HOT TAKE: iCarly is the PERFECT Reboot and This is Why!
I have been pretty open about my feelings towards reboots. I can summarize those feeling in one question: Why are there so many reboots? This does not even speak to the quality of the reboots themselves. I just feel that many reboots would be better able to thrive if they took the step and became their own show rather than trying to capitalize on a preexisting fan base.
However, there is one reboot that I can get behind: iCarly.
iCarly was a hit Nickelodeon show from 2007 to 2012. The series followed the story of Carly, Sam, and Freddy through their mega-viral web series.
iCarly came at a time when the idea of a web celebrity was still new. Justin Bieber had been shot into the mainstream after being discovered on YouTube. His story was one that filled Gen-Z with the insanely prevalent idea that exists today- anyone can make it if you put cool videos on the internet.
Now, in 2022, web celebrities are, well, most of them. From TikTok Stars to Instagram Influencers to Twitter Celebrities, we are generating new outlets through which people can become big with just a cellphone and an idea. However, even thought web content is more popular than ever, the format has changed. Attention spans are down and the global sense of humor has evolved. Who better to comment on this fascinating change than the former star of her own web series?
In 2021, the reboot of iCarly came out. On April 8th of this year, the second season of the series was released, following the life of a twenty something Carly Shay, played by the incredible Miranda Cosgrove (who is dealing with her own new trials in her life as a twenty eight year old)
This is the perfect time for an iCarly reboot because, given everything going on in the world, the show has something to say. In having their finger on the pulse of ever changing times, iCarly is setting itself up for success in foundational ways which other reboots have overlooked. Here is what they are doing right.
iCarly Has More To Say
The world of internet stardom has changed immensely in the last couple of years. The last time we saw a change this significant was the early 2010s. Therefore, the occurrence that spurred the creation of the original series is happening again in the modern day. iCarly is coming back because there is officially more to say on the topic of social media fame.
She is facing the same bohemeth of media that we were facing back in the early 2010s. She was the vehicle through which we came to understand internet stardom and, therefore, the in a landscape that has only become increasingly complex, she comes in figuring it out the same way most of us are now.
She is not only entertaining, she is a vehicle through which we learn. What makes this reboot a successful and necessary elevation from the original series is that the show did not return because it was the only optioned. It is back because there is more to say on a topic that has changed dramatically in the last ten years and, as far as our Gen-Z middle school selves were concerned, Carly Shay was the expert on all things internet. Doesn't it make sense that she would return to show us how to navigate it all in the early 2020s?
They Chose The Right Time For a Comeback
This falls in line with my coming-back-because-they-have-something-to-say point, but I think it deserves its own category. The timeline on which iCarly chose to make its grand return is *chef's kiss* incredible.
Carly was running her show, iCarly, in middle school and high school. If you were a middle schooler or high schooler at that time, we know that making a successful YouTube series was the secret drive we all had, but, once we went off to college, we ran out of time. Whether you were someone who was really trying to make it happen or just watching videos, when college came, everything changed. It makes sense that Carly stopped creating her web series when life got different.
Do you know a time in your life with a similar level of confusion and quest to find yourself to middle and high school? YOUR TWENTIES! In a way, Carly finds herself in the same situations she was in in the reboot: getting big online is all the rage while seeking to navigate a personal life. Everyone wants fame and normalcy simultaneously.
Considering the past two years with both the pandemic and TikTok, things have never been stranger. The world needed a vehicle through which to comprehend the absurdity of the past few years. For those of us that grew up watching iCarly, seeing our favorite web series star once again navigating similar challenges is an exciting level of comforting.
Miranda Cosgrove has actually mentioned in a variety of interviews that the show focuses on more adult content than the original show focused on because Carly is now an adult. It is not trying to stick with its original genre. The show has been allowed to grow with the actors and characters.
iCarly Didn't Have to Un-Finish Things to Keep Going
As I said above, there was a natural transition period when we heard Freddy's countdown for the last time. However, if Carly stopped producing the web series she was doing as a child, it does not mean that she is never going to go back. While the original series offered closure, it did not close and lock the box so that there were no potential for stories going forward.
It makes perfect sense that someone who had a passion for content creation back in 2012 would pick it back up in 2021. With the increased time and, let's be honest, boredom that the pandemic presented us with, just about everyone has in some way, shape or form, become a content creator. Furthermore, she said that iCarly was taking a break. BREAKS END. Picking back up in 2021 makes absolute, no questions asked sense.
Other shows that have tried to do reboots in recent history have taken shows that neatly tied up the fates of their characters and then went on to try to loosen those knots in order to capitalize on a preexisting fan base. However, becomes those stories involve having to go backwards in order to once again start moving forwards, they have not been as successful. iCarly did not have to go backward. It could just keep moving.
So In Conclusion...
I am HERE for everything the 2020s reboot of iCarly has to offer. Season two of the show is now streaming on Paramount+.
