iCarly: Season 2 vol. 1

I guess in some ways I was lucky when my daughter was in her tween years. She rarely went for the typical television shows that targeted her gender. She moved directly from mutant turtles to the vampires in the syndicated series ‘Forever Night’. Sure, she had a brief stop with ‘Little Mermaid’ nut for the most part her tasted reflected a lot of what her mother and I enjoyed. To be honest there really wasn’t a whole lot on TV back then created for that demographic in mind. Now with the proliferation of cable networks ever possible niche is nicely addressed including tween girls. Over on the Disney Channel the have the widely popular ‘Hannah Montana’ but the over kids network Nickelodeon is not sitting back idly. They created a series that combines the typical interests of girls that age with a bright, talented cast and set it against a backdrop of an internet based armature show. Both the real series and the show with in a show share the same name and star; ‘iCarly’. The shoe is crafted with a specific age and gender in mind but it is well constructed enough that even adults will be able to watch the series perhaps even able to get into it. ‘iCarly’ is just fun to watch and is something parents can readily enjoy with their kids. Okay, grown-ups most likely are not likely to be into internet based shoes like the one that serves as the driving force here but you can be certain; if you have a tween in the household their will understand the premise here in a heartbeat. The current entertainment paradigm includes web based shows, so called ‘webisodes’ some of which have audiences that rival the conventional networks. This series captures some of the best that this aspect of the web has to offer; kids enthusiastic about a hobby that develops their talents.

Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) is a normal, high spirited girl in her early teens. Since her father is in the military Carly stays stateside ostensibly under the guardianship of her older brother Spencer (Jerry Trainor). Frequently it seems that she is the more responsible of the pair but Spencer means well and is completely dedicated to taking care of his kid sister. The siblings share a rather sizable two level apartment that if not for a nice living stipend from Dad and some odd jobs those Spencer managers they could never afford. As it turns out they do have a comfortable life. Spencer is a bit ditz at time very involved with his own artistic pursuits that are typical expressed as extremely eccentric sculptures. He shares many personality traits with his sister most notably being fiercely loyal to friends and extremely strong willed especially when they believe they are right. Carly has become a local web celebrity thanks to the webisodes of her variety show ‘iCarly’ that co stars her best friend Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) with her other best friend Freddie (Nathan Kress ) producing and working the camera. Freddie is typical of boys that age; just beginning to notice girls and caught in that awkward time when girls are still part of the non-romantic friends’ category. Sam is pretty much the opposite of Carly in many ways. She is perpetually in trouble t home and school and is a tom boy with a liking for bizarre combinations of foods.

Typically there are two parallel plots in each episode affording the opportunity for some unusual juxtaposition of circumstances. You might not think it possible to blend themes including a funeral, blackmail, a young girl’s crush and pie but the writers found a way to do it. Carly and Sam’s favorite eatery is about to close because of the death of the chef. This is bad enough but he happened to have the most incredible pie ever. Carly and Sam try to get the granddaughter of the chef to give them the pie recipes but the girl will not give in unless she gets fixed up on a date with Spencer. In the secondary story Freddie is desperate to get hid stoic infant cousin to laugh. Many of the themes dealt with on the show are very relatable for the target demographic. Carly and Sam both have crushes on the same boy or when everybody finds out that Freddie never had a real kiss making him the butt of jokes at school. Then there is an episode where Sam wants Carly to help her be more feminine in order to attract a classmate. Other plots would only make sense to a web savvy generation such as when Spencer switches credit cards and there is a payment mix-up resulting in Carly losing her domain name, it gets picked up by a rival who demands a kiss from Carly before he will give it back. In all cases the stories are well crafted allowing for better than usual mayhem and hilarity. Even the parents watching will have to laugh and have a good time. There is a fundamental difference between this series and a similar one on Disney. The House of Mouse has restored the old Hollywood studio system where new stars are trained in all facets of entertainment; singing, dancing, comedy, etc. Nickelodeon has a more straightforward approach; ‘iCarly’ is built along the lines of a sit-com than a variety shoe. Fortunately, the young cast is extremely talented with an impeccable sense of comic timing and a natural knack for physical, slap stick comedy. It is also a refreshing change from the salacious fair that seems to dominate the nighttime older teen market. The show must be going well. This DVD covers the first part of season two but apparently young Ms Cosgrove has a million dollar deal for season four ensuring quality for at least a little while longer. The downside of such talent for fans of the show is the cast is certain to move onward and upward in their careers.

Posted 05/03/2010