Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About iCarly
#10: The Original Concept for the Show Was Much Different
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“iCarly” creator, Dan Schneider, has been behind some of the most beloved Nickelodeon shows of the past three decades. In fact, it was during his time as the creator, executive producer and writer of “Zoey 101” that he came up with the idea for “iCarly”. However, Schneider’s original version and the one fans ultimately fell in love with were two completely different ideas. While it’s true the show was always intended to be a starring vehicle for Miranda Cosgrove (she and Schneider worked together on “Drake & Josh”), it was originally titled “Starstruck”, and was set to feature an average girl who winds up becoming the star of her favorite TV show. Schneider ultimately ditched the idea for one in which Carly had her own show.
#9: The Theme of Absent Parents
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Not to get too dark, but where are all the parents on “iCarly”? We get that Carly and Spencer’s father is in the Air Force, but what about their mother? She’s never even mentioned on the show. Is she alive? Dead? Are she and Carly’s dad divorced? Do Carly and Spencer even have the same mother? Your guess is as good as ours. And yet, they aren’t the only ones with absentee parents. Sam’s father left when she was young and her mother, Pam, is seen only once. Similarly, Freddie and Gibby were also raised by single parents. The sheer number of absentee parents on “iCarly” makes it clear that this was a theme Dan Schneider wanted fans to pick up on.
#8: It Spawned a Disney Knockoff
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Premiering in 2016, Disney’s “Bizaardvark” bears more than a passing resemblance to Nickelodeon’s “iCarly”. Both shows feature a couple of young female leads who find fame and success through their internet endeavors. In addition to both being lighthearted looks at what it’s like to be an online celebrity, they also feature a goofy male supporting character (Gibby in “iCarly” and Dirk in “Bizaardvark”) and an older male character who helps and guides them (despite often being the butt of their jokes). So it’s not exactly a stretch to say that Disney mined Nickelodeon’s back catalog when they were coming up with “Bizaardvark”.
#7: Jennette McCurdy Had a Male Stunt Double
If you’ve watched even a minute of “iCarly” you know that Jennette McCurdy, who plays Sam Puckett, doesn’t shy away from physical humor. In fact, the actress told Huffington Post she enjoys performing her own stunts because she’s a fan of the “slapstick elements of a sitcom". However, due to the physical nature of some of her stunts, such as the times she had to lift one of her male co-stars over her head, a male stunt double was brought in. Despite the fact that she performed the majority of her own stunts, McCurdy wryly quipped that giving way to a stuntman caused her confidence to plummet.
#6: The Butter Sock Wasn’t Filled with Butter
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Ah, the infamous butter sock. Appearing in numerous episodes, the butter sock consisted of one tube sock and one stick of butter and served as Sam’s weapon of choice throughout the series. It first appeared in the episode "iTake on Dingo", where Sam used it to threaten a group of writers who were stealing ideas from her and Carly’s show. According to Dan Schneider, the sock was originally going to be filled with quarters, but Nickelodeon claimed that this was a step too far for a kid’s show. In reality, the sock was filled with neither butter nor quarters. In order to give it the proper weight, it was filled with batteries that had been wrapped in Styrofoam and duct tape.
#5: You Can Visit the Shays’ Apartment Building
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Despite being set in Seattle, “iCarly” is shot on a soundstage in Los Angeles. So, whenever you see Carly, Sam and the rest of the gang getting up to some hilarious hijinks in Bushwell Plaza, you’re actually watching them on a set built specifically for the show. Despite this, you can actually visit Bushwell Plaza; however there’s a few things you should know before you do. First off, it’s not called Bushwell Plaza, it’s called the Eastern Columbia Building. And second, it’s not in Seattle, it’s in downtown Los Angeles. In fact, the building is adorned with the word “Eastern” in massive letters. This was digitally removed and replaced with the word “Bushwell” for exterior shots of Carly and Spencer’s home.
#4: The Show Gave Out a Real Phone Number
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TV shows are always looking for ways to connect with fans in new and interesting ways. One such way in which the creators of “iCarly” managed to bring their fictional world into our reality was with a phone number. In the season five episode "iLost My Mind", Sam Puckett’s “real” phone number is given out and fans who called it were treated to a voicemail message from the fictional character. True to form, the message consisted of Puckett informing callers that she never checks her messages and that you’d be wise to simply hang up. Classic Sam.
#3: Miranda Cosgrove’s Music Career Delayed the Show
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Anyone who stuck around for the entirety of “iCarly’s” run undoubtedly noticed something strange about the later season’s episode counts. While seasons 1, 2 and 3 featured a minimum of 18 episodes, seasons 4, 5 and 6 maxed out at 13 episodes, with the first two producing just 10. The reason for this was simple: Miranda Cosgrove’s music career was blowing up. The dual-threat had released her debut studio album “Sparks Fly” in the spring of 2010, and the success of the album coupled with its accompanying tour delayed filming of “iCarly” considerably. As such, the show was unable to continue pumping out 18+ episodes per season. Oh, what could have been!
#2: The Fan Videos Seen on the Show Were Real
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“iCarly’s” show within a show regularly received fan videos that Carly and the rest of the gang would watch. However, instead of coming up with the videos themselves, the writers decided to use real fan videos that had been submitted to iCarly.com. This wasn’t a one-off either, as the show regularly used feedback from fans to make the show better. In terms of the videos, Miranda Cosgrove claims that she and the rest of the cast were actually watching them while filming. So the reactions you see from them are 100% real!
#1: Carly and the Goat
In the season four episode "iGot a Hot Room", Spencer attempts to give Carly the best birthday ever. This is in part due to his guilt over having given her the worst birthday ever a few years earlier. Why was it the worst? Well, all we know is that it involved a petting zoo and a goat. While T-Bo tries to find out what went down, Carly’s lips remained sealed. Since then fans and even Miranda Cosgrove herself have asked Dan Schneider about what occurred between Carly and the goat, but to no avail. Schneider continued to play coy, remarking that “this one is up to your own imagination. There is no correct answer. It's anyone's guess.” But we need to know! Damn you, Schneider!
