LOS ANGELES, CA. (Top40 Charts/ Nickelodeon) - When Carly, Sam and Freddie are approached by a big-time broadcaster to adapt their popular web show for TV, their ecstasy quickly turns to agony as the tween trio clashes with clueless network executives and they find themselves struggling to save the iCarly they know and love, in an all-new primetime special "iCarly Saves TV" premiering Friday, June 13 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT). Leon
Thomas (August Rush, Broadway's The Lion King) guest stars as cool Harper who leads iCarly's new TV show band and Rachel Fox (Desperate Housewives' evil Kayla) rufflesfeathers as
Amber Tate, the tween diva poised to supplant Sam as Carly's sidekick. The special will cap off a four-hour marathon of the convergent, mega-hit live-action series (4-8 p.m.), hosted by the show's stars: headliner
Miranda Cosgrove (Carly), Jennette McCurdy (Sam), Nathan Kress (Freddie) and Jerry Trainor (Spencer).
The programming event arrives on the heels of the eagerly awaited iCarly album, which will be released June 10 from Columbia Records - part of the global partnership between Nickelodeon and the Sony Music Label Group - and debuts four original songs performed by Cosgrove, including the show's theme "Leave It All to Me." It also features songs inspired by the popular series from multi-platinum popular artists including Natasha Bedingfield and Avril Lavigne and by guest star Thomas who performs musically in the special.
iCarly is one of the top shows on all of TV with its demo - and the highest rated of all in its time period with kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14. In first quarter (1Q) 2008, iCarly was the 2nd highest-rated live-action series on all of cable among both kids 6-11 and 9-14 just behind Zoey 101 and is among the top three series on all of TV with the same demos. (Source: NMR - 1Q08).
In addition, there have been over 150,000 iTunes downloads of the iCarly theme song, "Leave It All to Me" sung by Cosgrove, which recently charted on the Billboard Hot 100. More than 234,000 a la carte episodes have been purchased on DTO platforms, and approximately 5,000 season passes. iCarly is the top requested show on VOD among all of Nickelodeon's live-action series (Source: Rentrack). The series received more than 3 million views for 1Q08.
Nickelodeon's multi-platform efforts for "iCarly Saves TV" include a special mini-site https://www.nick.com/icarlysavestv , featuring a sneak peek of the special, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, and music videos from the iCarly album, an "iCarly Saves TV" game, message boards and an MP3 Player for streaming tracks from the iCarly album. A unique Karaoke element kicks off with "Leave It All to Me" allowing kids to sing along, record their own version and rate other kids' efforts. Beginning June 2, TurboNick, Nickelodeon's wireless partners and VOD also will offer sneak peeks, additional footage ("Extra Scoops" and "Awesome Extras"). Following the TV premiere, an instant replay of the special will be available on TurboNick and VOD.
It's a case of easy come, easy go in "iCarly Saves TV" when the iCarly team is summoned by big-time broadcaster "TVS Network" to adapt their popular web show for TV to help attract more kid viewers. At first the trio is thrilled by the perks of television, but disastrous changes are in the air - and on the air. Clueless network executives proceed to re-tool the show and, adding insult to injury, iCarly's great new band is axed and leader Harper is forced to play silly Zeebo the Dinosaur. Carly's sassy sidekick and best pal Sam is fired and replaced by demanding young diva Amber, and tech producer Freddie is reduced to fetching bagels and cleaning toilets. Pushed to the breaking point, Carly tries to quit, but the TV honcho proclaims he now owns her show!
For four hours leading up to the special, each iCarly cast member will take turns hosting Nick each hour, introducing their favorite iCarly episodes and telling behind-the-scenes stories. Plus, as a result of Nickelodeon's unprecedented on-air and online "Call to Action" enlisting kids to make their own music video by taping themselves singing the iCarly theme song, the cast will select and feature the winners during the marathon. The select videos uploaded and submitted (5/24-6/13) also will appear online on iCarly.com.
A show-within-a show, iCarly follows its characters on and off webcam as they create their webcast - and grapple with everyday tween problems and adventures - and the sitcom drives viewer participation on iCarly.com. Tops with target demos, iCarly comes courtesy of executive producer/creator Dan Schneider's (Zoey 101, Drake & Josh) Schneider's Bakery. Kid viewers who've connected with the TV characters interact with them at real-life companion website https://www.icarly.com - and upload original videos there perchance to wind up on TV. They also check out highlights of the latest webcasts from the series - plus additional footage not seen on-air - read weekly character blogs, send e-mails, ask questions, post comments, participate in polls and more. The popular site averages 2.8 million monthly visitors (source: Omniture SiteCatalyst 1Q08). Kids also may log onto https://www.nick.com/icarly for show background info, bios, games, behind-the-scenes clips and more.
Nickelodeon, now in its 29th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 96 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than 13 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B).
