Before Pluribus, Rhea Seehorn Starred In One Of Robert Downey Jr.'s Most Bizarre Movies

In 2006, Disney decided to reboot "The Shaggy Dog" movies with Tim Allen in the lead, resulting in one of the most unintentionally unsettling movie posters in history. The promotional one sheet featured the titular collie but with the eyes of Allen, which might well have had something to do with why the film didn't become the family comedy triumph Disney had hoped for. It did, however, co-star a pre-"Iron Man" Robert Downey Jr. and featured Rhea Seehorn, who long before starring in Apple TV's "Pluribus" played the assistant to Allen's deputy district attorney in "The Shaggy Dog."

Back in 1959, Disney debuted its first cinematic universe with The Medfield College movies. Alongside the Professor Brainard films and the Kurt Russell-led Dexter Riley features, the saga also included the "Shaggy Dog" movies. In fact, Charles Barton's "The Shaggy Dog" was the film that technically kicked off the whole thing. It starred Tommy Kirk as a youngster who's transformed into a large sheepdog by a powerful and mysterious ring. A sequel, "The Shaggy D.A." followed in 1976, with two further made-for-TV films arriving in the late-80s and 90s. Once the turn of the century had come and gone, it was time for the saga to make its big return with the Allen-led reboot.

Unfortunately, the "Home Improvement" star failed to restore this surprisingly enduring franchise to greatness. "The Shaggy Dog" was met with mostly negative reviews and even earned a few Golden Raspberry nominations (though, the Razzies should have been retired long before that). Still, it's interesting to see Seehorn in an early role doing her best in a film that otherwise sort of wasted her talents.

Rhea Seehorn is superb in the peculiar sci-fi series "Pluribus," which hails from "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" creator Vince Gilligan. The Apple TV series is the second major collaboration between Seehorn and Gilligan following the former's co-starring role as lawyer Kim Wexler in "Better Call Saul." When crafting his follow-up show, the creator had envisioned "Pluribus" as revolving around a male lead, but was so impressed by Seehorn during filming of his "Breaking Bad" prequel series that he cast her as romantasy author Carol Sturka. As Gilligan told The Hollywood Reporter, "I just love Rhea, and I wrote this thing for her. I knew that someone else with half a brain was going to snatch her up at the end of 'Better Call Saul.'"

In 2006, however, Seehorn was yet to display that impressive talent, having only been featured in a handful of short films, made-for-TV movies, and co-starring in short-lived ABC sitcom "I'm With Her." She had been part of the main cast in Fox's legal drama "Head Cases," but that was even more short-lived than her ABC sitcom, and was canceled after just two episodes aired. Being cast in a supporting role for Disney's Brian Robbins-helmed "The Shaggy Dog" certainly wasn't insignificant for the up-and-comer.

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. was in the midst of mounting a comeback following his substance abuse issues and disappearance from the industry. But before he became Iron Man in the unlikely superhero movie that changed Hollywood forever, he co-starred in "The Shaggy Dog" where he played Dr. Marcus Kozak, the man responsible for harnessing the DNA of an ancient Bearded Collie which eventually bites Tim Allen's lawyer, turning him into the titular pooch.

In 1994, audiences watched Tim Allen transform into Santa Claus in "The Santa Clause." Just over a decade later, the actor once again transformed himself into a lovable bearded figure, but this time it was a Bearded Collie. In "The Shaggy Dog," Allen played deputy district attorney Dave Douglas, who's bitten by the sacred dog originally stolen by Robert Downey Jr.'s Dr. Marcus Kozak. He then takes on the form of the collie at random moments but must still prosecute his cases, making for some awkward courtroom moments.

Rhea Seehorn played Lori, Dave's assistant, who is constantly bewildered by her boss' erratic behavior but remains diligent in her attempts to please him. The actor seemed to be having fun in the role, and it was surely a welcome addition to her résumé at the time, given her TV projects hadn't exactly panned out.

Sadly, "The Shaggy Dog" also didn't pan out, at least for Disney. The film grossed $87.1 million against its $50 million  budget, which wasn't a full-on disaster but likely meant the movie didn't make much in terms of pure profit. It also earned some pretty scathing reviews. But Downey Jr. actually thinks "The Shaggy Dog" is one of the most important films of his career (along with 2020's messy, ill-conceived "Dolittle") simply because it showed that Disney was willing to back him after he'd been at the center of some major controversy. Meanwhile, it seems Seehorn maintains a similarly positive recollection of the movie, though for different reasons. In 2020 she retweeted that (still haunting) poster and said "I had SO much fun in this movie."