“This has been ICarly, for now” were the last words of the final ICarly webisode in what we thought would be the last ICarly episode ever. After six seasons of webisodes, random dancing, and buttersocks, it was finally time to say goodbye to Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove), Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress), and Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy). That is, until now.
After being picked up by the Paramount’s new streaming platform Paramount Plus, ICarly is finally returning almost an entire decade later. So where did we leave off? As it stood, in the series finale entitled, “I Goodbye” that aired on November 23rd, 2012, Carly was leaving Seattle and moving to her father’s military base in Italy. Spencer was fixing up an old motorcycle which he gave to Sam, and Freddie was, well, being Freddie. The series ended with a plethora of heartfelt goodbyes, a final ICarly webisode taping, and one last Carly/Freddie kiss. Carly watched a montage of clips from past episodes while her plane took off, and Sam rode her motorcycle off into the sunset.
The show had gained a massive following, with 6.4 million viewers tuning in to watch the series finale. This success prompted an attempted spin-off called Sam and Cat starring Jennette McCurdy returning to her role as Sam Puckett and Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine, a recurring character from another Nickelodeon hit, Victorious. The series was short-lived and cancelled by Nickelodeon after a single thirty-five episode long season due to behind-the-scenes conflicts.
Though the show’s title character, Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) will be returning when the reboot hits Paramount Plus on June 17th, alongside Nathan Kress as Freddie and Jerry Trainer as the always artistic Spencer, Jennette McCurdy will NOT be reprising her role as Carly’s best friend and ICarly’s co-host. Since the ending of the original ICarly, McCurdy has opened up on her podcast Empty Inside about her current hiatus from acting and the resentment she feels towards her acting career. Back in 2014, McCurdy was also noticeably absent from the 2014 Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards in which she was nominated for “favorite actress” alongside her fellow Sam and Cat co-star Ariana Grande, who took home the category’s golden blimp. Many fans speculated that her absence was due to an off-screen controversy involving her then boyfriend Andre Drummond, though she took to Twitter to say that her absence was due to mistreatment from Nickelodeon.
Another actor who will not be rejoining the ICarly cast this time around is Noah Munck who played the very random, and often very shirtless, Gibby. The reasons for Noah Munck’s departure from the series are vague, though on the OYC Podcast in 2017, Munck recalled having a “strange relationship” with his ICarly character. When ICarly Reboot Producer Jay Kogen was asked on Twitter about whether Munck would be making an appearance, he responded with, “We approached him.” So, let’s not get our hopes up for another segment of, “What’s Gibby Thinking About?” anytime soon.
Thus, in their absence the ICarly cast has opened its arms to two new cast members. The reboot centers around a now much older Carly Shay as she deals with a whole new array of problems regarding fame, friendship, and love. Laci Mosley (Single Parents) joins the cast as Freddie’s ex-wife, Harper (Sorry #Creddie and #Seddie fans) and Jaidyn Triplett as Harper’s daughter Milicent. Although, the ICarly cast and some fans are welcoming the new members with open arms, Mosley has unfortunately had to deal with those who believe her character is there to replace McCurdy's. Paramount Plus and the ICarly reboot team have since taken to social media to condemn all hate and insults towards Mosley, many of which were racist. After a slew of messages from the official ICarly Instagram as well as reboot writer Francesca Ramsey, Mosley took to twitter herself to say, "I’ve been through too much. But f*** you weirdos, being a Black woman is so hard but so lit I’m gonna go harder you’ll be mad forever." Mic. Drop.
Though the show’s demographic has changed to being aimed at an older audience with the trailer showing Spencer pulling out some beers for him and Freddie and a few curse words being thrown here and there, we can still expect the classic ICarly wit and humor to return when the series hits Paramount Plus on June 17th.