The Paramount+ revival of iCarly was originally conceived to be more of a kids' series than the adult version it has since evolved into. Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), once a successful web show host, is now a college graduate and lives with her best friend, Harper (Laci Mosley). Her former guardian, big brother Spencer (Jerry Trainor), once a struggling artist, has become wealthy through accidental art-world fame. Childhood friend Freddie (Nathan Kress) is now twice-divorced and forced to move back in across the hall with his overprotective mother Marissa (Mary Scheer) after his tech startup fails. He is also a stepfather to daughter Millicent (Jaidyn Triplett).
Running for five seasons from 2007 to 2012, iCarly was created by Dan Schneider. He used established actors from other shows he had worked at on Nickelodeon to star in the series, including Drake & Josh, which Cosgrove starred on and where Kress was a guest star, and Zoey 101 where former iCarly star Jeannette McCurdy was a featured player. The series was a smash for the network and propelled its stars into some of the most popular in their genre and the series was a must-stop for the biggest singers, actors, and web personalities of that era to promote their latest work.
The reboot series was originally conceived to be more of a children's show than the adult version of the Nickelodeon series it has since become. In an interview with Bustle, series star Cosgrove revealed that she and Trainor were reportedly supposed to be the mentors of a new generation of influencers that were inspired by the original iCarly web series. Cosgrove, who is an executive producer, worked with ViacomCBS to gear the show toward the audience that were fans of the original, who would have been almost ten years older and had more life experience.
“I don’t think that any of us would have been up for that [idea]. What excited me about doing iCarly again was getting to put the characters in situations that we couldn’t show before.”
Cosgrove explained that she feels lucky to currently be in a position that allows her to call the shots on her own series. This was versus when she originally starred on iCarly and had to listen to what older, more experienced adults said around her. “On the old iCarly, I just did whatever anybody said, because I was 13 and just wanted to do a good job,” she said to Bustle. “It’s nice to be able to voice your opinion and really be heard.”
The iCarly revival has many fans on the fence as the innocence that dominated the madcap fun of the original episodes of the show has all but disappeared. Freddie's odd relationship with his overbearing mother has been seen more cringe-y instead of funny. Similarly, Spencer, still acting goofy in his late 30s, is uncomfortable for some to watch, as is Carly attempting to interact with former characters such as Nevel Papperman (Reed Alexander). However, it has become successful enough for Paramount+ to order season 2 of the iCarly reboot. Only time will tell if the series will find its niche with viewers who are looking to reminisce without falling so deeply back into the past.
Source: Bustle
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July 25, 2021 at 12:04AM
