Sam & Cat

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Sam & Cat
Two good shows = one not-so-good one.
Genre: Comedy Running Time: 24 minutes Country: United States Release Date: June 8, 2013 – July 17, 2014 Network(s): Nickelodeon Created by: Dan Schneider Distributed by: Paramount Media Networks Starring: Jennette McCurdy Ariana Grande Cameron Ocasio Seasons: 1 Episodes: 36 Previous show: iCarly (2007-2012) Victorious (2010-2013) Next show: iCarly (2021 revival) (2021-2023)

Sam & Cat is a short-lived American teen sitcom, created by Dan Schneider, that aired, from June 8, 2013, to July 17, 2014 on Nickelodeon. It is a crossover/spin-off/sequel, of both iCarly and Victorious.

While iCarly (2007-2012) and Victorious (2010-2013) were both well-received, the same cannot be said for this show (2013-2014), which garnered negative reception, due to the problems list below.

Plot

Ever since Carly Shay moved to Italy with her father, Sam Puckett has been touring the West Coast on her motorcycle and stops in Venice, Los Angeles. She witnesses Cat Valentine being thrown into the back of a garbage truck and rescues her. They become friends and Cat convinces her to become roommates after Cat's cheerful and supportive grandmother Nona moves to a retirement home called Elderly Acres. To make money rather than getting traditional after-school jobs, Sam and Cat develop an after-school babysitting business called "Sam and Cat's Super Rockin' Fun Time Babysitting Service", which leads them into a series of wacky adventures. Besides Nona, other people involved in their lives are Dice, their next door neighbor who is notorious for helping people for money, and Goomer, a dim-witted professional MMA fighter whom Dice manages.

