ICarly/Headscratchers

All the new episodes are "specials"

Seriously, since virtually the third season, every new episode is over-promoted as a new special. Why?

The hammer

• Why haven't they jacked off the hammer from the wall? It kinda bugs me a bit.
  • Carly seems to have a thing for it, it was one of the things she referenced in iChristmas. It probably reminds her that she likes Spencer being a bit weird and nearly killing her.

The Shay Loft.

• How does that elevator work exactly? It can take them down to the main lobby, but they don't seem concerned that a burglar could ride the elevator up from the main lobby, and just waltz right into their apartment.
  • It requires a key to bring you into a residence. The keyhole's inside, next to the buttons. If the key isn't inserted, it won't open in the middle of the person's home.
    • Yabbut, does EACH apartment (in the very large building) have its own personal elevator? it always seems to be parked in the Shay household; whenever they need to go up to the studio, none of the tenants on floors below are using the elevator.
    • Dan Schneider talked about this in a Livejournal post. The elevator in the Shay's apartment is a cargo elevator; you must have authorization or a special key to use it to access their loft. They have this elevator because Bushwell Plaza used to be a commercial building and was later converted into an apartment building. And no, not all of the apartments have them; only the lofts do.
  • They apparently rent it.

How can the webshow afford such slick production?

• The actual iCarly show LOOKS like they have a huge production team. Honestly, three teenagers couldn't produce a show of that quality AND have all the shenanigans they do - no matter their budget.
  • Freddie is a huge tech wiz and has connections to the AV club. I think with the school's nice equipment and saving up cash, it can be plausible.
  • Yeah. Some of the stuff he doesn't just isn't that hard. At least on the webshow with the various graphics and green screened type stuff, it's actually a pretty plausible aversion of Stylistic Suck. The less plausible stuff is the actual internet related things, like him apparently coding the site on his own, the hosting of said website, and the ability to stream it to millions of viewers live. And how people are on their own webcams, yet Freddie can blow it up onto a full HD television with no loss of quality.
  • Most of the stuff is probably pre-made, as well. We know they rehearse for the show, so Freddy probably has most of the SFX, animated titles and such ready to go before they go live, just needs to press the right button. Other stuff like the fact that the show can be shown on HD or altering Jake's voice on the fly so that he sounds awesome is probably just Rule of Cool/Rule of Funny.
  • The early episodes is all down to Freddies tech wizardry but assuming their being paid $5 per 1000 views in season 3 they make about $1500 per episode, as of season iparty with victorious they make about $5000 an episode (based on the calculation that they get a million views per episode).
  • If their viewers stay at a million people per episode every week they make $260,000 a year, some of that goes in taxes and they'll probably take a decent amount out as a wage but that still leaves them with an impressive budget for the show.
  • It is possible to do a webshow on their level with todays technology, companies like livestream.com have a platform that lets you broadcast live using a HD video camera and switch between clips in the same way freddie does but the downside is the price, its $350 a month or $3,500 a year, the kids can afford it now but they'd struggle to afford it when they were starting out, their first episode had 36,000 views which equated to $180 if their second episode got the same amount of viewers then they've just about made a $20 profit. The point is its a significant investment for 13 year old kids to make but as long as they were consistent and kept building up their audience its not impossible for them to achieve a show with that kind of production value.
    • Taxes are paid after expenses. If they spent every cent they made from the show on the show, they'd owe nothing at all. A reasonable approximation of the things they can claim as a business expense include all of the equipment, all of the set stuff, any costumes that aren't clothing that could be worn under ordinary circumstances, their rent for the part of the apartment where the studio is, cost of props, costs involved with making personal appearances, costs involved with flying in guests (the awards show, for example), any insurance they might need, any costs involving their live streaming and website, any wages they decide to pay themselves (there is no way they could run iCarly as anything but an S-Corp after season one, realistically), any legal or accounting fees, possible anything Sam eats in the apartment (though only at a 50% rate). If they have a remotely competent accountant, they'd probably have a decent retirement plan in place before they finished high school.
  • They also made a ton of money in season 1 (Techfoots), and it's possible some of the money went into the show itself.

The name iCarly, specifically, the i-prefix.

• In a universe that Apple, the company that popularized the i- prefix, (such as iPod, iPhone, etc.) , is replaced by Pear, a company that uses the Pear- prefix, (such as Pear Pod, Pear Phone, Etc.) how does the name iCarly make any sense?
  • The tv-show is named to mean something in our world, then fit backwards into the iCarly universe. In our world it's associated with Apple (but wasn't invented by them, nor was the actual idea of a 'prefix' for example e-mail etc). Apple not existing doesn't change the sense in naming the webshow iCarly:

Freddie:: "Why don't you call your show iCarly, you know, i, internet, Carly, you."

• • Would that mean that there will be a webshow in the future known as Pear Carly?

Show demographics and marketing.

• One thing I don't get is how long this show can last while being marketed to 8 year olds. Carly, Sam, Freddie etc. are only going to get older. How is an 8 year old going to relate to a 25 year old who has a webshow?
  • Um, excuse me... but since when is this show marketed to eight year olds? As a fourteen year old, I still find the show funny.
    • The show has a very wide demographic. It works for 8 year olds to 18 year olds (especially in season 3), and also has a big Periphery Demographic because of the innuendo and stuff they get under the radar (it's at Western Animation levels, which says alot). Plus, how long it'll last is probably going to depend on the main cast. Physically, the kids are almost done with puberty, and their in-show ages are still only about 16. It's the same thing that happened with Drake and Josh. The only reason that ended is because the guys who played Drake and Josh wanted to move on.
      • This show is a Teen Nick show. It's for preteens and teenagers.
      • And? SpongeBob SquarePants was aimed at children. Kim Possible was aimed at 13 year old girls. Didn't stop them getting fans outside their supposed demographic, and it doesn't stop ICarly either.

The Peruvian Puff Pepper.

• It is "illegal" in Drake and Josh canon. Given that this show also has a shared universe with D&J, why did the trio still use the said condiment in a contest? Granted that they also won the contest (that ingredient also ensures victory in D&J) and the pepper was not mentioned afterward...
  • Illegal in California but not Washington?
  • Even for the sake of cross-over referencing, the Drake and Josh episode Peruvian Puff Pepper did state that the pepper is illegal in America. California and Washington both belong to America, don't they?
  • iCarly is set after D&J, the law could have changed.
  • D&J might not be even in the same canon. We've seen Carly and Spencer watch a few episodes once.

Carly and Freddie's ages

Miranda, Jennette, and Nathan are starting to look noticeably older then fifteen. I never noticed it until the iBeat the Heat. Why haven't the gang aged even one year? Hasn't iCarly, in series, been going on for that long? At least Sam is sixteen now, but Carly and Freddie are still fifteen.

• • Carly, Freddie and Sam are all 16 now, going by the monitors in iSpace Out. They just never had anyone say so on the show. Except Sam I think, but I can't remember if her party was for 15 or 16. Sam might even be 17, considering her apparently extra year that is sorta but not really canon.
    • The monitor said that Sam is 15, just like Carly and Freddie. This Troper thinks that Sam just went into school a year early, then was held back and placed with kids her age. It's the only way that it all makes sense.
      • Apparently Carly is turning 16 in the newest episode, potentially making Sam 17. If it's a Retcon or just bad continuity (or conflicting continuity from a non-canon source) remains to be seen.
      • On one episode Carly and Sam were on a trampoline and the lack of "bouncing" made it painfully obvious Jennette McCurdy's breasts were strapped down to keep her looking young.
  • In Ilost my mind its revealed that Carly can now officially drive, its barely a passing reference, in that she picks up the keys and tells Spencer their leaving but assuming shes driving a car (she left with Gibby and Freddie) shes 16 as of season 5 (I OMG took place three days before Ilost my mind so she's 16 from Igot a hot room), as for Sams age we know that shes under 18, shes a minor so cant leave the mental institute without a signature from her parents, Dan confirmed that on his blog, but we still dont know if she's 16 or 17.

No threat of internet predators

Seriously? No internet predators exist? The trio go and trust strangers completely and often see them without some parental supervision! And they do some stuff on the show which would be considered kinda targety for them and often reveal addresses of the school and their homes on their broadcasts. Is Schnieder saving this for a special episode?

• Well, I suppose it's like real life. There would be millions of kids on youtube/facebook/twitter etc, and I'm sure so many of them would be just as 'tracable' as iCarly. Yet there isn't much 'predation' going on. At least reported. Most internet predators lurk chatrooms and try to get their target alone, and exploit them. I think iPsycho with Nora, and the episodes with Mandy are about as far as they'll go on either end of the 'stalker/predator' types.

