We are in the age of reboots and revivals, and one that is doing quite well is iCarly. The Paramount+ revival of the beloved Nickelodeon series has already been picked up for a third season, and Carly Shay herself, Miranda Cosgrove, recently discussed growing up on the original series.
Cosgrove was on Nickelodeon for a big chunk of her life, with both Drake & Josh and iCarly, and spent a good portion of her teen years on iCarly. The actress, who is now reprising her fan-favorite role a decade after the series ended, talked about growing up on iCarly on the podcast Reign with Josh Smith, and it sounds like Cosgrove was also going through a lot of what her character was. She said:
It’s crazy because when I started the show, I was 12 or 13; now, I’m 29, and I think I was still really figuring out who I was at the time we were doing the show. I guess you’re always still figuring out who you are and changing, but yeah, I totally grew up on the show. I had my first kiss on the show. I had pretty much all my first crushes – sometimes, they were people on the show. It was my version of high school doing it.
It’s clearly not easy growing up in front of TV cameras, but at least Miranda Cosgrove still got her own version of the high school experience on set. Now she’s back in action on the iCarly revival, continuing to grow along with fans who grew up watching the series.
Meanwhile, being on a show like iCarly, Cosgrove even learned a few catchphrases that weren’t exactly used by everyday teens. The actress mentioned a word that has yet to be used on the new series that she liked on the original, and she even uses in her personal life:
I would say I like that on iCarly – we haven’t done it on the new version of the show – but on the original, we always called people that were jerks ‘skunkbags.’ And I still like that. Once in a while, I’ll use that word like in real life. I’ll be like, ‘She’s a skunkbag.’
There have been plenty of callbacks on iCarly, from returning characters to even a reference to Miranda Cosgrove’s Drake & Josh days. With a third season on the way, hopefully we get the characters to say words like “jank” or “skunkbag,” or even wearing the infamous Penny Tees that have a penny taped to the sleeve with a random phrase on the front. It sounds like Cosgrove would at least be down to have “skunkbag” brought back.
Although she grew up on iCarly, it did take some convincing for Cosgrove to agree to a revival. Earlier this year, she admitted that she liked the idea that fans who watched the show growing up can watch the show now as an adult, seeing Carly, Freddie, and Spencer in adult situations while still keeping the same vibes as the original. And that recipe has definitely worked.
As of now, it’s unknown when exactly the third season of iCarly will premiere, but it will be sometime in 2023 and follow the events of the Season 2 finale when the Creddie bombshell dropped. Fans can hopefully look forward to more character returns and maybe even the return of classic catchphrases like “skunkbag.”
Both the original iCarly and the revival are streaming on Paramount+ with a subscription!
