iCarly is an American teen sitcom that focuses on a girl named Carly Shay who creates her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam and Freddie. The series was created by Dan Schneider, who also serves as executive producer. It stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan Kress as Freddie, Jerry Trainor as Spencer, and Noah Munck as Gibby. The show is taped at Nickelodeon on Sunset (season 1-5) and KTLA Studios (Season 6) in Hollywood, California. The show premiered on Nickelodeon on September 8, 2007. It was originally rated TV-Y7, and later changed to TV-G.

iCarly is shown in a number of other countries including Canada (YTV and Nickelodeon Canada, October 8, 2007) and the United Kingdom (Nickelodeon UK, Easter 2008). iCarly has also garnered a large adult fan base and has appeared on multiple "Best TV Series" lists during 2009 and 2010.

On May 17, 2012 it was announced that the show's current season is the last season for iCarly and a series finale event will air in November 2012.^[1]

Plot[link]

When Carly and her sassy best friend Sam act funny at a school talent show audition, tech-savvy Freddie tapes it and posts it online without telling them. After seeing the girls' strong chemistry and banter, the online audience clamors for more and the iCarly webcast is born. While grappling with typical issues of adolescence, Carly, Sam, and Freddie find out that they have also become online celebrities as their show – which features talent contests, recipes, problem-solving, and random dancing – garners international accolades.

Carly lives in Seattle, Washington with her 26-year-old brother and guardian Spencer and produces the show in a makeshift third-floor studio loft in their apartment. Even though their mother has never been seen or mentioned, their father, Steven Shay, is a U.S. Air Force officer who is temporarily stationed on a submarine, and is occasionally mentioned but has never been seen in the show in person.

Exterior shots of the Shays' apartment building, Bushwell Plaza, are digitally altered images of the Eastern Columbia Building in Los Angeles.

Characters[link]

Main characters[link]

• Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) is the host of her own popular web show, iCarly, which she produces with her two best friends, Sam and Freddie.
• Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) is one of Carly's best friends and co-host of iCarly.
• Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress) is also one of Carly's good friend and neighbor. He is the technical producer of iCarly.
• Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor) is Carly's eccentric older brother and legal guardian.
• Gibby (Noah Munck) is an odd friend of Carly, Sam and Freddie.

Recurring characters[link]

• Marissa Benson (Mary Scheer) is Freddie's overbearing and overprotective mother.
• Lewbert (Jeremy Rowley) is the doorman for the building in which Carly, Spencer, and Freddie live, characterized by his annoying, protective behavior and a large wart on his face. He is often being pranked by the kids on iCarly.
• Nevel Papperman (Reed Alexander) is a critic who runs the nevelocity.com website, a site that reviews other websites, including iCarly.com. He is Carly's nemesis and has constantly tried to sabotage iCarly in exchange for a kiss from Carly.
• T-Bo (BooG!e) is the manager at the Groovy Smoothie. He often annoys customers into buying random foods (i.e. bell peppers, bagels, tacos), which are always impaled on a stick. Starting in "iQ", he began renting a room from Freddie's mother.
• Guppy (Ethan Munck) is Gibby's younger brother and often tags along with Gibby.
• Chuck Chambers (Ryan Ochoa) is a child in the Shays' apartment building who constantly torments Spencer.
• Principal Franklin (Tim Russ) is the principal at Ridgeway Secondary School, the school where Carly, Sam, and Freddie attend. He is very fair and is a big fan of iCarly.
• Ms. Francine Briggs (Mindy Sterling) is a very strict English teacher at Ridgeway Secondary School who shows an obvious dislike for children.
• Mr. Howard (David St. James) is a strict and unenthusiastic teacher who hates almost everything including his wife.

Episodes[link]

Multi-part installments[link]

iParty with Victorious[link]

A crossover between iCarly and Victorious was completed in 2010; iParty with Victorious aired on June 11, 2011. The crossover is considered a 3-part episode of iCarly. A two-hour, four-part extended version debuted on August 27, 2011.^{[citation needed]}

Season 5 onward[link]

