In 5, 4, 3, 2…
Nickelodeon’s hit show iCarly is officially hitting the airwaves again for a reboot. While specific plot details have not yet been released, we do know that the revival, designed for adult audiences, will follow the iCarly gang grappling with their adult lives ten years after the show’s finale. According to OKMagazine, the show will begin filming soon and is expected to launch in late 2021 or early 2022 on the streaming service Paramount +, a rebrand of CBS All Access.
As one of Nickelodeon’s highest-rated series, the original show ran an impressive six seasons from 2007 to 2012, while typical hit shows on the network such as Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, and Victorious are capped at four seasons. The first three seasons of iCarly are also available on Netflix as of February, a likely attempt to publicize the reboot.
As of now, Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress, and Jerry Trainor are confirmed to reprise their roles of Carly Shay, tech producer Freddie Benson, and Carly’s older brother Spencer Shay, respectively. Those not confirmed to rejoin the show include Jennette McCurdy, who played Carly’s best friend Sam Puckett, and Noah Munck, who played the lovable oddball Gibby and was supposed to get his own spinoff after iCarly ended.
McCurdy, however, most likely will not be returning. In the past, she has opened up about her unpleasant experience on the network that includes suffering from an eating disorder while filming iCarly, dealing with emotional abuse from her mother who passed away in 2013, and turning to alcohol after feeling unfulfilled with her acting resume. McCurdy has stepped away from acting for the most part, citing the “psychological trauma” of being a child star, according to NewsWeek.
“My great ‘contribution’ to society was walking onto an overlit Nickelodeon set shouting lines about fried chicken (my character liked fried chicken) and that’s what kids were looking up to?” McCurdy said of her experience on iCarly. “There was something about the shallowness of my success that made me resent it.”
Dan Schneider, producer of iCarly and other hit shows on the network such as Drake and Josh, Zoey 101, and Victorious, will not be involved with the reboot either. Nickelodeon cut ties with Schneider in 2018 after 24 years, most likely after the controversy regarding his alleged creepy behavior towards young female stars.
While Sam is unfortunately most likely out of the picture, it is possible that other recurring characters might make a guest appearance, such T-Bo, manager of the Groovy Smoothie known for putting various foods on a stick; Mrs. Benson, Freddie’s overbearing mother; Nevel Papperman, nemesis of the iCarly crew; and Socko, Spencer’s friend and maker of creative socks who was only mentioned in various episodes.
The original show ended with Carly on a flight to Italy to live with her father, who is in the Air Force, and leaving her web show on hiatus. Meanwhile, in the crossover spinoff Sam and Cat, we see that Sam moved to Los Angeles and started a babysitting business with Victorious’ Cat Valentine. I predict that within the ten years of the show’s finale, Carly has returned to Seattle to live with Spencer again, and Sam will still be living in LA—thus a feasible excuse for McCurdy’s likely absence from the show.
The internet is quite a different place since Carly and Sam began their web show in 2007, in the days of MySpace and early YouTube. It will be interesting to see how Carly and the gang tackle the internet in the 2020s, a time where content creators have flocked to wildly popular social media apps like TikTok.
Overall, this revival is the perfect, yet unexpected, throwback for anyone who grew up watching this iconic show. While it won’t be the same without Sam and her butter sock, I’m excited to see Carly and (most of) the gang back together.
IMAGE TAKEN from JustJared
IMAGE TAKEN from Instagram: @mirandacosgrove