The show being managed on iTunes

• While not that big a deal (except for some who might have been big fans of the show for a while), one thing this troper is curious about is why Seasons 1 and 2 of iCarly weren't available in HD until late 2010 as far as I can tell (except the "XOXO" pack). This is especially notable since iFight Shelby Marx hit #1 shortly after being available back in August 2009 but not in HD yet (I own it in HD, though).
  • I think iCarly never got broadcast in HD for the first season or two. I know they filmed stuff in HD, but that might have had something to do with HD versions of Season 1 and 2 being late. Does anyone know when HD video became supported on iTunes either? That might also cause delays, if HD wasn't supported until after those first couple seasons.
    • Well, for whatever it's worth, according to Wikipedia, they sold 1 million HD episodes in October 2008, which was not long into Season 2. But that's all I know.
• Also, Season 4 is currently $39.99 ($29.99 if not in HD), and it only has ten episodes (one being two parts, and iParty with Victorious), not counting the extras which are free. But the first three seasons were all $39.99/$19.99, so it makes no sense, unless they put the second half (what Dan and the rest of the cast will be filming sometime in the spring) included with that. And what's even MORE notable is that Season 2 of Victorious, which is apparently going to have 13 episodes (and will most likely have a special), not counting 7 Secrets with Victoria Justice (which is currently free, but will most likely not be soon), is only $24.99/$17.99. I would hope that's the case (that they'd combine both halves).
  • I'm pretty sure that season 4 is 26 episodes total: 13 ending with iParty, then another 13 released later. iTunes still classifies it as season 4 (as far as I know), and according to The Other Wiki, all 26 are season 4. The production is really screwed up, though, so I could be wrong.

Mandy's obession with iCarly

• Why does Mandy like iCarly when her interrupting the sketch in "iWant My Website Back" shows she doesn't even get their jokes?
  • Mandy "might" have missed how obvious the long title of the skit is, but it's Truth in Television. Kids love iCarly (almost any children's show for that matter) but they don't get the adult jokes and Parental Bonus... yet. Mandy mentioned before how she liked the pureed spaghetti and the wiener dog-dressed-like-a-pig skits (i.e. random kiddie "comedy") but she's quite naive of a sketch that is brimming with Les Yay flirting and under-the-radar jokes.

After seeing the Kids Choice Awards, does anyone else find it interesting...

• That Miranda's show has bested Selena's for favorite show three times in a row, yet Selena wins best actress over her those same times? Honestly, iCarly's current season is averaging over 5 million viewers per episode. Wizards' currently has 3.7 I think. So what factored into how she got so many votes? And this is coming from someone who voted Victoria for favorite actress, should that mean anything.
  • I'm guessing all the new found Bieber related friends couldn't get past the amount of total iCarly fans. Who else was up for that award Selena won? The other nick stars probably split the vote. Miranda Cosgrove suffers from Designated Protagonist Syndrome for a reason, and that reason is a lot of the Jenette/Sam fans.
    • For favorite actress? She was also against Miley Cyrus, Miranda Cosgrove and Victoria Justice.
    • Pretty much sums that people like rebel/anti-hero characters like Sam and Alex. The Carly/Sam fandom schism could relate to the likes of the Cyclops/Wolverine tandem (esp with a "common love interest"). Cyclops is often viewed and ripped on as the boring everyman leader, while Wolverine shows off how badass and rebellious he is and the more popular one fandom-wise. Besides, being a protagonist Badass, Jerkass with a dose of Karma Houdini had also been a dream for a lot of us people in real life.

Where does the door in the Shay's kitchen lead?

• The other hallway of the building.
  • In iWant A World Record they wheel out the tech cart through the matching hallway in the studio level, and then in the next scene Carly says they are moving through the "back stairwell" which is a typical grey concrete emergency stairwell. The hallways lead either directly to the emergency stairwell, or more likely, another set of rooms, and then onto the emergency stairwell which is probably covered by the same security features as the elevator but with an internal easy unlock (as an emergency door).

What's the deal with the production?

• Is iLost My Mind the start of season 5, or is it the start of the second half of season 4? I know that the production for the show is massively screwed up, but searching brings up both the "Season 5" and "Season 4 Part 2" ideas.
  • The new episode has a brand new title sequence, something that's only been reserved when they release a new season also in several interviews its talked about as season 5, on the other hand there are press releases that say season 5 starts filming in 2012 so yeah its confusing.
  • Confirmed to be season 4 part 2.

Where are the trolls?

And I mean real trolls. I'm talking 4Chan users here. ICarly shows a terrible understanding of how the internet really works.

• Are you kidding me? Maybe they're absent because an episode centering around people posting porn and screetching poorly spelled racial epithets would be a poor choice for what's primarily supposed to be a kids show?
• Where are all the trolls for real Web Original series?

Spencer saying, "Which is so stupid because we rent this place."

What was stupid about it?

• They spent thousands and thousands of dollars on improving an apartment they don't own. So if the lease runs out and the person who owns it takes it back, they, in all likelihood, will lose the majority of the money they spent on it.
• There's also the fact that, if the characters have aged, Carly is 16 or 17 (or possibly 18). What if Carly chooses to go to college out-of-state or moves out sometime after her 18th birthday (if she's not 18 already)? So Spencer spent $80,000 on a room that may only be used for one or two more years. Very stupid.

Jennette's new show

• I could post this on Dan's headscratchers page, but i'm posting it here where it's more likely to be noticed. We already know that iCarly is ending production in June, because I know that Miranda is going off to college and has outgrown the show. I don't know about Nathan, but if Jennette is older than either of them and most of the Victorious cast (will be 20 in June), then wouldn't she be too old to start her own show with him by then? How will this work?
  • Nick doesn't care about how old their actors are. Almost all their teenaged actors leave on their own because they get restless or the show they are there to film ends. ICarly would go another 4 years if Nick was getting results and the actors wanted it. As for Jennette's new show, Jennette has had a clause in her contract about getting a pilot made for her for years, when Miranda signed her contract getting $180,000 per episode the other two got their own contracts as well. Even though the show went on far longer than they intended, they still have to honour the contract. I don't know if they actually filmed a pilot yet, but Nick are probably getting desperate as their ratings have tanked (ironically they only started falling when the Seddie arc aired in Sep 2011 that Jennette was a major part of) so they greenlit a show for her that will probably help Nick replace iCarly somewhat. I believe they are going to make her character a college age student, and it involves her, Drake Bell and 3 or so younger kids.
    • True, I can understand why you'd think that (Nick not caring about ages of their stars), because Big Time Rush is still on and the guys there are well over 18. But where did you hear of Drake Bell being on it? I thought he and Josh had moved on from Schneiderverse (though he has been in A Fairly Odd Movie and Rags). With that said, i'm pretty sure Dan will begin Jennette's show after iCarly has wrapped up for good.

Nevel hacking the iCarly site.

• When Nevel hacked the iCarly website, why didn't they post on their forum that they were being hacked. There was no indication he hacked their forums. They could've told their viewers what was going on.
  • There's also never been an indication they even have a forum.
    • Yeah, could just be comments on the videos like on Youtube, and when the site was taken over they all get removed.
      • Confirmed in Istart a fan war that icarly forums do exist but they dont seem to be an official part of the website when Adam says "yeah I was poking around some forums online", whether these forums existed when Nevel hacked the icarly site is another question.

Carly, Freddie trespassing and not being punished in iSpy A Mean Teacher.

• It bugs me how Carly and Freddie didn't get arrested for trespassing on private property in that episode? Especially with how spiteful and mean the teacher is, like she wouldn't report them! It's just encouraging kids to 1: spy on other people, similar to stalking 2: run into someone else's house just because they could, because the owner was gone 3: hide in someone else's closet and steal things from them (the cologne Freddie took and the cereal he ate)! Every one of those things are federal crimes! Why weren't there consequences? (and no, the lady playing bagpipes on iCarly is NOT consequence enough).
  • iSpy On a Mean Teacher. Funnily enough, it is not the episode titled iPie. Firstly, they are like 13, maybe 14 in those early episodes. They cops probably wouldn't have bothered, let alone arrested them. The teacher got to inflict a punishment on her own. Also Rule of Funny.
  • You understand that this is typical of the Schneider-verse, yes?

iSpy A Mean Teacher, Sam Calling Ms. Briggs on the Phone

This is rather small, but it's been bugging me for a long time: In the episode mentioned above, Carly and Freddie are trapped inside Ms. Brigg's closet. Sam (on the phone) tells them to "give her sixty seconds, then go for the door." Sam follows up by calling Ms. Briggs and feeds her a load about being from the Federal Bereau of Milk. Now, the entire thing with the FBM is excusable due in no small part to Rule of Funny. What just bugs me is that Sam called Ms. Briggs on the phone. How, exactly, did Sam have her phone number? She called her immidiately after she was done talking to Carly and Freddie. I don't think Sam is likely to have an evil teacher on speed dial.

