Still in Touch With the Audience

"Your daughter is how old?"

"Eleven," I say.

"Then she still loves you and depends on you but tells you to `get away, idiot.'"

That's not a bad encapsulation of the relationship I sometimes have with my kid and many fathers have with their daughters of that age, courtesy of Tom Lynch, who knows from whence he speaks - and writes.

The man dubbed "The king of tweens" by The New York Times has four children between the ages of 12-19. As the principal of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Tom Lynch Co., he has taken some of his kids' experiences, as well as childhood memories as one of eight siblings, and turned them into four current series centering on teens and tweens:

- Caitlin's Way: In trouble with the law, Caitlin must go to juvenile hall or move to Montana to live with distant cousins. Choosing the Big Sky country, she faces many adjustments with her new family and life on the Nickelodeon skein.

- 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd: On this Nick series, the school bully is transformed into a talking dog but can regain his human form by performing 100 good deeds via the assistance of his new owner: the kid who was his last victim.

- The Jersey: A magic football jersey lets two kids live out sports fantasies on this Disney Channel series. Guests have included soccer's Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy, the NFL's Jerry Rice, the WNBA's Lisa Leslie and MLB's Roger Clemens.

- Just Deal: NBC's first-ever Saturday morning "dramedy" follows the friendship of Dylan and Ash, two teens from very different backgrounds attending the same high school.

While the storylines may differ, Lynch, as writer/producer/director, strives to create tales that span a complex emotional arena for kids who are coming of age.

"Their lives are a mixture of different elements. The kids can really have fun, but they are scared of the worlds that are opening up around them," he explains. "There is physical and emotional growth. There are issues with becoming your own person and being part of the group. And all this has a bit of a sense of alienation to it. It's a crazy time."

In shedding some light on subjects affecting youth today, Lynch aspires to keep a light touch.

"You can explore issues like blended families, violence in schools and first loves as long as it's done through age-appropriate dialogue and action," he says. "But I want to be comedic with these coming-of-age stories. Nothing heavy-handed like the shows ABC used to do in the afternoons where the message was, `This is important. This is good for you. This is bad for you.' Kids are smart; they'll find the message."

In addition to the current shows, Lynch developed Nickelodeon series The Journey of Allen Strange and The Secret World of Alex Mack. Moreover, he penned Red Sneakers, a Showtime film in production that is directed by and stars Gregory Hines, in which a 17-year-old is transformed into a basketball sensation.