Sam & Cat

Sam & Cat
Genre	Teen Sitcom
Created By	Dan Schneider
Main Cast	Jennette McCurdy Ariana Grande Cameron Ocasio
Opening Theme	Just Fine
Country of Origin	United States
Executive Producer	Dan Schneider
Producers	Robin Wiener (supervising producer) Joe Catania Bruce Rand Berman
Setting	Nickelodeon on Sunset
Original Run	June 8, 2013 - July 17, 2014

"Just shot my first scene, went pretty well." — Ariana Grande about the show.

For the wiki based on the series, click here.

Sam & Cat is an American teen sitcom created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. It is a crossover and spin-off/sequel series of the shows iCarly and Victorious that premiered on June 8, 2013 and ended on July 17, 2014.

Plot

After Carly moves to Italy, Sam travels from Seattle on a motorcycle where iCarly was set to speak about making a web series at Hollywood Arts High School, the setting for Victorious. There, she rescues Cat from a dumpster. The two eventually become roommates and best friends with Dice. They love their freedom and independence but quickly realize that fun and adventure don't come cheap. Rather than get traditional after-school jobs, Sam and Cat become teen entrepreneurs by starting their own babysitting business.

Cast

Main Characters

• Jennette McCurdy as Sam Puckett
• Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine
• Cameron Ocasio as Dice Corleone

Recurring Characters

• Maree Cheatham as Nona
• Zoran Korach as Goomer

Returning Characters

• Nathan Kress as Freddie Benson
• Noah Munck as Gibby Gibson
• Reed Alexander as Nevel Papperman
• Danielle Morrow as Nora Dershlit
• Jennette McCurdy as Melanie Puckett
• Mary Scheer as Marissa Benson
• Eric Lange as Erwin Sikowitz
• Elizabeth Gillies as Jade West
• Matt Bennett as Robbie Shapiro

Production

In August 2012, Nickelodeon announced that Dan Schneider, the creator of iCarly and Victorious, would be making a spin-off of both shows called Sam & Cat, starring Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande as their respective characters starting a babysitting service together, and ordered the pilot episode. The series was then picked up for 20 episodes in November, with the premiere planned for 2013. In her 2022 memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy revealed that when she entered a development deal to star in the series months earlier, in 2012, the show was planned as Just Puckett, a series following Sam as a school counselor. After she was already attached, the show was redeveloped as a joint spin-off with Grande.

Production began in January 2013, and on June 8, 2013, Sam & Cat premiered in the United States. Several weeks later, on July 11, Nickelodeon doubled the season one order of 20 episodes, to 40. Filming was scheduled to resume in early September 2013 to finish the second half of the first season.

Schneider originally aimed for a March 23, 2013, premiere of Sam & Cat, following the Kids' Choice Awards; however, Nickelodeon intended for the show to make its debut in the fall. On April 18, 2013, the show's two stars Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande, via Twitter, announced its premiere was set for June.

Controversy and cancellation

At the Nickelodeon upfront meeting with advertisers on March 13, 2014, Nickelodeon programming president Russell Hicks stated that Sam & Cat had been renewed for a second season, and Adweek reported that an additional 20 episodes were ordered. However, other Nickelodeon sources stated that an official decision was yet to be made on whether the show would be renewed.

In March 2014, McCurdy was the victim of an invasion of privacy when selfies of her in her underwear she had sent her ex-boyfriend while they were dating surfaced online. The same month, she pulled out of the 2014 Kids' Choice Awards, where Sam & Cat won "Favorite Show" and Grande won "Favorite Actress". McCurdy claimed that her sole reason for not attending was "unfair treatment" by Nickelodeon.

On April 2, Deadline Hollywood reported that behind-the-scenes issues had derailed the network's plan for a second season. In addition, it was reported that both actresses felt "constricted" and were ready to move on from the network. While Nickelodeon attributed the hiatus to the large episode order, Deadline provided an update the following day that the crew had been let go. While Deadline reported that McCurdy and Grande were getting along fine, other outlets began reporting that Nickelodeon had paid Grande more than McCurdy, which was denied by Grande.

