I'm about to do a rewatch of the 2021 original-cast iCARLY revival which unfortunately got cancelled after its third season and on a bit of a cliffhanger. However, I have seen most of it, and on the whole, I thought it was a fun, good-natured, pleasant show that poked fun at the loose continuity and cheery absurdities of the original.
In case you've forgotten or never watched it, the original iCARLY was a 2007 - 2012 show about two Seattle high school girls (Carly and Sam) and their friend Freddie who start a webcast of absurd sketch comedy while growing up together. It was a lively, low-budget Nickelodeon multicamera sitcom with mostly interior filming but a highly colourful and dynamic visual style.
in 2021, iCARLY came back to TV with a revival series and original actress Miranda Cosgrove (Carly) as series lead and associate showrunner, replacing original series creator Dan Schneider (who was ousted from the iCARLY franchise due to abusive behaviour). Aside from Sam's actress, Jennette McCurdy, declined to return, the original cast all signed on as regulars, and iCARLY made a bold return as a return as a single camera drama about troubled twentysomethings.
In the years since the original, Carly worked in new media and had disastrous boyfriend after boyfriend; Freddie is twice-divorced and has an adopted daughter. And as they cope with numerous failures in life, they turn back to something that always gave them comfort and joy: their start their webcast anew and the adventure begins again.
"You can't stop someone from making an okay web show," someone remarks, a delightful moment of the franchise criticizing itself. In some ways, the new iCARLY was better than the original, having had nearly a decade in which TV had advanced in the areas of diversity, social justice and inclusion for minorities, LGBTQ+ communities, and the environment, and the new iCARLY had a warmly welcoming, compassionate presence in contrast to the original series which was often lewd or uncaring. The wacky hijinks had a softer tone, while the show was as harsh as ever in exploring its characters' flaws and failings.
In some ways, the revived iCARLY was only as good as the original, which is to say that a lot of the stories involved struggling to navigate a crush or worrying about their social status or organizing a birthday party -- stories that were fine for 13 - 18 year old characters but a bit embarrassing when the characters were now grown-ass adults. However, I will concede that the show often highlighted the comically low stakes of its stories and the juvenile conflicts at hand.
The iCARLY revival ended on a cliffhanger, and I never actually got around to watching the Season 3 finale and will soon. However, given that iCARLY was by its nature a very low-conflict, low-crisis show... I feel like any cliffhanger on this show is probably not a big deal.
And given that iCARLY has been off the air before and come back, I feel like it's not a cancellation as much as another long commercial break, and we'll probably see Carly and Freddy again someday.
That said, the cancellation of iCARLY, SAVED BY THE BELL, PUNKY BREWSTER and QUANTUM LEAP makes me wonder about the viability of revivals and what is and isn't working.
