LOS ANGELES (AP) When Lil' Romeo and his father, Master P,
decided they'd make a TV show, they had little doubt about which
network they wanted it on.
```SpongeBob SquarePants' and 'Fairly Odd Parents' are my
favorite shows,'' says the rapper, who recently turned 14. The
programs, featuring the animated adventures of a bumbling ocean
sponge and a boy with equally bumbling fairy godparents, are
Nickelodeon's most popular series, regularly landing in the cable
Nielsen ratings' Top 10.
``But now,'' he adds playfully, ``the best show on Nickelodeon
is going to be 'Romeo.'''
The show (8:30 p.m. EDT Saturdays) follows a teenage wannabe rap
star and his less-than-enthusiastic father, with Romeo and hip-hop
impresario Master P more or less playing themselves.
``The main difference is the Romeo on the show is basically
trying to get to where I'm at right now,'' says Romeo, who has two
albums and a hit single.
To do that, the TV Romeo must go behind the back of his music
executive-father, something similar to what the real-life Romeo did
when he used to sneak into his father's recording studio.
On one of those clandestine visits, he brought a recording
engineer with him who cut a record, then played it for his father
when he returned from a business trip.
``He came home and heard the song and said, 'Who is this?'''
Romeo recalls with a chuckle.
After it was revealed that it was Master P's eldest son, a star
was born but not without some trepidation from his father, who
Romeo says would have preferred that he spend his time
concentrating on school.
``He really didn't want me to do it. I wanted to do it,'' he
adds during a phone interview from Vancouver, Canada, where he and
his father were putting the finishing touches on their show's first
20 episodes.
The show's cast includes the family's scatterbrained,
ukulele-strumming nanny, played by Victoria Jackson. Although best
known for her years on NBC's ``Saturday Night Live,'' Jackson is in
real life an accomplished ukulele player with several albums to her
credit. Her character can't understand why the instrument won't
work on a hip-hop album.
Jackson also was a champion gymnast who used that talent in her
act to read poetry while doing handstands for several minutes, and
viewers can expect to see the actress, now 44, still standing on
her hands.
``This is like the super, superperfect role for me,'' she says.
``I've always wanted to do Maria in `The Sound of Music,' and I
feel like I am in this show, but an insane one.''
The casting of a white nanny and foster brother opposite the
black father-and-son team was deliberate, says Romeo, adding that
his family and series co-creator Thomas Lynch were going for a
``multiracial Partridge Family'' look.
``We wanted something everybody could watch and have fun too,''
he says, making the comparison with the hit '70s show about a
family rock 'n' roll band.
``The Monkees'' also was an influence, acknowledges Lynch, who
was the creative force behind children's shows such as ``The Secret
World of Alex Mack'' and ``The Journey of Allen Strange.'' So
there's a music clip in every episode of ``Romeo,'' something ``The
Monkees'' pioneered in the 1960s.
As for taking the show to Canada to film, Lynch says it wasn't
so much about saving money as keeping his young star from being
mobbed by fans and media.
``I thought I knew how big he was, but this kid is just a
megawatt,'' he said of Lil' Romeo's appeal. ``Just walking through
the street with him you feel it, with people waving and coming up
to him.''
People who idolize him for his music should enjoy it while they
can, Romeo hints, indicating he has other ambitions, particularly
if he can add about a foot of height to his 5-foot-6-inch frame.
``In the future, I want to be an NBA player. That's my goal,''
he said.
When he makes his move, he'll be following in his father's
footsteps again.
Master P, the rapper-turned-music-mogul-turned-actor, tried out
in the '90s for the National Basketball Association's Charlotte
Hornets and Toronto Raptors though the 33-year-old mogul was cut
by both teams.
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(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)