LFC Article - iCarly - Teen Comedy

iCarly, #1 Cable TV Show!
A Favorite of Teens and Tweens Everywhere

by Kenny Crane 1/30/10

ICarly is a half hour situation comedy aimed at kids, teens and young adults. It airs on the Nickelodeon TV Network, which is owned by Viacom (which also owns MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and other TV Networks). The show is about a teenage girl named Carly who produces her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam (Samantha) and Freddie, filmed in the upstairs loft of her apartment in Seattle. Sam co-hosts iCarly with Carly; and Freddie, Carly's neighbor, films the show and is its technical director. The show has a website at http://icarly.com. iCarly premiered on September 8, 2007 and is now the most watched show on all of Cable TV!

Carly Shay is played by Miranda Cosgrove. She was born on May 14, 1993 and is now 16. Her middle name is Taylor. Miranda was previously best known for her role as Megan Parker in Drake & Josh, also on Nickelodeon. Beside acting Miranda is a singer. She sings the theme song for iCarly, titled "Leave It All to Me" which features Drake Bell. She sings 4 songs on the iCarly Soundtrack including my favorite, "Headphones On." Her website is here and her YouTube channel is here. Miranda currently has 22 videos up on YouTube including a music video of Raining Sunshine from the movie 'Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.'

Sam (Samantha) Puckett is played by Jennette McCurdy. She was born on June 26, 1992 and is now 17. Her full name is Jennette Michelle Faye McCurdy. Jennette has been on other shows, like Malcolm in the Middle, Will & Grace, Zoey 101, and True Jackson, VP. Jennette is also a singer. Her first single, "So Close" was released in March 2009 and her second single is "Homeless Heart." Jennette is currently in Nashville working on her new album. Her website is here and her YouTube channel is here. Her most viewed video is "Ready for FRED on ICARLY!!!!!!!!" from last January about the guest starring of YouTubeStar Fred on iCarly. That episode first aired on February 16, 2009 and ended with a video in which Fred, Carly and Sam swam in Fred's little pool while being hit by falling cabbages!

iCarly also stars Fredward "Freddie" Benson played by Nathan Kress, and Spencer Shay played by Jerry Trainor who is Carly's 26-year-old brother and legal guardian. Nathan had played a similar character on Drake & Josh before he appeared on iCarly. Jerry was also on Drake & Josh as "crazy" Steve.

You may also enjoy our article on the popular musical comedy drama, Glee. Or see our Grey's Anatomy article.

Episodes of iCarly are filled with wacky slapstick comedy and remind one of the old "I Love Lucy" TV show as well as other comedies made for young adults over the years like "The Patty Duke Show" and Gidget. This is why adults can enjoy iCarly as well as younger viewers. Parents have nothing to fear because iCarly has minimal violence, and that is comedic as Sam is a Tomboy who often fights on occasion, and no sexual material. There is content on dating and relationships, and occasional short kissing scenes. Some parents have noticed the show has a strong spirit of rebellion, so you may want to monitor your child's viewing and discuss episodes with them.

Episodes typically have dual plots. The girls and Freddy will be showing off their talents or involved in some silly situation, while Spencer is having a different adventure. Spencer is an artist and often creates crazy works of art like giant pants and an electromagnetic Christmas tree. Although he is an adult, he often acts like a big kid.

iCarly has had many famous guest stars, including Fred from YouTube (Lucas Cruikshank), Plain White T's, Good Charlotte, David Archuleta, Malese Jow (she played Geena Fabiano in the Nickelodeon show "Unfabulous") and Victoria Justice. Victoria played Lola Martinez on Zoey 101 and will play the lead role of Tori Vega on the new Nickelodeon show "Victorious."

iCarly is typically shown several times a day on Nickelodeon and later on Nick At Night, which is the same channel but with a different name starting 8PM. The iCarly episodes on Nick At Night (NAN) are usually the most watched shows on cable TV. For example, during the week of January 18, 2010, Nielsen TV rankings show iCarly at the top spot with 11,164,000 viewers! The next closest show is the Hannity news/commentary show on Fox News, which had 6,809,000 viewers. The iCarly daytime show on Nickelodeon, typically at 6 and 7 PM, had 6,290,000 viewers and came in at #5 on the Neilsen chart. (Screen capture of Ratings)

Previous iCarly episodes with huge viewer numbers on the day they were first shown include:

iTwins - Sam has a twin sister named Melanie, also played by Jennette - 5.226 million viewers.
iFight Shelby Marx - Carly fights martial arts champion Shelby Marx played by Victoria Justice - 7.9 million viewers.
iQuit iCarly - One hour movie where Carly and Sam fight and Spencer wins a boat - 8.8 million total viewers.
iSaved Your Life - Freddie gets hurt saving Carly from a taco truck and Carly is then attracted to Freddie - This show premiered on 1/18/2010 to 11.2 million viewers, making it the highest rated live action show in Nickelodeon history, as well as the #1 telecast of all TV, both cable and broadcast, on that night. It is currently the highest rated iCarly episode ever.

Here is an RSS feed of upcoming iCarly episodes, from TVguide.com:

Kenny Crane has been writing about YouTube videomakers and their videos at YouTubeStars.com since June 2006. He also publishes the YouTube Top 100 Weekly Chart of the Most Popular YouTube videomakers.

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