#Bad Qualities

1. The main problem with this series is that it was pretty pointless because its two source materials, iCarly and Victorious, already had a crossover special, "iParty with Victorious", two years before this show came out.
   • Speaking of which, the events of the crossover are never mentioned at all in this series.
     • Many people think they should have kept Victorious going, for a bit longer, rather than starting a whole new show.
       • Miranda Cosgrove and Victoria Justice’s characters Carly Shay and Tori Vega never made any physical appearances in the series, since iCarly ended in November 2012, and since Victorious ended four months before this show came out.
     • Both Sam and Cat themselves were dumbed down, and there are other bad characters.
       • Sam has gone from a bad girl, with a heart of gold, to a downright mean-spirited, short-tempered bully, who couldn't care less about anyone or anything.
       • Cat has unfortunately not recovered from her bad character change, from seasons 3 and 4, of Victorious, and has worsened to a completely dimwitted, whiny girl whose high-pitched voice is now very annoying and grating to hear.
       • Dice, while tolerable, is a miser, who always takes advantage of Goomer, as well as the punching bag of the show.
       • Goomer is just your run-of-the-mill idiot man-child, who isn't funny. Also, his voice gets very grating. Speaking of him, it's surprising how pessimistic he is, especially since he's a professional MMA fighter, which makes his lack of a fighting spirit seem contradictory.
     • Besides having Sam as the co-protagonist (just like what happened with Sheen in Planet Sheen) and having Cat be the other co-protagonist, is unoriginal, lazy, and not a good idea, since Cat was designed to be a comic relief, not a protagonist.
2. Executive meddling: Originally, Sam & Cat was originally titled, Just Puckett, when Jennette McCurdy signed on to do Just Puckett, in 2012, a series, following Sam as a school counselor. After she was already attached, the show was redeveloped, as a joint spin-off, with Ariana Grande.
   • In Quinton Hoover's review of the series, he observed that Sam & Cat came out, during a time where Nickelodeon's teen and pre-teen audience, were shifting away from television, in favor of online content. This means that Sam & Cat had to try, and appeal, to the younger audience, that was quickly becoming the network's main demographic, while also trying to appease the older, pre-established audiences, of iCarly and Victorious, most likely why the show's writing, and humor is considerably more immature, than either of its predecessors.
3. Besides that, Dan Schneider’s writing quality, at this point, began to decline, even more so, than in iCarly and Victorious, resulting in a lot of bad episodes, more on that later.
4. The theme song is ridiculous, and the lyrics make no sense.
5. Compared to other characters from iCarly like Spencer, T-Bo and Gibby, Sam proves to be the least qualified to have her own show.
   • Ironically, Gibby was supposed to have his own show which would air alongside this series, however, after the pilot was filmed, Nickelodeon turned it down, and instead greenlight Sam & Cat. The episode has since linked online and it shares the same problem with Sam & Cat.
6. Below average acting.
7. Sam and Cat are meant to be best friends, yet they fight, way too much.
   • Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande have horrible on-and-off-set chemistry, and it painfully shows in the series.
8. Graphically unfunny, mean-spirited, groan-worthy, trashy, and forced humor, that can get too grating, disturbing, and/or inappropriate for children.
   • Sam screaming at the top of her lungs at Cat, in, "#MotorcycleMystery", is extremely obnoxious and repetitive, and it will get on your last nerve.
9. Many people complained, that DanWarp shows, had bad morals, and illegal things, before the show came out. He promised to change them, but nothing changed, see below:
   • "News News News News", from, "#DroneBabyDrone", "#WeStealARockStar", and, "#SuperPsycho" is a stupid name, for a news show. Even a five-year old could come up, with a more creative name.
   • In "#FirstClassProblems", Goomer constantly makes the situation worse. Later, he and Dice argue, by speaking gibberish. Quality writing, huh?
   • There's also the fact, that, in that episode, the whole misunderstanding came from the last name of the kids (Baums). Because Goomer said he brought the timers for the Baums, and everyone thinks he said bombs. This joke is extremely annoying, and since when is that a last name?
   • Sam also gives the kids, "aqua toilette", which is obviously toilet water.
   • In, "#BrainCrush", there's a forced comedic scene, where Sam gets a door shut on her fingers, and Cat asks if she wants her to open the door, instead of immediately opening the door.
   • "#StuckInABox", has a disturbing scene, when Goomer and Dice think Sam killed Vance Anderson, because of the blood spilling. It was really a can of red paint.
   • "#MyPoober", ends with Sam and Cat abandoning the child they were supposed to take care of, in a cemetery. How did these two not get arrested for this?
   • Major plot hole: How come Sam and Cat haven't gotten shut down, or arrested, for running an unlicensed babysitter service, according to the episode, "#BabysittingCommercial"? "Sam & Cat’s Super Rockin’ Fun-Time Babysitting Service is not licensed. Sam and Cat are not legal adults. The young children who appeared in this commercial were paid and told what to say. Sam and Cat claim no legal responsibility for the safety of your children. Sam has a criminal record." — The commercial.
10. The kids that Sam and Cat babysit, are unlikable spoiled brats, who do not accept middle-class standards. This would be understandable, for the occasional kid, but this applies to nearly every kid, the pair babysits.
11. Unfunny side characters that repeat one joke, whenever they appear, on-screen.
    • Herb, a man who appears homeless, but is, in fact, rich, and owns a condo, and says, "my life's goin' great!"
    • Randy, a kid, who always yells the line, "I'm Randy!", can be really annoying.
    • Brody, a spear fisherman who boasts his job, and brings a loaded speargun, wherever he goes in public, which is illegal.
12. The show can get very inconsistent at times. For example, in, "#FavoriteShow", Sam watches Drake & Josh, which would imply that it's a show that exists within the universe of the show. However, later, in "#SuperPsycho", Sam and Cat pass by Crazy Steve in the hospital. Does this mean that Drake & Josh takes place in the same universe, as Sam & Cat while also being a TV show? Moreover, Cat mentioned once, "it worked in Drake & Josh, in "#DroneBabyDrone".
13. The conflict in the episode, "#SalmonCat", doesn't even make sense. Sam and Cat are threatened, with losing their babysitting service, all because their names are slightly similar to an old cartoon, called Salmon Cat, which doesn't actually exist in real life. If anything, that should be more of a coincidence, than something worthy of a lawsuit!
14. Continuity issues: Dice is mentioned to be 12 1/2 in an early episode of the show. Then later, after months have clearly passed, Dice is mentioned to be in 6th grade. How could he be almost 13 in 6th grade? Seeing as he's a genius, it's unlikely he would have gotten held back.
15. Kel Mitchell is extremely annoying for some people, when he guest stars in "#PeezyB".
    • He sings an excruciatingly terrible song, that has some of the worst lyrics, in any song, let alone, one written for a sitcom.
    • His character is called Peezy B, which is a dumb name, for a rapper. It basically copied another rappers' name, called Peezy. They should have been sued.
16. The show has bad morals, such as bullying, lying, child abandonment, being irresponsible, theft, being immature, being a jerk, taking advantage of others, fighting, breaking rules, and not learning from your mistakes.
17. The crewmembers of this show kept screwing over Jennette McCurdy.
    • She was originally promised her own spin-off where Sam would become a guidance counselor but was told she wasn't enough of being a leading lady.
    • While Ariana Grande was fulfilling her music career, McCurdy had to "keep the fort".
    • Broken promises of directing an episode
      • At one point was told that "someone special" would leave if McCurdy was granted directing.
    • McCurdy was not allowed to skip rehearsal to attend some things she had scheduled, as the writers "didn't want to write her out of the episodes" yet they allowed Ariana to skip a few times and to skip out for most of the episode where Cat got stuck in a box.
18. This show had 40 episodes ordered, but it ended after 36, due to rifts between the cast with the network, and both actresses desire to move on to other projects. This is also connected to the last episode being an awful conclusion, because it wasn't supposed to be the last episode.
    • The final episode, "#GettinWiggy", was an awful way to end the show.
19. Overall, the show had killed off the Victorious franchise, and for a while, the iCarly franchise, as there have been no announcements of any new show related to it, since Sam & Cat ended. This was primarily due to a rumored dispute between Jennette McCurdy and Nickelodeon, Ariana Grande's rising music career, and both actresses desires to move on to other projects. However, reports came in December 2020 that Paramount+, then known as CBS All Access, is working on a revival of iCarly, with Miranda Cosgrove, Nathan Kress, and Jerry Trainor reprising their roles, and without the involvement of both Dan Schneider and Jennette McCurdy, the latter of whom had announced in March 2021, that she has since quit acting, and will not reprise her role, as Sam Puckett, in the iCarly revival, which means that we will most likely never see Sam ever again, after Sam & Cat ended. The reboot has since ended in October 2023, with a cliffhanger, meaning the iCarly franchise ended again, on a bad note. However, there are currently no plans to revive the Victorious franchise, no matter how much the fans want it to happen.
    • Besides that, this show also marked the downfall of Dan Schneider's career. After the series ended, Schneider went on, to create three other bad shows, on Nickelodeon, before he left the network, for good, in 2018.
      • Although, ironically, Danger Force, the then new Henry Danger spin-off, was not created by Dan Schneider, since he was retired, when it was created.