• It's still not unlikely for students to have their teachers' numbers (home and/or mobile) in their phone books (especially during high school or college). Briggs' number being passed on to Sam by Carly and their other classmates is also quite plausible.

iPilot = 13 million viewers in one airing or two?

• Okay, this has been getting at me for a while. I have a very hard time believing that iPilot's 13 million viewers were in one telecast when it premiered on September 8, 2007. I remember hearing that they WERE in two, and the second had around ~30% more than the first. Dan Schneider has mentioned that iSaved Your Life was the most watched episode ever with 11.2 million, and that Victorious had the most watched live action premiere in Nickelodeon history with 5.7. And if memory serves, iWant More Viewers after iPilot had 3.7 million, so I have a hard time believing that a 13 million would serve as a lead-in into a 3.7 million. If the Victorious premiere WAS #1 (or #2 if you count Big Time School of Rocque and its 6.8 million), then iPilot's first airing must have had like, .1 million less...I can't spin my head around this.
  • You are right. I did a little digging and found this: News release. It clearly says that it includes both the 8:30 Saturday premiere, and the 11:30am Sunday encore did 30% better. My calculations seem to show the same thing you've done, which is the likely audience for the premiere is 5.6 million. 30% more than this gives the encore an audience of 7.3 million for a total of 13 million.
  • Victorious does not have the most watched live action premiere in Nick history. Schneider stated this but the information is false. The title still belongs to Big Time Rush.

iGive Away A Car, how can they give one to Nevel?

• In "iGive Away a Car", how can they have a car giveway contest and give away a "new car that travels at 30 miles per hour" to a person who doesn't even have a driver's license, or isn't old enough to drive? Highly illogical. Aren't these kinds of contests only for people that are 18 and up? The iCarly contest is intended for the webshow audience (mostly children and teens).
  • I don't think the age of the winner, or if they have a drivers license matters. I'm sure you can give away almost anything you want as a prize to anyone who enters correctly, but you would need to check Seattle city/state law to be sure. A requirement for the car to drive x fast and the whole risk of losing the website is just Rule of Drama though. The fact they didn't bother to check if the car actually existed is a bit of a problem. Many websites/magazines and whatnot can actually run into trouble in a similar way to how this happened on the show, as like in the show, most prizes given away are done via sponsors and have nothing to do at all with the actual site/magazine, so if the sponsor pulls out or delays, the winner can be left in the lurch because the Magazine/website can't do anything, and doesn't have the prize.
  • Have you seen this episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide in which Cookie wins a car, but when he mentions his age, the moderator on the radio apologizes and tells him that he's too young to participate?
  • But in real life, these contests are held by people who are 18 and up, and are for people who are 18 and up.
    • They got Spencer to sign the competition forms. I don't think it matters if someone is 18 or not, you would just give the prize to a guardian.
    • But you saw Nevel getting the car (fake!prop from Galaxy Wars) and driving it away, then crashing it into the flower shop? And how does that thing have an engine already?
    • I think Socko put the engine in the car, and presumably Nevel was on private property or something and thought it was okay to test. Personally, I'd go for Rule of Funny from everything after they decide to convert the prop into a car.
    • Just because it's a prop doesn't mean it doesn't work. The Batmobile's technically considered a prop and most movie and live-action television versions were functional.

Sam owing Freddie money.

• Okay, so in the beginning of iHatchChicks, Chet traps Freddie in his armpit and they bribe him with beef jerky. Freddie owes same $5 for the jerky. Sam pulls Chet of Freddie again, but claims he doesn't owe Sam because she took his wallet. So does Freddie still owe Sam money?
  • I doubt anyone paid anyone any money. They only really seem to care when it's larger amounts, such as the $30 Sam borrowed, which caused the plotline in iOwe You. They are probably just like most sets of friends, who 'borrow' money from each other, and no-one really tracks it, until it becomes heavily one-sided (like with Sam), or large amounts (again, like Sam).

iFight Shelby Marx.

• Why does everyone call Carly a coward for not entering the fight, yet congratulate her when she goes through the fight by clinging on to Shelby's leg. Come to think of it, why would Shelby go through with the fight at all? She wanted payback because of her grandmother yes, but you know who also started a fight with internet geeks with the intent to beat them senseless? UWE BOLL. Would Shelby really want to flush her popularity by doing something that made Boll even less popular?
  • Completely agree with you on your first question, but at first, Shelby was not coming into the fight to beat anyone senseless. After Carly insulted her grandmother, she wanted to beat Carly's face in to defend her. I don't think her fans or the general public would've been upset with Shelby for winning in a fight against Carly. iCarly is popular in their universe, but certainly not as popular as a young, hot, vicious martial arts fighter (in a world where martial arts fights are popular and their competitors' are celebrities). Her fans would want her to win the fight. The comparison with Uwe Boll dosen't really work because Boll didn't fight fair by not bothering to give his opponents proper training.

Sam's mom, and Freddie being a buttmonkey.

• When Sam's mom accidentally drives through a wall in the school, destroying a locker, why is it that as soon as she leaves the teacher who finds Freddie standing next to the wreckage assumes he his somehow responsible?
  • Adults Are Useless, with a generous dose of Rule of Funny.
  • It was a Running Gag. At least twice before in the episode, Freddie got blamed for whatever was going on with the locker.
  • Car vs. school building. The car's a 30-year-old model with a reputation for rusting badly, the school looks to be pre-World War Two and probably very solidly built. 'HOW' the 'HELL' does the school come out the worse in that!?! (yeah, yeah, Rule of Funny...)
  • Don't forget Status Quo Is God!

iWant Locker 239 and Sam's fatcake knowing power.

• To win the contest for the huge locker, is there an actual reason for why Sam knows how many meatcakes there are? It just seems like a random ability created to make Freddie suffer.
  • Fatcakes. And no, there is no reason, except for Mama knows her fatcakes. You'd think they'd have her cheat or something, but they just had her guess the right number, and had Sam Hand Wave it with the above quote (I think, that could've been from another episode).
  • "Mama knows her fatcakes" was intended to mean just that-- Sam knows fatcakes better than anyone else. She knows them when it comes to size, texture, relative volume of the packaging and all physical characteristics that would indicate how they behave when they're piled up or stuffed into something. She can't do the math behind it, but she can be pretty observant when she cares enough to try. It's still a stretch, but it's a somewhat reasonable stretch given that she's actually pretty familiar with the product in question.

Carly's attitudes of girlyness in "iMake Sam Girlier"

It may just be me (a guy), but didn't Carly's advice of how to be irly kinda seem odd. Like the "nice girls don't get into fights", when it was practiced it made it sound like you shouldn't defend yourself from bullies instead of don't seek fights which may have been Carly's intent. And the way she prues her, is that the way she thinks of being a girl or is it a way she secretly wants Sam to be?

• • Personally I thought it was implied that Carly had no idea how to be girly so picked the most stereotypical traits that dont always work in reality.
  • I think the point was that this is Carly's idea of what being a girl is because that is how she is allowed to behave. Basically, Carly can be a "girl", who never has to fight or even stand up for herself too much, because Sam is always there to fight her battles. Since, Carly doesn't have a mother or any other close female friends she just assumes that is what all "real" girls are like.

How could Nevel be Carly's boyfriend in "iChristmas"?

The reason they met in the first place was because Carly wanted him to write a review of iCarly on his website. Since the show didn't exist in the world where Spencer was normal, it's very unlikely they ever met let alone date each other.

• The normal Spencer world is just mysterious like that. They apparently don't live too far from each other, maybe in their world a boundary for Nevel going to Carly's school shifted just enough for that to happen. Maybe Nevel lives in a different location. There are probably dozens of reasons why it might happen.

iFight Shelby Marx MAJOR goof

• When Nevel was showing Shelby the fake video, how did she not notice that Carly's mouth didn't move on her "lines"? You can see Sam talking at the time, but on "What should we do?" and "I'll do it!", Carly doesn't seem to be talking. How did Shelby not notice this?!
  • She may not have been looking hard enough. To catch something like that, you'd have to look closely.

Why didn't Sam beat up the criminals in iThink They Kissed?