In July 2014, Nickelodeon released a promo stating two episodes remained to air. On July 13, Nickelodeon announced that they would not be producing any more episodes of Sam & Cat; only 36 episodes of the 40-episode order had been produced. Media outlets attributed the cancellation to several factors: a salary dispute between McCurdy and Nickelodeon; an alleged feud between McCurdy and Grande; the leak of racy photographs of McCurdy; the rising music career of Grande; and both actresses' desires to move on to other projects. The final episode aired four days later, as a lead-in to the inaugural Kids' Choice Sports ceremony.

For months in between, rumors of a feud between Grande and McCurdy ran high, and continued to after the series' cancellation. McCurdy stated in a 2015 interview with E! Online:

I just feel that Ariana and I were and are extremely close and extremely like-minded in a lot of different ways, and then sort of as the show dissolved everybody wanted to find some sort of hidden meaning in our relationship and some like drama, and I think we butted heads at times but in a very sisterly way. Like she knows me so well and I know her so well that I think it was unfortunate that things got misconstrued.

In her 2022 memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died, McCurdy claimed she became jealous of Grande – whose role was inserted to a show McCurdy was meant to be headlining herself – because Nickelodeon allowed Grande to pursue other opportunities, while she was denied such. In particular she cites the episode "#StuckInABox", which she claims was shot without Grande due to her music commitments. McCurdy also claims that she was to direct an episode, which went unrealized because a senior crew member threatened to quit if she did. McCurdy claimed the hiatus and cancellation came unexpectedly, as production was shut down due to a sexual harassment claim against one of the producers.

Trivia

• This is the first live action crossover series created by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon.
• This is the fourth Nickelodeon spin-off behind Rugrat's "All Grown Up" (2003), and "Angelica and Susie Pre-School Daze" (2005) and Jimmy Neutron's "Planet Sheen" (2010).
• This is the second time characters of iCarly and Victorious meet in a crossover after the crossover special "iParty with Victorious" but the first time in its standalone series.
• According to Ariana, episodes were filmed on Thursdays and Fridays.
• After the announcement for the show was made, fans of Victorious expressed dismay because they thought that the creation of this show was the reason for the cancellation of Victorious, although the creator for both shows has since stated otherwise.
• In the iCarly series finale "iGoodbye", Sam is seen at the end driving away on a motorcycle, symbolizing the transition to her new show.
  • However, she is wearing other clothes at the beginning of this episode. She might have packed extra clothes.
  • Oddly, her clothes in "iGoodbye" are seen at the beginning of #FavoriteShow on the sofa-bed.
• According to Ariana, the show is similar to Drake & Josh and Kenan & Kel, shows Dan Schneider produced previously.
• The sets are very colorful and creative with the essence of Sam and Cat in it. One of the sets is where Cat lives with her Nona, and another is a unique restaurant featuring robotic servers, where the characters often hang out.
• The show's premiere date, June 8, 2013, is also National Best Friends Day.
• Jennette and Ariana did not sing any proper musical numbers in the show, but they were rapping in #BabysitterWar.
• Sam & Cat is based on classic 70s' sitcoms and follows two young women with different personalities who become roommates and open a babysitting business together.
• Sam & Cat is inspired by the 70s sitcom Laverne & Shirley.
  • Sam has many of the same traits as Laverne and Cat many of the same traits as Shirley.
  • The episode #SalmonCat marks Shirley and Laverne's guest appearances.
• So far, Sam & Cat is the only Dan Schneider show to be filmed completely at Nick on Sunset. iCarly was filmed their seasons 1-5 and consisted of 6 seasons, Drake and Josh was only filmed their seasons 1, 2 and 4, All That was only filmed their seasons 3-10 and Zoey 101 wasn't filmed there at all.

External links

• Sam & Cat Wiki
• Sam & Cat on Wikipedia
• Sam & Cat on IMDb
• Sam & Cat's Official Website
• Sam & Cat on Nick.com
• Sam & Cat on Twitter
• Sam & Cat on Facebook
• Sam & Cat on Instagram