#Good Qualities

1. Despite the bad lyrics, the theme song's instrumental side is catchy.
2. Sam became a lot less abusive.
3. Despite being average and not as good like iCarly and Victorious, it is the last good show of Dan Schneider.
4. A handful of decent jokes here and there.
5. A few good episodes like:
   • "#TheKillerTunaJump"
   • "#SuperPsycho",
   • #OscarTheOuch"
6. Many people think it was decent for the sole season.
7. Jade, Freddie and Robbie return for a great and hilarious spin-off episode "#TheKillerTunaJump". Robbie even performs "Swell" and you get to see Nozu in one of the transitions from one scene to another.
8. Thankfully, it had a lot less violence, and gross out humor, than in shows, like iCarly, and Henry Danger.
9. Dice and Nona are pretty tolerable characters.
10. Thankfully again, it had a lot less fetish scenes, than in his previous works.
11. The show will often have characters, from many of Dan Schneider's previous shows return, to have either a small cameo, or the occasional spotlight:
    • Most notably, Jerry Trainor, who played as Crazy Steve in Drake & Josh, and Spencer Shay, in iCarly. He makes cameos throughout this show, even reprising his role, as Crazy Steve, in the episode, “#SuperPyscho”.
    • Characters from iCarly and Victorious return in certain episodes.
      • Freddie, Marissa Benson, Jade, and Robbie, return, in "#TheKillerTunaJump".
      • Sikowitz returns, in, "#MommaGoomer".
      • Nora, Gibby and Nevel return, in, "#SuperPyscho".
      • Sinjin returns, in, "#BlooperEpisode".
      • Jerry Trainor returns, in, #Lumpatious
      • Woody returns, in, "#MyPoober"
    • Unrelated, but one episode guest stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, in what is essentially a Laverne & Shirley reunion.

Reception

Sam & Cat received a mostly mixed reception from audiences, fans of iCarly and Victorious, and critics. While most Nickelodeon fans considered this the last good show on the channel, other fans thought this show is what started the downfall of Nick and Dan Schneider's shows. The show was criticized for the excessive bad morals and the two main protagonists being really bad examples to children as they horribly babysitting them, and it was also criticized for making Sam more lazy, uptight, and selfish as usual, and making Cat dumber and her voice more high-pitched. While the show was considered good by most of the iCarly fans, the Victorious fans had negative feedback on the show. The show currently has a 5.7/10 on IMDb.

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