• Wait a second. Sam has been shown beating up huge bullies and adults on a regular basis. It's been implied that she can beat up the entire high school football team. So how, in "iThink They Kissed", did she manage to get overpowered and restrained by two unarmed criminals?
  • Because the writers couldn't think of a better way to end the episode, so there.
    • The criminals, who are pretty hardcore, probably murderers, would split, they might even have shivs on them. Sam couldn't possibly get both of them at the same time. If one of them just holds up Sam (it took time for Sam to beat that bully up), the other could run over to Freddie, who wouldn't stand a chance at stopping the criminal but would still try to protect Carly, even though he could be killed doing so. Sam wouldn't risk getting Carly and Freddie hurt.
    • This was confirmed by Word of God, when asked about it by a fan Dan Schneider said something amounting to "in a dark alley alone, Sam would've fought them in an instant, but with Carly and Freddie around she couldn't risk letting them get hurt".

Ms Briggs and Mr Howard.

• Why is it that Principal Franklin can be fired for doing things "that are unbecoming of a principal", yet Briggs and Howard can be basically abusive towards students (giving Gibby detention for "being too Gibby"?) and suffer no consequences?
  • And why would the district hire someone like Lauren Ackerman without any kind of background check? She's abusive and unfair to her students, and her excuse is that her boyfriend dumped her. She's clearly got mental issues, and yet the district has no problem with her being a teacher?
    • Rule of Funny, with a touch of Adults Are Useless. Everyone on this show is fucked up. The teachers are like extreme versions of teacher cliches (old witch teacher, crazy science teacher, strict mean guy teacher, mid-20's nice teacher who brings her personal life into the classroom) combined with the typical view of teens that teachers get away with doing whatever they want because they are teachers. Since Principal Franklin is the only recurring teacher who the students like, of course he's going to get fired.
    • Briggs/Howard spent at least $80-100,000 worth of school district money on surveillance cameras and implemented school uniforms at a direct cost to the families of probably $150-200 per kid, minimum. In the space of one weekend in the depths of the Great Recession! Never mind that in Real Life they'd barely have had time to schedule the first public meeting to discuss forming an exploratory committee before Franklin was brought back - they don't have to worry about Gibby reporting what they did to him, they've blown any chance of ever becoming administrators again because they spend like a billionaire with two weeks to live.
      • Rule of Funny natch.

iEnrage Gibby, Spencer's fake death.

• Okay, in the episode where Spencer was pretending to be dead, why was no one considered about Carly's living arrangements? Her only guardian is "dead" and they're just going to leave a young girl to live by herself?!
  • First, he wasn't legally dead. It was just a mis-printed newspaper. Generally the stuff like guardianship and whatnot is done by official government sources and only when things are set into motion by police.
  • But still, there were people who at least thought he was dead, so why didn't they try and take any action? All they did was stand around like zebras and console Carly.
    • Only 3 people actually turned up because of his death. An art critic, an art buyer, and an ex-girlfriend. None of them were at all close to Carly, and they would likely have expected that she was being taken care of by her close family and friends.
      • Yes, but what other people who read the newspaper that know Carly? Her dad is in the military, and her mom is...well...who knows, and no one brought up her living arrangements at all.
      • Because it wouldn't have been funny and a waste of time on the actual show? For all we know, maybe Carly had to deal with a bunch of phone calls from relatives and family members where all she said was "No, he's not dead, it's a mis-print" over and over.
  • What bugs me about this is the fact that Spencer is committing FRAUD and it is viewed as a GOOD thing. Spencer could've contacted the newspaper and told them there was a mistake and gotten it corrected, instead he decides to go on with it so he can get money. That is fraud, that is illegal, but even his own sister does nothing to stop him. What?

iPsycho, Gibby not calling the police.

• Why didn't Gibby just call the cops and tell them that the iCarly kids were locked up in Nora's house? Why waste time going all the way to Olympia when the police would've been there in maybe 10 minutes?
  • So he could have his wrestling match with Nora and get a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Why did Gibby spend hours trying to get $5 out of a tree? Why was he so excited to massage Spencers back? Why does he take his shirt off? Why does Gibby do anything? Calling the cops would have been far too logical for Gibby.
    • And when you think about how dumb Gibby is portrayed in the first two seasons, you cab see how he forget to call the cops, and Spencer. He isn't as dumb as he was back then, not to the point of Flanderization, IPWV proves how dumb he can be.
  • I don't think the following question need its own section, but why does Guppy take so long to go downstairs during the fight? Is he slow, or the other kind of slow.

Why did Sam ask Carly to teach her to be more girly in iMake Sam Girlier if she already had a past as a pageant girl?

• Because Sam a) hasn't done a pageant in about 7 years at that point and b)wasn't exactly the "girliest" pageant girl. IIRC, Carly taught her "girly" behavior as well as clothing.

How the frick did Sam win the pageant in iWas a Pageant Girl?

• Granted, the dance number was good, but I can't imagine that saving an otherwise flop of a performance. And once we learn that Sam doesn't actually have a legitimate reason to hate her rival (she's too nice), Rule of Funny goes out the window.
  • There's many reasons why Sam is an example at Jerk Sue. This is one of them.
  • About the rival, she does seem to be rather Mary Sue-ish, and you know how we feel about them.
    • It's a beauty pageant. The girls are supposed to appear Mary Sue-ish. There just isn't any reason why Sam should win here, except that she's a main character.
  • The judges were impressed by her... stage presence.
  • I think it should have been tossed out - it was a duet dance, not just her talent. And where did they get the set so quickly?
  • The judges could easily have been fans of the iCarly webshow (like every minor character on this show seems to be) or just happen to know Sam is "famous". Its not like judges pain stakingly weigh all factors before coming up with a decision for a minor beauty pagent. They have a very attractive girl who is an "internet celebrity" and did fairly well in her talent. I don't think its strange at all that she won.

Nora in iPsycho.

If she had killed Gibby with that fire poker, what would she have done with Guppy?

• Since we can assume she obviously wouldn't have just let him go, we can only hope she would just lock him up with the others.
• Also, something that always bugged me is that Nora told Gibby, "There is nobody in my basement." A minute later, Gibby is shouting at her, "Where are my friends?!" Uh, what?
  • Because anyone with half a brain would have known she was lying.
• Wait . . . why did Gibby bring his little brother in the first place?
  • Because he didn't want him to be at the loft by himself with Spencer?
• Also, Nora said that if Freddie didn't kiss her, she wouldn't give them food. Wouldn't they eventually die of starvation, then?
  • She probably meant for a long period of time.

iThink They Kissed, Carly being upset over the secret

• Why was Carly so upset because Freddie and Sam didn't tell her they kissed? What reason did she have to know? Just because they're best friends doesn't mean they have to tell each other everything. She was acting like they're married to each other! There's nothing wrong with friends, no matter how close, having secrets.
  • Indeed, Carly took the entire secret kiss thing like a best-friends-Mistaken for Cheating scenario, from Sam's unintentional admission to Carly forcing the truth out of Freddie. Carly's being upset has a more evident tone of jealousy than Sam's vague expression of being left alone in iSpeed Date. It's rather funny to note that Carly was so curious if Freddie and Sam liked their 8 second kiss (something that is very personal). And when the brief stint Carly became infatuated with Freddie came, he proclaimed in his blog that Carly and him shared a glorious kiss in the duration of Mrs. Benson's absence. Carly sure knows how to leave her mark.
  • And the fact that they had just been bound up by escaped criminals. You would think they would be screaming for help, not debating their relationships.
  • It's to play up the Unresolved Sexual Tension between the trio, and to make the Shippers ask questions.

Carly's apathy towards Spencer using the insurance without telling her

That was tons of money, and it came from her dead grandmother's destroyed watch. Why wasn't Carly angry that Spencer didn't consult with her about what to use the money for? Also, why did Spencer do it? He can't seriously be so inconsiderate that he'd use the insurance money from their dead grandmother's watch which was given to Carly on a new room without her consent.

• Neither of them seemed to have been to close to her. They made a joke about not going to her funeral and then shrugged it off with a laugh.
  • I was more annoyed by the way Spencer laughed away the entire plot at the last minute. "We spent $80,000 getting you this new room! Which is really stupid, 'cause we rent this place, but who cares!?" Writers, if you know an idea is stupid, why do you go through with it? A handwave doesn't make it better, guys.
    • I don't think it was ever said if it was owned or rented before, so it seemed more like the chance to throw in another joke. But still. Stupid. And Rule of Funny I guess.
  • I was bothered because I don't think $80,000 truly went into that room. Realistically, maybe 40,000 at most.
    • Most of Carly's furniture comes from a company called Jellio including the lamp that set on fire, Carly has something the company calls a Candelier, the mini version costs $2,400 but Carly more than likely has the big one which is listed as up on request, so its probably about $5,000, her ice cream bench costs $950, the cupcake table costs $750, she has at least 9 lamps which cost $125 each so that's another $1125, she has a pear pad which is basically an ipad which would cost at least $500. Were already up to $8325 and thats barely made a dent on the stuff in her room, the computer and tv screen looked super expensive, all her clothes had to be bought, her bed, the table with the boat in it. Her room is expensive.
  • I agree about the 40,000 thing. 8325 bucks is barely 1/10 of 80,000. They didn't spend CLOSE to 80,000.
  • Don't forget that they basically had to gut the walls and rebuild everything. Supports, walls, electricity, insulation, repair that section of the air system, cleaning afterwards. Even assuming they didn't pay anyone labor, materials for everything could add up trying to get it all done in only a few hours.
  • Perhaps it's just me, but if someone got me a brand-new room, and one like Spencer got Carly for that matter, I wouldn't even think of complaining!
    • True, but Lampshaded in that it's mentioned that the new room still doesn't contain her personal mementos.
    • $80,000 is a crapload of money. You could fix the room up for next to nothing, and Carly would have the rest of the money for buying a car, and paying for college so she doesn't have massive student loans hanging over her head.

