iCarly

Schneider, D. (Writer), & Hoefer, S. (Director). (2007). iPilot (Television series episode). D. Schneider (Producer), iCarly. Los Angeles, CA: Nickelodeon on Sunset.

Schneider, D. (Writer), & Hoefer, S. (Director). (2007). iPilot (Television series episode). D. Schneider (Producer), iLike Jake. Los Angeles, CA: Nickelodeon on Sunset.

Plot Summary:

iCarly is a television show on Nickelodeon starring Miranda Cosgrove as Carly. Carly and her friend Sam host a weekly web show called “iCarly.” Carly’s neighbor, Freddie, who has a crush on her, does all of the technical work for the show. Carly lives with her older brother, an artist, in his loft apartment. In the two episodes I watched, the pilot and another episode of the first season, Carly deals with things like crushes on boys and getting in trouble at school. Her friend Sam has a quick wit and borders on being a bully at times. The web show concept came about in the pilot episode when a video of Sam and Carly talking trash about their teacher. The video went viral, people thought they were entertaining, so they made up their own show. The second episode was about a cute boy at school Carly puts on her show.

Review:

I think it’s great to have a show that deals with modern technology and how kids can get involved with it. Both episodes I watched were pretty silly and there were negative actions without any real consequences, which I thought wasn’t so great. I also felt that Sam’s sense of humor is a little mean spirited and could even be construed as bullyish. Other than that, it’s great to have a show about motivated and creative tweens. I loved the clothing and the sets, the show is really bright and colorful. I would think that mostly girls would be interested in this show. There is a male character, who is pretty funny, but in the episodes I saw, he was not a character I could boys looking up to, but perhaps some could identify with him.

Genre:

Television show

Age Level:

The show was originally rated TV-Y7 (children 7 and older), but is now rated TV-G (general audience).

Subjects/Themes:

Internet, guardian, friendship

Character Names/Descriptions:

Carly Shay: tween girl; best friends with Sam and Freddie; father is away in the Air Force; her older brother, Spencer, is her guardian; hosts an online show with her friends Sam and Freddie

Sam: tween girl; Carly’s best friend; funny; helps host online show with Carly

Freddie: tween boy; neighbor and best friend to Carly; has a crush on Carly; provides technical support for Carly’s show

Spencer: Carly’s 26 year-old brother; is Carly’s guardian; an artist

Annotation:

Carly and her friends, Sam and Freddie, host a web show called iCarly and deal with typical adolescent issues.