Hold my ‘Zumba juice’ this one is a doozy
Wake up the members of our nation because iCarly is back almost 10 years after its series finale in 2012. The new iCarly streams on Paramount Plus and has three episodes available to binge.
This beloved show that Zillenials grew up watching is no longer a kids show; iCarly has gone adult.
This show’s goal is to appeal to the adult audience, or at least it tries.
The first episode exhaustingly attempts to appear more adult-like and hip. References about the present day aren’t savored and spread out. They are used constantly and aren’t executed very well. The adult jokes fall flat and cues no more than an eye roll.
The quality of the acting has digressed; it is apparent that the actors are acting which is not what an audience wants to be able to point out.
The character development struggled at first; Carly is still a sweet, plain vanilla cupcake and Freddy is a two-time divorcé with an adopted child that easily rules over him.
Milicent, Freddy’s adopted child, is devious, easily manipulates Freddy, and is the epitome of cancel culture. Between her and Freddy, she has control, this is a character arch that has been overly used in Disney shows. It does not make the character cute or charming, it makes them annoying and increases frustration with how little the parent actually parents.
Harper, Sam’s replacement and Carly’s new best friend, starts off as a fairly decent character and becomes more likeable than Sam as the episodes progress. She is casually queer, meaning the writers did a good job portraying a real LGBTQ+ character rather than making Harper’s queerness her entire personality.
And finally, Spencer is still a lovable idiot that continues to occasionally set things on fire, except now he is a rich and well-known artist.
The two absolute worst things about the show however are as follows: the infamous character Nora Dershlit and above all, laugh tracks.
While Nora is an iconic character from the first series, she is just randomly thrown into the show without much context. Just like how Nora has forced herself back into the lives of the iCarly gang, the writers did the exact same by tossing her in with no explanation.
Now, utilizing laugh tracks is the worst attribute of any show. It’s a ruse to convince the audience that the written comedy is on par and is used to disguise the poor execution of said comedy. However, if a show that uses laugh tracks but is actually good, such as The Big Bang Theory, the tracks can be forgiven and forgotten. However, the new iCarly is barely decent enough for me to block out the laugh tracks. Unless the jokes fall hard then I become aware and plagued by the sound of dead people’s laughter.
Although the show started off rough, as the episodes progressed, everything eased into place. As an audience we start to see more of the characters’ developments, they become slightly more subtle and less on the nose and the acting finally has some footing.
During the first episode’s struggle, Jerry Trainer, A.K.A Spencer, salvages the show. Although there are some written lines that do not do his acting skills justice.
Carly and Freddy’s friendship is top tier; Freddy no longer simps for Carly and the two characters seem so comfortable together. The friendship feels so natural and supportive. With how mature their relationship is, it makes me wonder if they are now ready to be an actual couple. Only time will tell.
The one thing that truly did not bother me as a viewer was the absence of Sam. I was never fond of her character, and neither was Jennette McCurdy, the actress who played her.
After everything that McCurdy went through while on iCarly, it is more than understandable why she chose not to reprise her role as Sam Puckett.
Overall, the writing needs to be incredibly improved. The writers need to avoid cliches and predictability. It’s that kind of hubris that will bring down the show. iCarly also needs to stop attempting to be hip and down with the Zillenials because that is just too painful to watch. This is just the beginning of the series, however, and I believe as time goes on the show will improve and reclaim its throne as one of the best sitcoms and not have to rely heavily on nostalgia for popularity.