What DID the goat do?

Seriously, I want to know.

• Heavily implied that it humped her, I thought.
• I like the idea that it ate some of her clothes
  • And then humped her.
    • And then humped her clothes.
• See Noodle Incident.
• *sigh* Well I've been keeping this to myself for a long time, thinking everyone else got the same answer. But I guess not. So here we go, if you've been to Zoo's very often, or if you have seen some of the America's Funniest Home Video clips, you could see that what the goat did to Carly was It thought that Carly was it's mother, and tried being nursed from her. It most likely had been a baby goat.

iSam's Mom

• Not sure what you're upset about there, troper. Although this troper hates the name of the episode. They couldn't think of anything more original? Really?
  • Is it just "iSam's Mom"? That doesn't even makes sense. If it's something like 'iMeet Sam's Mom' that's still kinda stupid because you have to figure that they've seen her mom before the audience.
  • Will reading it like "I, Sam's Mom" cool you tropers' nerves? At least the title can still make context.

Carly Watching Drake and Josh

Is it just me or is Carly watching Drake and Josh in iPrank? The girl she was listening to on the TV sounded alot like a younger Miranda and Carly comments on the girl's pranking ability possibly making this a shout out to the fans. And if Carly is watching Drake and Josh, does this mean that Miranda Cosgrove is a real person in the iCarly Universe?

• Yeah. Carly is watching Megan and comments on how that 'little girl can prank so well', and then later Spencer watches Crazy Steve from another Drake and Josh episode.
  • And while we're on the subject, how did Eric Blonowitz, Craig Ramirez, and Gavin from that show appear in iStart a Fan War if they are TV characters in this universe?
  • A larger one: Tori from Victorious appeared once here. Since Drake & Josh appeared on TV, How did Helen come the new principal at Hollywood Arts?

iSell Penny Tees

First of all, what is a "penny tee"? Next, was I the only one who didn't find this episode funny at all?

• Penny tees are those t-shirts all the characters wear. They were supposed to have been the creation of Socko's sister, Penny, but apparently that fact got dropped somewhere along the line. I also have to agree the episode definitely crossed a line. This troper is usually pretty forgiving of Sam's Jerkass tendencies but keeping a bunch of kids in a sweat shop is just too much. And then at the end of the episode, Freddie and Carly get treated as just as much in the wrong for being "too nice."
• Aside from being named after Penny, the shirts are labeled as such because of its "trademark": a single penny sewn onto the trim of its left sleeve. Perhaps this episode is also an attempt how far Dan's shows can be: the Ping-Pong Scam of Victorious also tackled something that is "illegal", much like Sam's child-labor sweatshop. Seeing that Nickelodeon also aired these themed episodes on the same weekend, it proves that Nick's radar has totally malfunctioned. And it also shows that Sam is on her way to claim her place as Megan's righthand <cue Dies Irae>.

What is iStart a Fan War about?

The Jack Black trailers are.. Confusing.

• Hmm. Carly, Freddie and Sam head to Webicon (like Comicon) to do a 'panel'.
  • Spencer and Jack Black get into a constume/fanboy contest about who has the best costume or knoweldge of some fictional show.
  • Adam is a bland pretty boy who goes after Carly. He appears jealous/worried about Carly's relationship with Freddie. The webicon panel quickly descends into a Shipping riot.

The relationship with Drake and Josh

Ok this bugs me. In I Get Pranky Drake and Josh is a TV show within the show itself, that's fine, but THEN we get the cameos in I Start A Fan War. How does this work!? Is Drake and Josh a show in the setting or not?

• That is like questioning how "John Connor sends Kyle Reese to the past to protect his mother without knowing Kyle would be John's own father" works. There's already the Celebrity Paradox of Carly AND Craig/Eric not recognizing Carly's resemblance to Megan, plus the Parker-Nichols Hotel (and many more D&J elements) also exist within the iCary-verse. I don't find it a big deal if the writers would like to inject some reference to the D&J AND having it exist in iCarly.
  • Well, to start off with, undoubtedly, Zoey 101, ICarly and Victorious are connected and part of the same universe. Characters from Zoey 101 were mentioned and have now shown up in cameo appearences in ICarly, and ICarly and Victorious are having a crossover.
  • Drake and Josh is clearly a tv show in that universe, as Drake Bell the actor and not Drake the 'Drake' in Drake and Josh showed up in Zoey 101. Carly and Spencer have both watched episodes of Drake and Josh during ICarly.
  • The way I see it, is one of the following:
    • That the actors of Craig and Eric are both named Craig and Eric (just like Drake and Josh were played by a Drake and Josh), and essentially play themselves on Drake and Josh. Meaning they acted on the in-universe tv show of Drake and Josh, and they are the actual real actors showing up at the ICarly webicon event.
    • That there is some kind of Literary Agent Hypothesis going on, and that in the Schneiderverse, Crazy Steve, Megan, Craig and Eric (and probably Lola and anyone else who was played by the same person but different characters on Zoey 101 and iCarly) were played by different people for the non-real life 'in-universe' version of Drake and Josh.
    • This breaks down though because of the Serious Business of iCarly's webshow and Shelby Marx's fighting fame. How come none of their fans point out the resemblance between them and Carly and Tori respectfully?
    • They Just Didn't Care.
    • Possible Hand Wave: In this universe it is just coincidence, they never actually said it was Drake and Josh, let alone the characters' names, it was just a shout out for those who have seen the show. This can explain explain why Craig, Eric, and Gavin can exist in iCarly in character because there is no Drake and Josh, just a really similar show. Of course I don't know the Word of God, so this is speculation.
    • In one episode of Drake and Josh they find near duplicates of each other and in the end we see that those two duplicates got their own tv show couldn't it have been that Carly was watching that fake tv show. If the fake show was a copy of the guy's life than they may have included an annoying little sister.
  • To answer the question, I just watched the Victorious episode Helen Back Again, and at the very end Helen says, "And I thought Crazy Steve was crazy." So that pretty much confirms that all four shows are in the same universe.
    • Then in the next episode of Victorious, "Who Did It to Trina?", the cast mention "Drake and Josh" as a show (and they actually said "Drake and Josh"). At this point, I'm pretty sure the Schneiderverse has exploded by now.
    • To answer everything. See the Nick Verse.

In iStart a fan war, why didn't they have crazy Steve?

Yes, I know he and Spencer are played by the same actor, but they could've had him leave before Spencer came, or just not be in a certain camera shot.

• Crazy Steve was too busy going to a Dora the Explorer convention.

What DID Sam draw on Gibby's forehead?

• Come on, don't pretend you didn't see this coming. But yeah, I want to know.
  • Something out of Superbad.

Why can't they sue them?

The kids in iSell Penny Tees. Why can't they sue them? I'm pretty sure you can sue ten year olds, and even if they couldn't they could sue their parents of something.

• Because about 90% of everyone in Schneider-verse is a Karma Houdini, that's why.
  • Did they patent anything? Is a funny t-shirt enough to gain copyright? Would anyone take it seriously? Rule of Funny?
    • Even if they couldn't get the for the T-shirts they could sue them for technically stealing money from them when they took the money and refused to work. And I don't think Rule of Funny applies, since instead of making me laugh it made we want to punch the kids in the face.
  • I think it wasn't they can't sue but that they won't sue. Sam was a pretty bad person in that episode, but I don't think Carly and Freddie would be willing to sue little children. Sam didn't have much grounds to sue them.
    • That'd work out great for Sam.. suing the kids:

Sam: "We're suing you." Kids: "You were running an underage sweat-shop, we're telling the cops."

iHire an idiot. Why couldn't they just hire both?

Really. They had a great worker and a hot guy, neither will get paid, and they chose the hot guy. For hormonal teenage girls, this may have a bit of sense, but why didn't Freddie speak up and say they should hire both? It's not like either is getting paid and they'd have both their hot guy and a great worker. Problem Dan?

