Dan Schneider Shares “iCarly” Trivia To Celebrate The Finale “iGoodbye”

In my first script, Carly did not start a web show with her friends. She was a normal girl who, by a stroke of luck, was cast in her favorite, popular television show. I ended up tossing that script in the trash, and I wrote a new script where Carly started a web show with her best friends, Sam and Freddie.

An episode of iCarly (“iSaved Your Life”) holds the record as the highest-rated broadcast of any show in Nickelodeon’s history.

In my first script, Carly’s best friend was named Kira. In a later draft, I changed the name to Sam.

When I wrote the iCarly pilot, I wrote the role of Sam with Jennette McCurdy specifically in mind. I had been extremely impressed with Jennette two years earlier, when I cast her in a role on one of my previous shows, Zoey 101.

The hardest iCarly role to cast was Spencer. It was my wife Lisa who said to me, “Hey, what about Jerry – ‘Crazy Steve’ from Drake & Josh?” I said, ‘Hmmm… that could be good.’

I loved the idea of Carly living with her older brother because, when I was 12, I spent a week visiting my cool older sister, Sally, at her college. We had such a great time just being together and having fun, with no real “parental authority” around.

When Drake & Josh was coming to an end… before I decided to create a new character for Miranda Cosgrove (Carly), I was considering writing a spin-off show for her, where she would have continued as ‘Megan’ – her character from Drake & Josh.

My wife Lisa and my close friend Steve Molaro were major players in helping me create iCarly. Steve is now an Executive Producer of The Big Bang Theory, the most popular comedy on primetime television today.

All episodes of iCarly were filmed at Nick On Sunset in Hollywood – except for the final 13 episodes, which were filmed at another studio (Sunset Gower), a few blocks down the street from Nick On Sunset.

The iCarly theme song was written and produced by Michael Corcoran, the genius who does all the music for my shows. I love the iCarly theme song. My favorite lyric is “There’s no chance unless you take one.”

In no episode has there ever been any explanation about the identity or whereabouts of Carly and Spencer’s mother.

The most referred to, but never seen character on iCarly is Spencer’s friend Socko. I got the name ‘Socko’ from a real-life friend of mine. He’s a brilliant craftsman who has made much of the furniture in my home.

I did not invent the name Schneider’s Bakery. My grandfather did. He was a real baker who owned and ran the very successful Schneider’s Bakery in Memphis, Tennessee for 40 years. I adopted the name to honor his memory, and to make my dad smile.

Most iCarly episodes were written in my den, at my home.

As I was in the editing room, working on iGoodbye, I kept hoping the editor wouldn’t turn around, because I often had tears in my eyes, and I didn’t want him to know.