Bynes has been compared to Lucille Ball for her knack for physical comedy and wacky characters, but the Thousand Oaks native, now in London filming "An American Girl," is taking all the comments in stride.

"I really don't pay attention to it," Bynes said via satellite recently during the Television Critics Association conferences at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel. "I'm just being myself and trying to learn. I'm trying to have fun. I'm definitely a huge 'I Love Lucy' fan. When I'm down, I watch an episode; it makes me laugh."

Bynes does a lot of Lucylike physical comedy in the pilot episode of "What I Like About You," which teams the "Big Fat Liar" star with Jennie Garth of "Beverly Hills 90210" fame as two sisters trying to get along as roommates. Bynes' character, Holly, wants to live with her adult sister Valerie (Garth) in New York City so she won't have to move with their father (played by Peter Scolari of "Newhart") to Japan.

Dan Schneider, an executive producer and co-creator of "What I Like About You" with Wil Calhoun, has written for Bynes since he first cast her in Nickelodeon's "All That." Her talent for characters, ability to handle long scenes of dialogue and willingness to do stunts led Schneider to create Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show."

Bynes, who was 10 at the time, was performing an act in a kids' standup comedy camp at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood when Schneider discovered her.

On "The Amanda Show," Bynes' wacky characters have varied from an obsessed fan trying to see Bynes to Judge Trudy to a teenager trying to deal with her problems on a soap opera parody.

"The magic about her is her incredible range," Schneider said during an interview. "She has more range than many actors I've seen, as much as Dana Carvey or Will Ferrell."

Garth also does some physical comedy, including flipping over a sofa, in the pilot. But Garth is pregnant with a due date of Dec. 7. "We'll have to lean on Amanda more (for physical comedy)," Schneider said.

"A lot of physical slapstick will be a mainstay of the show," Schneider said. "You don't see a lot of physical comedy in television anymore, except for Kramer on 'Seinfeld.' Everybody laughs at a good pratfall."

Schneider, who wrote "Big Fat Liar," said he couldn't convince Universal Studios to cast Bynes in the lead role of the movie. "I had pitched Amanda as the star, but she wasn't quite on the radar because her show was on Nickelodeon."

After Frankie Muniz of "Malcolm in the Middle" got the lead role, Schneider persuaded Universal to have Bynes play the sidekick.

The success of "Big Fat Liar" led Bynes to her starring role in Warner Bros.' "An American Girl."

It'll mark the first time Bynes is acting in a story not produced by Schneider, who starred as a high school student on the 1980s sitcom "Head of the Class."