• iHire an Idiot and a Pretty Boy Hardworker seems long for an episode. It also ruins the main premise of the episode that the girls hire a moron, which triggers Freddie to go "rogue" and hire is own idiot without the girls' approval.
• Well the main problem seemed to be less that they didn't get the guy that was good with tech stuff, and more that the guy they did get kept wrecking stuff. I mean would hiring the first guy have stopped the dumb guy from eating the props? Would it have stopped him from killing Freddie's laptop? Would it have stopped him from writing on Freddie's pear pad? Unless they hired him to follow him around and keep him from touching stuff, probably not. Yes, they could have hired both, but they'd still have the problem of the dumb guy being "dangerously stupid".
  • Actually, it would mostly fix the problem. Most of those screw ups were from him trying to do his job, and if Brad was doing it instead, they could just have Cort hangout with them. Problem solved.
  • I'm sure he would of had to do something. I don't know how internships work but I'm sure actual work is required. Plus it would lighten the load for the first guy. I'm sure if he had to do a lot of work and saw that the other "intern" was just sitting there being stupid he'd want them to gve him work too. And he still would of gotten into trouble in some way. The meat he ate had nothing to do with the jobs they gave him but he still caused a problem there.

The hot tub scene

• Couldn't Sikowitz have drowned if he was hiding underwater too long without an air mask or something? (inb4 "Rule of Funny")
  • It's Sikowitz. I wouldn't be surprised if the man didn't need to breathe.

The iCarly cast's reactions to the Victorious characters in iParty With Victorious

When Sam and Carly first see Tori's picture, they remark on how she looks like that Shelby Marx chick that Carly once fought with. Why is it that no one commented on how Andre looks like Harper from iCarly Saves TV. If they could notice the similarities between Tori and Shelby, why not Andre and Harper?

• • Out-of-universe, making the same joke twice would be redundant and clumsy. In-universe, Tori and Shelby Marx are both major characters the iCarly gang has a ton of interaction with. Harper was a minor character from years ago, and they barely even saw Andre.

Sam in the mental hospital

I'm confused. Sam was able to check herself in, but she couldn't check herself out because she was under 18. Why did her age not matter when she checked herself in?

• • Easy. If she said she was suicidal (or at least thought she was for liking Freddie) they would have to admit her regardless of age or parent/guardian consent to prevent her from harming herself. However once in she would have to be under supervision for a minimum amount of time until a doctor could confirm that she was no danger to herself or (possibly) others. The hospital staff shouldn't have even released her with Ms. Puckett's signature if Sam hadn't been there long enough if I remember right.
    • The supervision period is 72 hours, and it was stated that Sam had been missing for 72 hours in the opening of the episode. And the 72 hour supervision period is for those who are involuntarily committed. People who commit themselves may check themselves out anytime they want.
    • My mother used to work on a psych floor in a hospital, but it's been a while so I may not remember the exact details. Long story short it's easy to get committed but harder to get out.

The gang doing iCarly from the mental hospital

Why did Freddie have all of his iCarly equipment with him at the mental hospital? He didn't know beforehand that they'd be forced to do the show from the hospital, and I'm sure he doesn't lug all of that stuff around with him everywhere he goes. They said that they had to iCarly in ten minutes or something, so they couldn't have run back to get everything to do the show.

• Well, he seems to have it on him most of the time. They did iCarly from a party about 1500 miles from home in iParty with Victorious, and from a closet in Japan, neither of which were the result of planning ahead. Also, it seems he can probably run the whole show off his phone if he needs to, so...
  • Also, Rule of Funny applies.

What happened to "Sort out your own problems"?

They spent the entire 2nd episode of the arc building up to Carly telling Sam and Freddie to fix their own problems. Then the 3rd episode has Carly do exactly what she said she wouldn't. She fixes their broken relationship for the 4th time in two episodes, by getting involved and solving the camp/college issue that was completely Sam's fault.

• The fights in the previous episode were pretty much pointless, stupid arguments that Sam and Freddie started themselves. The N.E.R.D. camp issue, while Sam's fault, was brought up because of Carly. Carly probably felt guilty for trying to break her friends up, or responsible for the whole N.E.R.D. application issue being brought up.

Gibby wanting to destroy Sam and Freddie's relationship

• I'm sorry if it was stated in the episode. I missed it. Why did Gibby want to ruin Sam and Freddie's relationship so badly?
  • Since they started dating, Sam stopped abusing Freddie and has been abusing Gibby instead.

Gibby.. just hit Sam back. Punch her in the face if she's being a bitch and abusive to you. Seriously.

It's not as if Sam has the "I'm a girl don't hit me" mentality, Gibby was shown to not have any problem hitting a woman in iPsycho. He could probably take her if iEnrage Gibby was anything to go by. Sam has never ever taken an actual shot on the show, so for all we know, she could be just a scrappy fighter who gets lucky, or has a glass jaw and if anyone tried they'd put her down easy.

• • There are some episodes that imply Gibby is afraid of Sam. And just like Sam could be a scrappy fighter, she could also be a skilled one. Not to mention, if Sam and Gibby were both as good at fighting as it seems to be implied, they'd probably put each other in the hospital and then, a whole new can of worms would just open up.

Seddie Arc: Carly isn't jealous like every other time a girl has Freddie's attention, to point where she's shipping Sam and Freddie apparently?

Getting some early iLMM annoyances out there.. this is probably the worst part of this 'arc', even in the damn crossover Carly gets jealous again, or possessive or whatever you like as long but still has Carly not liking Freddie watching other girls, then she turns around and starts shipping them together, pushing them to keep kissing and watching them like a love struck hawk? This better be very well explained, because her blatant jealously is one of the main parts of Carly's character that isn't 'perfect' and has kept at her core. And it's been there so long that even if they Hand Wave it with some 'character development' it's still stupid because of how long and how recently Carly has acted like that, it shouldn't just vanish for Seddie.

• A lot of people are comparing it to a bad Seddie fan fic and that accusation seems pretty plausible judging from the promo, but we'll just have to wait and see.
• It's possible that it's a I Want My Beloved to Be Happy scenario, and that it'll develop more now that Freddie and Sam are actually in an established relationship.
  • Semi-confirmed on that last point, one of the reasons Carly helps Sam and Freddie is that she wants them to be happy. Not quite I Want My Beloved to Be Happy, but she is giving up her own happiness and time and energy to try and make Sam and Freddie happy together.

iDate Sam And Freddie: What on earth would a relationship be like if it needs a third party to stop it from blowing up?

Again, Carly ends up chaperoning them at a restaurant to stop them from fighting. It's not her job if Sam/Freddie can't behave towards each other or go on a date without ruining things, that's not a good relationship, it means that despite all this 'chemistry' and 'eye sex' and 'love/hate', that they simply aren't a compatible relationship and Freddie should come to that conclusion pretty damn quickly. It's not fair to force someone to be a third wheel like that.

• I'm pretty sure thats going to be the entire point of the episode/arc, its not really a head scratcher and its a little pointless discussing until the episode airs.
  • As of iLove You, it's officially a headscratcher. They broke up simply because they didn't have enough in common. The harmfulness of their relationship wasn't addressed at all.
• It was to iLose My Mind? Because there's no point in the episode where Sam is outside of the mental hospital.
  • Turns out pretty much every promo from this arc has included footage from the other episodes.
  • The episode has Carly finally realize that two people who constantly fight, and Sam clearly telling Freddie she still hates him despite also liking him, that the pair dating is a bad idea and calls them out on it. The plot isn't resolved, and it'll lead into the 3rd episode which was called iBreak Up.

Brad's disappearance.

He first appeared on the show trying to get a job on iCarly as an intern, because it was getting to be too much work for the gang to do by themselves. They eventually got around to hiring him in iOMG, and he helped them on a total of one show before vanishing again. Three episodes later and he hasn't been so much as mentioned. I get that his purpose was largely to kick off the Seddie arc, but in-universe, what the hell happened to him?

• So far we haven't actually seen a whole lot of the webshow being filmed or prepared, so its possible he's still around.
  • Same place Wendy, Shane, Pete, hell, everyone that isn't the current main cast of 6 went. He hasn't been mentioned at all or seen during the filming of the show itself, so it looks like another Brother Chuck.
  • Carly had to cancel a show when Sam and Freddie didn't turn up (iCan't Take It), because she couldn't do it alone with Gibby. That sounds like exactly the time when Brad should have been there. Wendy/Shane/Pete/etc. are excusable, because they're just people at Ridgeway, but Brad was explicitly hired to work on the webshow, so he really should be there when the film the webshow!
  • Another weird thing is that I could have sworn that one of his lines in iOMG referred to him moving to the school which makes it doubly an issue. Can probably file this down to They Just Didn't Care.