In late January 2011, while doing press for her North American Dancing Crazy concert tour, Miranda Cosgrove began telling news sources that she was looking forward to returning to Hollywood to begin filming a 5th season of iCarly.^[18][19][20] On January 27, 2011, Cosgrove told Cleveland Live News "We're getting ready to start the next season, right after the tour. I would be willing to do the show as long as people like it and as long as it works."^[18] On January 28, 2011, Reuters news agency also reported that Cosgrove was preparing to begin filming a 5th season of iCarly,^[19] and on February 3, 2011 Cosgrove told The Middletown Press, when speaking of the show and her co-stars Jennette McCurdy and Nathan Kress, “I’ve known them since I was little. I can’t wait to get back. I’m really comfortable doing iCarly. It’s like my home away from home.”^[20] Cosgrove concluded her Dancing Crazy concert tour on February 24, 2011, and Jennette McCurdy finished her Generation Love mall tour on April 14, 2011.^[21] The entire cast did not even get together until the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. Miranda Cosgrove recently confirmed that filming would resume shortly.^[22] At the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards, Jerry Trainor stated that filming would resume in May.^[23]

On April 14, 2011, Nickelodeon officially announced the 5th production season renewal of iCarly to begin in 2012 with the episodes airing later that year.^[24] These episodes aired as the show's sixth season due to the second season production of 45 episodes being split into two broadcast seasons.^[25][26] The third production season originally consisted of 26 episodes as ordered in early 2010, however half that amount was shot from May to September 2010 that aired as the show's fourth season. Dan Schneider then shot the next 13 episodes in May 2011 to July which became a whole new season production that aired as the show's fifth season later that year.

In January 2012, Michelle Obama appeared in a special show, iMeet the First Lady.^[27]

Broadcast history[link]

• Nickelodeon (September 8, 2007–present)
• TeenNick (October 18, 2009 – present)

Internationalization[link]

Some minor alterations have been made for transmission in markets where the series is dubbed. In the German version (but not on all transmitted episodes) the intro music lyrics are in German. Episode titles are usually the same when the series is dubbed.

DVD releases[link]

Note: The season DVDs are released by the production seasons.

Other media[link]

Music[link]

Columbia Records and Nickelodeon Records has released a soundtrack for the show entitled iCarly. It includes the theme song and four original songs by Miranda Cosgrove. Several tracks by guest artists and cast dialogue are also included. A follow-up soundtrack, titled iSoundtrack II, came out on January 24, 2012.^[37]

Website[link]

In reality, the iCarly.com website contains many promotional videos by the cast (as their respective characters), as well as content created and sent in by viewers. Other features on the site include characters' blogs, pictures from the set, songs, games, and comments from viewers. Many fictional websites from this show redirect to this page. For example, Zaplook, SplashFace, ToonJuice, CraigsMix, Nevelocity, GirlyCow.com, WebFlicks.com, RadioDingo.com, PillowMyHead.com, AggressiveParenting.com, SamPuckett.com, TheValerieShow.com, SendMeaSack.com, Beavecoon.org, NeverWatchiCarly.com, iSnarly.com, SprayYourChildren.com, and any other website mentioned on the show redirect to this page.

Video games[link]

An animated PC hidden object game, iCarly: iDream in Toons, was released by Nickelodeon on their Nick Arcade. Jerry Trainor is the only actor from the cast who lends his voice to the game, the rest of the characters' speech being dubbed with typing sounds on a keyboard.

On May 13, 2009, Nickelodeon announced they had reached an agreement with Activision to produce an iCarly video game for the Nintendo DS and Wii. The game was released October 28, 2009. The cast lend their voices in the videogame. A sequel, iCarly 2: iJoin the Click, was released on November 16, 2010 for the same platforms.

On January 11, 2010, the official iCarly Facebook page announced the release of an application called "Sam's Remote" exclusively for iPhone and iPod Touch. This app consists of Sam's remote, which she uses on live casts of iCarly in the show, where one pushes different buttons and they make silly sound effects. Available through the iTunes App Store for $1.99 download.

Books[link]

iCarly Reader series[link]

iCarly Novel series[link]

Reception[link]

Critical[link]

iCarly received mixed reviews from critics. Carey Bryson of About.com, gave the show 2 1/2 stars, concluding "The show's comedic elements don't all rest on the irreverent, though, there are some clever storylines and even a few touching moments. Overall, the show has some great comedy, interesting stories, and fun actors."^[38] The show was awarded 3 stars and rated "On" for ages 8 and up by Common Sense Media reviewer Emily Ashby. Emily praised that "The show isn't designed to be educational, per se, but young viewers will learn a bit about interacting with media.", though warned parents about the slapstick violence and "Hand-holding, flirting, hugging, references to boobs, and other aspects of teen relationships are mild in nature."^[39]

On TV.com, the show received mixed reviews from users. Despite the negative reviews of iCarly on TV.com, the series, on TV.com, has an 8 (Great) rating.^[40]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]