Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande Preview Spin-off "Sam & Cat"

[JamesG]

"Sam & Cat": Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande On Their New "Odd Couple"-esque Nickelodeon Show
by Emily Rome
Jun 8 2013


The worlds of popular Nickelodeon shows "iCarly" and "Victorious" first met in summer 2011 on a special three-part episode called 'iParty with Victorious'. But in that crossover, there were two key characters who never got to meet — "iCarly‘s" Sam Puckett and "Victorious‘" Cat Valentine.

Now the two girls who often stole the spotlight in their original Nick shows will have plenty of time together, in their new show, "Sam & Cat", which airs its series premiere tonight. It’s a crossover spin-off that continues the stories of the two characters in their post-"iCarly" and "Victorious" lives — both aired their series finales last year.





In "Sam & Cat", the duo meets when Sam travels from Seattle to talk about the web show at Hollywood Arts, Cat’s high school. They eventually become friends, and when Sam transplants permanently to L.A., they become roommates and start a babysitting business together.

Sam’s real-life alter ego, nearly 21-year-old Jennette McCurdy, admits that she was initially “not the most enthusiastic” about the idea of continuing to play the character she had embodied for six years, but once she heard that the new show would be a spin-off with Cat Valentine, she was on board, largely for the opportunity to work with Cat’s portrayer Ariana Grande and to see what happened when these two different-as-night-and-day characters were tossed in new situations together.

Brash, sarcastic Sam and sweet, innocent Cat have “worldviews on opposite ends of the spectrum, and that’s what makes them the perfect fit,” McCurdy told EW. “They see things in each other that they don’t have any of in themselves. That helps them be better as a team than they would be individually since they’re such strong personalities.”



That means Cat learns a bit about how to push past her naiveté and take responsibility (which is especially important now that she’s doing a lot of babysitting).

And where Sam would have been met with playful come-backs to her brazen teasing on "iCarly", she now gets responses from Cat like, “Oh, that’s great! I love you!” Grande explained. So Sam softens a little as she spends more time with her new roommate.





So will fans start to see Cat toughening up and getting street smart?

“No, not even close, no, never,” Grande said with a laugh at the thought.





And Cat’s soft voice and bright demeanor aren’t going anywhere either, especially as long as Grande’s voice coach has anything to say about it. Grande, who’s almost 20 (she and McCurdy share a late June birthday), also has a blossoming music career.

Her singing teacher has told the actress that it’s healthier for her voice to speak higher than her naturally lower register. Every time the cameras are about to start rolling on the set of "Sam & Cat", Grande delivers an instant morph into high pitch-voiced, doe-eyed Cat. But the actress is glad that she’s always able to morph right back.

“When people meet me, they’re like ‘Oh, you don’t actually talk like that.’ I’m like ‘No, thank God I don’t actually talk like that,” she said.





Though Cat’s speaking voice remains the same on "Sam & Cat", there’s no singing on the show, which Grande says was another reason she was drawn to the new series.

“I feel like since Hannah Montana every show was trying to do music because that was what was cool,” Grande told EW. “I like making a show without singing better, to be honest. It feels like we’re just doing a sitcom, and it’s not confused with people trying to be pop stars or anything. It’s just a sitcom, and I love that. It’s classic, funny TV.”





Sam and Cat’s L.A. adventures begin shortly after Sam rides into town on her motorcycle, and they meet when Sam rescues Cat from a garbage truck.

Among the guest stars set to appear in upcoming episodes are British cousins Sophia Grace Brownlee and Rosie McClelland of viral video and "Ellen" fame.

Created by Dan Schneider, the same producer who originated "iCarly" and "Victorious", "Sam & Cat" premieres on Saturday, June 8 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

http://family-room.ew.com/2013/06/08...ious-spin-off/

[comedyfreak]

How come Sam & Cat don't have their own thread? This show is no where near the level that iCarly was. This show is not real funny though this weeks episode had a laugh out loud moment. I'd like to see appearances by the Victorious cast, the show needs something extra like a stronger supporting cast.

[TMC]

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....and-cat/page-2

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry15819026

I managed to catch the second half of an episode which was about two junior con artists taking a boy's money and a girl's bike. I didn't like it too much. The plot was ridiculous. Why would Sam get that many people involved in a revenge scam to get the boy's money back? What makes that any better than what the two kids did?

Honestly, I don't know that I'll give this show another chance. First, there's Sam, an intolerable bully and one of the big reasons I will never watch iCarly again. (The others are irrelevant to this show.) Sam is everything I hate in people wrapped up into a TV character. She's loud, obnoxious, mostly uncaring, and often just plain mean. She's still horrible on this show, but it appears to be tamed a bit, but not enough to get me to even partially like her. I do, however, like the actress. She deserves a better role than this.

And then there's Cat. Cat is not a good lead character. I'm sure they were going for contrast with Sam, but Cat just comes off shallow. Unless they make the character deeper, there's nothing making me want to see her. She had Sam bail her out of the mess she got into, which happened after they knew the boy got conned. I could see more than half the episodes of this show use that formula, and it'll get old quick.

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry15820107

This is yes a weakly concocted spin off. It destroys the great character of Sam in iCarly (Super Mateo there was nothing wrong with Sam in that series). It pairs here with a totally ******** (most of the time) girl and the whole premise of babysitting doesn't match what it is actually happens in each story line. Not to mention, supporting character are pretty weak compared to Victorious.

Also, the lack of a proper school setting unlike in D&J, iCarly, and Victorious. Online School? What the heck?!

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry15820173

I have to agree on the weak supporting cast, though it took both main characters' parent shows a bit to set theirs up (part of the issue here is its setting, true). But what kind of bugs me about this show is that Sam, even in her somewhat mellower form, is effectively its straight man by default--and that just seems strange, even when it works (such as in this latest episode with the British girls).

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry15825232

Well, they set it up that Nona owns the house, so they have no rent and I guess no mortgage to pay, and free burgers for life, so they don't need to worry about food money. So I feel like we ARE supposed to think about it and accept it rather than just go with it.

Either way I could live with it if the show had anything going for it. It's not funny; it wastes Jennette's impressive comedic abilities, and despite being best friends the leads have no chemistry. Add a horrid supporting cast and stupid writing (Victorious and iCarly were weird but they were also funny Victorious pushed the envelope and iCarly had real heart), you've got nothing. I really hope no more episodes are ordered. Though I dread Ariana Grande's bitching and whining over that too...

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....#entry15826356

The problem is they built a show around what are STILL essentially two supporting characters. Sam is too abrasive and mean and Cat is too dumb (if anything they've made her even dumber) to be a legit lead.

It's as if Schneider built a show around the evil sister Megan character from Drake and Josh (who took over that show at the end) instead of doing what he did and making a whole new character (Carly) for Miranda Cosgrove.

[king of comedy]

Originally Posted by TMC

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity....and-cat/page-2

After seeing the trailer, I avoided it completely. I hated Sam and couldn't stand Cat and I hope it gets cancel.

[DJM77]

The only reason I watch this show is because I think Cat is adorable times 5.

[Blackout]

you guys were a bunch of haters lol


sam and cat kicked ass