Could Nora go to a mental facility?

Forgive me if this is a stupid question. Nora and her parents are pretty much are psychotic, delusional sociopaths willing to kill people over the smallest things. In real life, if they were to be convicted and arrested, would they simply be sent to prison or would they be sent to a mental facility? I'm just asking because I've heard of such happening before.

In iStill Psycho, there's a plot hole.

In iStill Psycho, Spencer comes to pick up Carly, Sam and Freddie, and he really needs to pee. So Nora's mom shows her down to their 'best toilet' downstairs, in the basement, as an excuse to get him on the wheel. How could Nora and her mom know that Spencer would have to pee when he got there?

Does Nick even care about the shit they are dishing up these days?

No wonder their ratings are falling into the toilet. They obviously don't care about oversight, not if they let complete crap like iApril Fool get filmed when people want more realistic, emotional/dramatic and character based stories for the trio.

• Funnily enough an episode or 2 later they have iOwn A Restuarant which is one of the funniest episodes they've done in a long time, that gets rid of the guest stars, the gimmicks and is basically just the old ICarly... and it got the worst ratings in the history of the show. You dun goofed Nick. You've ruined the best thing your network has ever had.
  • While it's true that some people think Nick has been dishing out nothing but crap lately, i'm starting to be convinced that Nielsen is at least somewhat at fault for the lower ratings. Why? Because a user named Jon23812 mentioned on the pages for both iOpen a Restaurant and Driving Tori Crazy (on their respective Wikis) that Nielsen has changed their 25,000 people that determine what's being watched or something like that. Still not convinced? Look at some of the recent cable top 25 tables. So in short, it's not like it's just Nickelodeon and Disney that have been getting hit lately. Clearly, something is up with Nielsen and they need to change soon.

Can the fire department really stop responding?

• In the newest episode, Spencer causes a fire (again) and the chief says they're through with coming to their apartment and if a fire breaks out again, they're on their own. My question is are they really able to do that? Isn't there a law that REQUIRES firefighters to responds when they're called?

Chuck being in the 100th episode

• (Before I say anything else, may as well post where I heard this.) With that said, since Ryan Ochoa is a main cast member on Pair of Kings, a Disney show, is he even allowed to be on Nick anymore because of that? Mindy Sterling being in iApril Fools was different, because her role on ANT Farm is only recurring and not main cast. But how did this one work?

Carly and failure to punish her for muffin basket explosions.

• It just bugs me that Carly gets punished about as often as her alter-ego Megan. In particular, the episode iHurtLewbert, where they give the titular character a booby-trapped muffin basket that explodes, and get off virtually scot-free. Now, I understand that we have to suspend disbelief, but do they really expect us to believe that you can set off an explosion in a building without causing a mass panic or ending up in jail?
  • It's an explosion of MUFFINS. Not all that destructive. And not all that noisy, either...muffins are soft, and so them hitting something isn't going to be horrendously noisy unless something large was knocked over.
  • It was loud enough for Spencer to hear from several floors up, and powerful enough to injure Lewbert.
    • Spencer was watching iCarly and knew what was about to happen. Odds are, he saw it on the show and checked it out. Even if he wasn't watching (was he? I don't remember exactly) it was on the monitor upstairs, and who knows how loud the volume is on that thing? If it could really be heard from seven floors up, why didn't anyone else go downstairs? As for Lewbert getting hurt...he was in relatively close range, and maybe he fell the wrong way.
    • He was lying down on the couch, and heard the explosion and Lewberts scream on the computer on the kitchen bench which was tuned into the webshow.
    • Carly isn't NEARLY as bad as Megan was.
      • This troper always found Megan the only reason to watch that show. She was the only character who wasn't an idiot. But then I feel the same way about Alex and Wizards of Waverly Place and Sam is my favorite character here. I guess I have a thing for evil girls.
        • Alex and Sam aren't evil, they both fall under Jerk with a Heart of Gold.

One parent only theme.

• This doesn't just apply to iCarly, but to recent Dan Schneider shows - What's with the "one parent only" theme that's been occurring recently? It's only in Drake and Josh and iCarly, but I'm thinking it might become a continuing theme. Drake and Megan have a mom, no dad. Josh has a dad, no mom. Carly and Spencer have no mom, Freddie's got no dad, and Sam doesn't have a dad. Was Dan Schneider missing a parent or something?
  • It's mostly a money-saving device. Most of these shows try to have a maximum "main cast" of about 5 people, including adults and kids, and as such shows for kids would rather be about the kids. The reason they don't explain that stuff is because it's not really necessary in a comedic show. I mean, if Carly's mom is dead.. you can't really do a funny episode about that, can you now.
  • Drake and Josh had Drake, Josh, Megan, and 2 parents.
  • ICarly has Freddie, Carly and Sam, they use Spencer as the main "adult", with a 5th slot often being Gibby, or occasionally Ms Benson or Nevel.
  • Life with Derek has 2 teenage main characters, 2 tween characters, 2 parents and a little kid that doesn't do much anyway.
  • Wizards of Waverly Place has Alex, Justin, Max, Harper and the 2 parents.
  • Hannah Montana has 2 teenage characters, 2 sidekicks, Rico, and 1 father.
• Well, since 50% (or more) of Americans have divorced parents, isn't this a Truth in Television?

Lewbert and his wart.

• He's always complaining about it, saying how terrible his life has been since he got it. But in the episode where he gets it blown off, he demands to have put on ice that way it can be surgically put back on his face. One: Squick. Two: Why in the world would he want that thing put back on? He could have let the spot heal and have a better life, but no, he had to have his gross cheek wart.* Shudders*
  • Status Quo Is God?
  • I can think of one good reason ...

Freddie having so much gear... EXPENSIVE gear

Freddie is not a billionaire. Freddie has a single mom who does not appear to have any significant amount of money. And yet, Freddie's room (as seen in iSYL) and his laptops, video cameras, etc., belie this. Freddie seems to have an unlimited budget, when really he shouldn't be able to afford the majority of his gear.

• The web show seems to be, in-universe, a smash hit and nationally famous. Besides the gear, Freddie doesn't really have many expenses, being a child, and the website probably gets good money from advertising.
• The biggest issue is probably their ability to steam the webshow live. Everything else can probably be handwaved by "Freddie spending the techfoot money on stuff for the webshow" or possibly some kind of sponsorship in-universe that is limited. Or advertising. As for the computers in his room? Most computer nerd type kids gain access and scrounge up alot of old computers. He's just taken time to get them all working, rather than junking them as he's got better ones. If I kept all the computers I had till I was 18, I'd have about 10.

Sam is a Jerkass. Why do Freddie and Carly hang around with her?

• Sam. She's the worst person ever, abusive to everyone... Carly and Freddie could do so much better. Why do they hang out with her? She's not lovable and vicious, she's just CRAZY.
  • Sometimes I wonder just what made Carly accept Sam as a friend. Sure, Sam liked Carly because she didn't take her crap when she stole her sandwich, but I wouldn't want to be friends with someone who pushed me over and stole my lunch. I think it's obvious Freddie only put up with her shit because he wanted to be with Carly. Sam is pretty much sociopathic.
  • It's the same reason the kids put up with Cartman. In every group of friends, there's one friend that everyone hates but still hang out with (and if you think that's not true, YOU'RE that friend).
    • I get that, but I still wonder just why Carly would decide to let this rude, aggressive lunch stealing girl be her friend? Hmm... Fan Wank time: I could see that it happened when Carly first moved to Seattle so she had no friends, and Sam having none either. So when Carly fought back, Sam decided to follow Carly around for a while whilst Carly didn't want to get rid of someone she could be friends with. Freddie came later, became infatuated with Carly as she was the Girl Next Door, and he probably figured out that Sam was pretty much glued to Carly's hip and he'd have to deal with her.
    • This would be a totally plausible theory if they, you know, hated her. But they don't. Carly tends to pick Sam's friendship over Freddie's (iTwins, iWant More Viewers, and that one moment in iOwe You come to mind), Spencer has a big brother-like relationship with her, and she and Freddie have their moments...occasionally. But they definitely don't hate her.
  • It's called Comedic Sociopathy. She does something crazy, Freddie complains about it, Carly shakes her head in resignation, and we laugh. The fact that they still hang out with her (Carly ponders about this issue in the very first episode, yet four years later they're closer than ever) is supposed to tell us they can see some good in her, despite her (sometimes dangerous and/or illegal) antics. Presumably they love her (as a friend, at least) for her good qualities, and despite the bad ones.

