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‘iCarly’ Reboot Premiere Review—A Garbage Fire

And we're not clear.

By Jonathan SimPublished 3 years ago 7 min read
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I was ready. I was ready to see Freddie Benson go, “In 5, 4, 3, 2—” and point at Carly Shay as she begins her live web show. I was ready to see Spencer Shay get into weird antics as he sculpts things. I thought I was ready. But I wasn’t.

For your information, I was a huge fan of iCarly growing up. I loved the characters and the fun situations that they got into and how everything would be resolved at the end, usually with a ridiculous subplot centered around my favorite character, Spencer. That show was a huge part of my childhood.

And when I found out the show was getting a reboot, I was beyond thrilled. I could not wait to see these characters again. Right from the trailer, I could tell the show would be more adult-oriented with more language and risqué jokes, and I was all for it.

The first three episodes of the show dropped on Paramount+ this week, and I watched them the first chance I got. But right from the opening scene, I knew something was off. And unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry to say this because of how much I wanted the show to succeed. I’m sorry because I have so much respect for the people who wanted to recapture the magic of the original show and give fans a good laugh because I know how hard it is for artists to make something like this.

But it isn’t good. These first three episodes were a garbage fire. I was demoralized by this show and how truly terrible it was. But I’m not just an asshole critic who takes pride in shitting on people’s hard work. I want to really explain what went wrong with this show and why it failed to meet my expectations.

The show begins with a pilot episode where we have scene after scene of exposition about where the characters are and what’s happening in their lives. We know that Spencer is somehow rich and has remodeled Apartment 8-C, Carly hosted Italian QVC for a few years and came back to Seattle, and Freddie is twice-divorced and has a stepdaughter.

All of this information is given to the audience in the most inorganic way. The characters quite simply state what’s happening in their lives with so little subtlety that they might as well have looked directly into the lens of the camera and stated it for the audience.

One rule of exposition often overlooked is that characters generally should not tell each other information they already know. That’s why movies like Men In Black have a surrogate for the audience (Agent J), where characters can explain the world to fish-out-of-water characters who are learning everything for the first time.

The writing of this show is so unbelievably on-the-nose that it’s a masterclass in how not to give your audience information. Everything is spoon-fed to us in overly scripted exchanges with no real purpose but to give the audience the necessary information.

Let’s talk about nostalgia—this show has had a lot of it. With the return of Baby Spencer and Carly pulling out the mustache used in The Cowboy and the Idiot Farmgirl Who Thought the Cowboy’s Mustache Was a Squirrel, you can see how much the writers want to appease long-time fans of the original series.

But some choices don’t quite work. While I appreciate that they mention the absence of Sam Puckett by saying she was in a biker gang (still nothing about Gibby), it would have been easier just to say she was still in the events of Sam & Cat, running Sam & Cat’s Super Rockin’ Fun Time Babysitting Service. That’s more of a nitpick than anything, but it still kind of bugged me.

As for the second episode, this is where it gets unforgivable—Nora Dershlit returns. You remember the crazy girl who kidnapped our characters in two episodes of iCarly? She’s back in this episode, despite very clearly being put in jail in an episode of Sam & Cat. And she has nothing to do except show up and be quirky. She added nothing to the plot. She was only there so audiences could go, “Hey, it’s Nora!”

Why is that? Because this show entirely relies on nostalgia. It desperately wants us to think back fondly on the old show, almost to distract us from the lack of ingenuity the new show has. It’s like the writers are using the Memberberries from South Park to get us to like this show.

And with the confirmed reappearances of Nevel Papperman and other characters from the original show, this series will likely continue to bring back people who may have shown up in a few episodes of the old show just for kicks.

Because as far as new ideas go, this show has been lacking. We have two new main characters: Harper, Carly’s new best friend, and Millicent, Freddie’s stepdaughter. Neither of the characters is funny or unique yet, with Millicent blackmailing and manipulating her father in the third episode.

But this show has another problem on its hands besides what I’ve mentioned, and once again, it all comes back to the writing: this show is not funny. Many kids’ shows get a pass on things like this because the humor is supposed to appeal to kids, and audiences won’t find them funny.

However, the comedy in this show is more mature. It’s not a show made for kids; it’s a show made for me, a person who grew up with the old show and is now older and can take adult humor. But unfortunately, every attempt at comedy misses.

This show goes for punchline after punchline after punchline, and none of them are funny. It honestly feels like the laugh track is thrown in there at random moments of a scene to give the audience the impression that the dialogue is funny when it’s not.

All of the writing and performances just feels so off. None of the situations feel real; the show gives off a sense that every character is aware that they are on a sitcom and are trying to play to the camera to be as funny as possible. But none of it works because the writing just feels so forced and inorganic.

It’s an awful feeling when I’m watching a show, and they’re trying so incredibly hard to be funny, but every joke misses the mark, and I find myself without even a grin on my face. But that’s what this show is. The attempts to get a laugh by making fun of memes and cancel culture and influencers and haters are more cringeworthy than anything.

There are moments that must have looked good on paper but didn’t work in the long run. One moment from the show that gained traction before its release is when Miranda Cosgrove (who plays Carly) reenacts her “Interesting…” meme from when she played Megan Parker on Drake & Josh.

But when you watch the scene, the editing makes it feel so weird. It feels like Cosgrove was playing Carly Shay, broke character to deliberately make a Drake & Josh reference, and then stepped back into character. Again, everything about this show feels forced.

Situations in the show feel ludicrous. There’s a scene where Harper distracts a crowd of angry live streaming influencers who want to cancel Spencer by pointing at an empty hallway and telling them a person was criticizing their childhood TV show, and this causes the influencers to disperse. I get the point of the joke, but the writing is just so off.

Unfortunately, this feels like a situation of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where we’re getting an addition to a beloved series after a long wait. And after watching it, we really want to convince ourselves that it was everything we hoped for, but in reality, it’s not.

It hurts to say it, but if you took this show and removed all the laugh tracks, the nostalgia, and the familiar faces, this show would face hell from critics and audiences. Because while it’s great to see Carly, Freddie, and Spencer again, this show just doesn’t know what to do with them.

We have Spencer tasing himself and spraying himself with pepper spray in the same scene. That’s the level of slapstick this show is trying to go for. Instead of Spencer’s hilarious rivalry with his archnemesis (a young boy named Chuck), he’s just doing things you would watch in a bad SNL skit.

This show has yet to have a single good idea. The punchlines are awful, and the show doesn’t have an ounce of heart. It’s just an unfunny show that throws nostalgia at you so that you ‘member the glory days of iCarly. But unfortunately, this show cannot stand on its own two feet.

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About the Creator

Jonathan Sim

Film critic. Lover of Pixar, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Back to the Future, and Lord of the Rings.

For business inquiries: [email protected]

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