Steven H. Berman, Mitchel Katlin, and Nat Bernstein.
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| 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd |
In 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, Eddie McDowd (Jason Dohring) is considered to be a schoolyard bully by his peers. He considers himself very attractive and powerful and so he bullies others without mercy. One day, while bullying a kid after school, he is caught by a mysterious man. He tells McDowd that due to his bullying he will be punished for his wrongdoings by living life as a dog, and that in order to be restored as a human he has to do 100 good deeds for others.
Besides The Drifter, the only one who can hear him talk (voiced by Seth Green in Season 1, Jason Hervey in Season 2–3) is Justin Taylor (Brandon Gilberstadt), who happens the last kid he bullied. At first the two are firmly against the idea, but McDowd realizes that he must work alongside Justin and his family to finish his good deeds. Every time Eddie performs a good deed the Drifter appears with a creatively presented number stating the remaining deeds he has left. Occasionally when Eddie misbehaves the Drifter takes away one of his deeds.
The series ran for 40 episodes across three seasons until April 21, 2002, meaning that the story has no ending as the series was cancelled before a final resolution could be made.
Whilst both Stray Dog and 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd seem to be different series, they also share a lot of similarities. Both feature stray dogs (Eddie - in dog form - and Justin first meet each other at their local dog shelter). The only real differences is the gender of the dog's friend - a girl in Stray Dog and a boy in Eddie McDowd - and the breed of the dog (whilst I'm not entirely sure what breed the dog in Stray Dog is, Eddie is a Australian Shepherd/Siberian Husky mix).
Whilst there's not much information about Stray Dog, it could be that Stray Dog was the working title of 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, and the footage featured in the sizzle tape was from an early pilot, before producers changed certain aspects of it.
And whilst we don't know what actually became of Stray Dog, it's a neat bit of Nickelodeon Lost Content. Check out more screenshots from Stray Dog below!
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| Stray Dog |
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| Stray Dog |
Grammar H/T: Special thanks to @ReadWryt in the comments!