Sam's clothing

Her mother is clearly unemployed, so where does Sam get the money to afford all her nice clothes? She's wearing what seems to be a new designer outfit in every scene, it just seems strange that this has never been brought up in the show.

• I wouldn't say she wears designer clothes. I've seen Sam wear things that I've also seen at Target.
• Various nefarious activities I assume. Maybe she just steals them all. Plus as it happens, the actual wardrobe budget on the show is small, from regular cheap stores, and reused constantly. It's just that the costume people are apparently really good at mixing and matching.
• I wouldn't put it past her to have just "borrowed" stuff from Carly's closet.
• The show doesn't indicate Sam and her mom are dirt poor like Kenny McCormick, even their living room could be seen as presentable.

Sam wearing stripes

In iTwins, it is revealed that "Sam hates stripes." So why does she wear striped shirts in almost every episode - including iThink They Kissed which references that very episode?

• It was handwaved (either on the show or by the Word of God, I forget) that she only hates it when guys wear stripes.

Since when did Sam start dressing in a feminine manner?

I've noticed this since before iMake Sam Girlier. She used to dress in a more masculine manner before. Is it because her actress is maturing?

• Pretty much. It started that way for the character, then they started hiding her 'development', and it's come around to the point where they just go with it and since they are maturing, they have put her in more 'female' clothes. Probably doesn't hurt the ratings either.

Freddie's name

• Is "Fredward" even a real name? It's Edward and Fred mixed together.
  • You just answered your own question.
  • Is "insert other weird name" a real name?
  • You've nearly insulted some people named Fredward. Yes, it's a real name.
  • Perhaps a shout-out to Fred Ward.
  • Does it matter? People make up names for their kids all the time.

Sam being a Karma Houdini

Why does Carly just let Sam pick on Freddie? I think she only stopped her once by spraying her. The other times, she acts like she doesn't give a shit. If I had a friend like that, I'd hold them down while I let the victim hit him/her back.

• She has stood up for Freddie when Sam takes it too far, but usually leaves it alone with it's causing no dangerous harm to Freddie.

Why hasn't anyone punched Sam in the face like I probably would have 3 seasons ago?

The day Freddie finally stands up for himself would be the day Megan Parker gets punished. But let's face facts. Sam managed to out-bitch Naru Narusegawa.

• • In the very first episode, Carly does say to Sam, "Anyone else but me would punch you right in the face." That could mean that if Carly wasn't around, Freddie would actually punch Sam in the face. Well, maybe not punch her in the face, but fight back at least. Freddie seems to like Carly more than he dislikes Sam, so he might refrain from fighting back so as not to upset Carly.

The voices

It seems that everyone's tone of voice has changed recently (duller), and that the lighting is different.

• Do you watch Victorious? If you do, then you might be noticing that the iCarly set is nowhere near as bright and open as the Victorious ones are, so that might be part of the reason.

The characters and their ages

Kids age at different rates, and not everyone looks their age but.. Sam and Freddie look older then they're supposed to be, especially Sam. It looks like they aged quite a lot, which makes more biological sense for Freddie. Sam has.. Filled out a lot.. Gibby and Nevel look a bit older then their ages (they're like 15 and 14, right?).

• • They are more like 16/17 by now on the show. They can't really get any older since they'd be running into graduation age and that can't happen since they are still going to film another 13 episodes in 2012. The ages on this show got a bit wacky, they looked too young for their ages in the earlier eps (Nathan looked like an 8 year old in the Pilot), and now they've grown up Sam/Jen is a badonkadonk blonde bombshell and Carly/Miranda has incredible beauty and Nathan/Freddie is now He-Man they look a bit older than what their ages on the show are.

Gibby.

Why the heck has he not been shirtless 10 eps into season 4?

• Got promoted to main cast, joke was getting stale.
  • Gibby himself lampshaded this in iStill Psycho.

Did I miss an episode where we saw Sam 'fall' for Freddie?

Because I'm looking through my list of episodes, and I'm coming up with nothing. Did I miss some revelation that this episode is based around? Sam starts the episode 'in love' with Freddie. It's out of nowhere and had no development.

• With Sam's ending expression in iSpeed Date; with the bacon theory of iSaved Your Life further confirming a possible ulterior motive on Sam's part. But yes, most of the plot is an Ass Pull given the earlier events of this season which could have been a perfect chance to build them up more for the plot to be reasonable.
  • Sam's expression in iSpeed Date didn't really show (in my opinion) that she was in love with Freddie.
• I thought it was just something that she was feeling for a while but has trouble expressing her feelings? I guess her being incredibly hostile towards Freddie was her way of showing affection.
  • This is what I thought, and I'm not even a shipper. The "mean and violent towards your love interest" thing was something I had become accustomed to from one of Nick's earlier shows, so I just assumed it was going to come to light at one point or another. I do agree that the plot could have been done better, though.
  • Well Dan's not exactly the best when it comes to build up. I think he has all the ideas in his mind as to why this works, but it didn't translate on screen. If you wanna reach far enough: Sam is extremely abrasive and especially to Freddie, and after iKiss, she might have been developing some sort of feelings. I mean, in iTTK, Sam brought up their kiss, and it seems too far fetched for laughing has to magically bring secrets like that up. It must've been on her mind at the time. Shows like this that adhere religiously to the status quo make it impossible for any development to occur. And besides, apparently it's hilarious for Sam to grievously injure Freddie...*cough* Also, there may have been pressure to keep the status quo as well between the 3 best friends. Note how Sam was nice and helpful when alone with Freddie and Brad. I guess Brad was just an excuse? I mean they are a bit more civilized whenever Carly isn't around. Hopefully Dan realistically explains this, because I like this ship and I don't want some lazy ass-pull.
    • The funny thing is that the subsequent episodes appear to show that Freddie seems to legitimately believe Sam hates him, and because one of the major indications that something is wrong is that Sam starts hanging around Freddie, it makes it look like Sam and Freddie's friendship is barely there and they never spend time along together. I think anyone looking at the arc objectively can see the arc itself has several massive flaws in addition to the whole Stockholm Syndrome plot where Freddie gets bullied and emotionally abused and called worthless for 5 years then turns around and likes the girl who was doing it.
    • iKiss shortly followed by iMeet Fred is too ironic and inexcusable to mention in terms of the first sentence, so no surprises if Dan pulls another such episode again in the aftermath of iOMG. Hey Arnold works for a cartoon. iCarly is live action. But it would be quite interesting if they actually get Sam and Freddie together and then Sam gets nothing short like Melanie in terms of girliness around her BF. It will kill the established Vitriolic Best Buds comedy since the pilot and would be just as "boring" and "perfect" (if those 2 words even work together) as some claim against the friendship of the other major (yet minority) pairing. Time will tell.
  • Was eventually referred to. Sam pushed Freddie into an oncoming bike courier. The courier hit Freddie and caused him to fall face first into a fire hydrant. While he was bleeding from the ears, Sam suddenly decided he was cute. There. That's the true love of Sam/Freddie. Likely to have happened just before iOMG based on Sam's unchanged behaviour previous to that episode.

Why is iMeet Fred allegedly a Seddie killer?

• After watching it, I still don't see it. She's no more abusive than normal, and Carly (and the rest of the world...) is just as mad at him as Sam.
  • I don't like the show enough to ship for it, but something tells me the fact that she beat him with a tennis racket, threw him out of a tree house, then jumped on him mght have something to do with it.
  • It's not a Ship Sinking (because that is in-universe relationship 'death' and that clearly hasn't happened), but it is the biggest event for Abandon Ship that Seddie has. Which is a fandom trope.
  • But I still don't get why. I mean, she always beats Freddie up, and normally Seddie shippers claim that they have a Slap Slap Kiss relationship.
  • Because it's worse than Sam's typical behaviour, beating him with a tennis raqcuet and then throwing him out of a treehouse because of his opinion? Also, many people still ship Seddie anyway, and prefer to ignore it or claim it as 'Rule of Funny'.

Was Freddie just bored of not having a girlfriend?

• He hasn't explained his own role in the relationship, his initial reaction in iOMG and the start of iLose My Mind basically shows us he didn't like her back. Did he just go away for 3 days and then decided after going to the mental hospital he couldn't be bothered waiting for Carly and took what Sam was offering without really caring all that much about her to start with?
  • If anything, it could be the possibility that the reason why he decided to hook up with her in the first place so that she would stop abusing him (Not that it did anything).
  • Unless it's somehow discussed in the next episodes (unlikely) we'll never really know, beyond the idea that her kiss in iOMG was 'intense', whatever that means.
  • It was also 'fun'.
  • Quite interesting. On the iCarly site Freddie wrote a blog before iLost My Mind about how awesome it would be to have a girlfriend.