“In 5, 4, 3, 2…” are the famous lines Freddie Benson would utter just before pointing the camera towards his two best friends Carly and Sam, as they broadcasted their eccentric webshow to their thousands of fans in Nickelodeon’s teen sitcom iCarly. From 2007 to 2012, kids and even adults were able to follow the wacky shenanigans of a teenage Carly Shay both on and off her video channel. The three amigos, along with their comical pal Gibby and Carly’s artistic older brother, Spencer, made the perfect recipe for a Nickelodeon sitcom so outstanding that it was nominated for an Emmy five times and won three Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Comedy Show.
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At the show’s end, Carly and Sam told viewers that it wouldn’t be the last they’d seen of the webshow, and years later, we’d come to learn this was true. In the time of reviving and rebooting old TV shows, it’s not shocking that one Nickelodeon’s longest-running live-action shows would be added to the list of what to bring back. The successful Nick series originally ran for 97 episodes and its revival came to Paramount Plus in 2021. It was recently announced that a second season is set to premiere in April, but as with the first season, the recent series is geared to the generation of 20-something-year-olds who grew up watching the popular sitcom. As we wait for the upcoming season, here’s how the iCarly reboot compares to the original.
It’s Updated to Fit the 2020s Lifestyle
Paramount+
If you were to take yourself back to your youth and stream the first episode of iCarly, you’d notice that Freddie offers to be the girls’ technical producer, a role he continued to serve throughout all five seasons, and in the reboot. Back then, however, Freddie lugged his high-tech devices around on a cart that beheld a laptop, camera, and sound mixing board, as well as a handful of random wires and lights simply decorated to make him look even more geeky. Freddie’s giant television camera was initially replaced by his phone at the start of the new iCarly, but as seen in later episodes, he went on to use a handheld recording device, much more fitting to this modern day and age. Carly is also a devoted social media user, streaming her life to her many followers and the series has lent itself to jokes about memes, ASMR, and influencers — things that weren’t existent or nearly as prominent during the original run.
It’s Available on Streaming
Like other shows of the 2000s, there was once a time when kids would pile up on the couch minutes before 8/7c, waiting in anticipation for the new segment of Carly, Sam, and Freddie’s adventures in high school and handling fame. Though children using DirecTV and Comcast had the ability to record and autotune to their favorite sitcoms, they still didn’t have it as easy as they do now. As TV makes its way into predominant streaming services, iCarly has been broadcast on Paramount Plus, allowing viewers to watch whenever they want. But for the Netflix and HBO Max fans who just can’t handle subscribing to another streaming service, it also made its way to Nick at Nite in July 2021.
There Are New Characters
Unfortunately for Sam and Gibby fans, Jennette McCurdy and Noah Munck did not return to the show, but the series has given fans different characters instead. It’s also brought back supporting roles like Mrs. Benson, Nevel, Principal Franklin ,and the psychotic iCarly superfan, Nora. Among the new faces are Harper and Millicent, Carly’s best friend/roommate and Freddie’s stepdaughter, respectively. Harper is a sassy, aspiring fashion designer, who brings the representation to the LGBTQ+ community, being a proud pansexual. And if OG iCarly lovers didn’t feel old enough when they saw Freddie’s facial hair, seeing him with a daughter just might do the trick. Millicent is the adopted child of Freddie and his ex-wife, and serves as a snarky, quick-witted young teen, whose hair is freshly done in a unique style every time she’s on-screen.
While two-fifths of the initial gang are largely missed, the two actors have their personal reasons for not returning to the show. Sam’s character was written as having joined a motorcycle gang, leaving her comeback up in the air should the actress change her mind and while the show has made no mention of Gibby, his younger brother Guppy was seen in the teaser for the new season, so it’s possible they’ll make acknowledge his absence then.
It’s More Grown up
After Fuller House, Raven’s Home and the revival of Punky Brewster, to name a few, the late 2010s and early 2020s became a time to relive classic favorites viewers binged as children. Following the news of so many reboots came the rise and fall of Disney’s fresh spin on Lizzie McGuire, which was ultimately canceled, at Disney’s request for the program to be “family friendly.” But rather than meet the needs of today’s tweens, though, iCarly delivered a new series, specifically aimed towards those who watched it back in middle school. While the occasional swearing and forced taboo subjects are truthfully cringe at times, it still brings the colorful joy of the original show whilst sprinkling in adult humor. Nickelodeon’s version of iCarly often pushed the boundary of risqué banter with its jokes about their women teachers’ body parts, the “wrestling” squirrels, George the Bra Who Tells Ghost Stories, and the memorable wide-eyed look on Guppy’s face when reading a passage from “Nifty Shades of Beige.” Now that its audience is all grown up, there is no need to be subtle anymore.
