Tropes K to O / I Carly

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Keet: Spencer Shay. His ex-girlfriend Veronica describes him best.
"I thought he was crazy and... too loud. But Spencer is a creative, fun spirit."
Kick the Dog: In her second appearance, Miss Briggs, upon seeing Spencer talking with Freddie, gives Freddie two weeks of detention as punishment because Spencer won't leave simply because she can't punish Spencer. She then threatens to expell Freddie unless Spencer leaves, causing Freddie to frantically push him out of the school.
Kids Are Cruel: "iScream on Halloween": The kids' response to not getting any candy from Spencer? Roll him down into traffic in his giant carved pumpkin.
Kubrick Stare:
- The usual reaction from any of the trio when someone pulls off a Captain Obvious remark.
- Freddie and Spencer give a slow stare on Carly calling video games stupid and Sam's obliviousness to the MMORPG terminologies.
The Lad-ette: Sam Puckett is crude, masculine, boorish, loves sports and fighting, and is a shameless Big Eater who loves meat.
Lady in Red: Miss Ackerman in "iHave A Lovesick Teacher". Carly calls her hot (!), Freddie goes "Woah" 5 times (and this is the Season 1 Freddie who hasn't really hit puberty yet).
Lame Comeback:
- Freddie embodies this trope with regards to counter-insulting Sam.
  Freddie: Whaddup, ma'peeps?
  Sam: (deadpan) Wow, that greeting was uncool in so many ways.
  Freddie: Yeah? Well uncool is the new cool.
  Sam: (even more deadpan) Wow, that comeback was uncool in so many ways.
- This one from "iGet Pranky":
  Sam: Show them the prank, Fred-wiener!
  Freddie: Sure thing, Sam....jerk.
  Sam: And that's why you're behind the camera.
- Carly herself has her share, when Sam asks her to attempt a Trash Talk for the Shelby Marx press conference.
  Carly: You want a piece of me? Too bad! No pieces for you!... Jerk.
Lampshade Hanging: Spencer loves to invoke this trope to Carly's best friends. "Hello, little sis and her two friends who do not hang out in their own homes!"
Carly: We're home!
Spencer: Hi, Sam and Freddie with you?
Freddie: We're here.
Spencer: When aren't you here?
Sam: Good point.
Freddie: So true.
Large Ham:
- Spencer is prone to overreacting and talking loudly.
- Carly tends to overreact to many things that don't necessitate much reaction, such as when Sam traded in a T-shirt Carly made for rock concert tickets or when Sam privately kissed Freddie and not telling Carly for over a year.
- Lewbert screams most of his dialogue and is over-the-top with his nastiness.
- In "iFind Spencer Friends", The Cameo from Emma Stone as a crazed fan who makes Spencer look calm. Spencer.
LARP: Aruthor and Aspartamay's battle, combined with spoofed references from MMORPG like Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- Nevel, in almost any episode he appears on. Even emphasized in "iPity The Nevel", where his true colors get revealed to everyone for the Jerkass he really is and becomes a social pariah.
- Sam in the second half of "iSpeed Date".
- Spencer's former classmates beat him up at the end of "iGet Pranky".
Last Kiss:
- The decision of Sam and Freddie to break up in an hour or so so they can make out for a while after they break up in "iLove You". iCarly.com actually had a caption for it saying it was PROBABLY the last time you'd see them kissing.
- Freddie invokes the trope when he asks Carly for one, because he didn't know they were going to break up for sure. Carly smiles, and sweetly kisses him on the cheek.
Last-Minute Hookup: Carly and Freddie hook up in the final few minutes of "iGoodbye".
The Last Straw: "iDate A Bad Boy" with Spencer's pressure trigger plate. An obese postman steps on it but still doesn't activate it. The alarm fires off when Spencer handed the postman a stamp.
Late-Arrival Spoiler:
- If then-new viewers of the show saw the trailer of "iThink They Kissed" without watching the prequel "iKiss", Carly yells ''Sam and Freddie KISSED!''.
- Behind-the-scenes photos from the Word of God had revealed to the fandom very early on that Freddie saves Carly's life.
Laugh Track: A Dan Schneider staple. A laugh track is also programmed on Sam's remote in the webshow.
Laughing Gas: Downplayed in "iThink They Kissed". Sam is acting loopy after being given nitrous at the dentist. She's not laughing, though — just smiling.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- Carly's final speech during "iStart A Fan War", which is her being Schneider's mouthpiece by saying that the series is not about shipping.
- Spencer's awareness of being involved in a B-plot in every episode. Having no actual subplot in "iPity the Nevel", he appears doing random antics out of sheer boredom after asking if they want his advice or need his help with anything.
- "iParty With Victorious": In the ending the DJ says he'll play a song everyone knows, so what does he play? The opening to iCarly. Then the Victorious cast splice in their opening song. It's highly unlikely that a song sung in a school the iCarly cast never even heard of would reach them, let alone be memorized.
- The April Fools episode made a reference to getting '12 million viewers', which refers to "iSaved Your Life" which gained that level of ratings in real life.
- In "iMeet the First Lady":
  Spencer: It's like my life is a sitcom, I dunno!
- "iStill Psycho":
  - Gibby gets caught in a chimney and calls for help. The kids on the street that see him tell the Internet celebrity to take off his shirt. "No!" shouts Gibby, "I do that less frequently now!"
  - The episode ends with Spencer on the phone with his parents, reassuring them that everything's OK, even telling them that it's a happy ending.
- Carly in "iGoodbye": "Listen... doing iCarly for you guys has meant so, so much to me. And it's changed my life... and I want to say, to the fans of iCarly... thank you." Dan confirmed on his blog that this quote was a message to the fans that he said the rest of the cast feels the same way about.
Le Film Artistique:
- In "iSell Penny Tee's", Spencer watches a foreign film with a Goat and a balloon, to impress a hot girl who can't speak English.
- Carly and her super smart date Kyle watched "Ick Glokmah", a Russian film that was four hours long with an intermission halfway through.
Let's Get Dangerous!: Gibby in "iPsycho". He rams down the front door of Nora's house; when Nora seems to get the upper hand in their fight, Gibby removes his shirt and resumes the battle.
Let Us Never Speak of This Again:
- Between the Shay siblings, especially Carly's No Periods, Period in "iDate a Bad Boy" and Spencer's attempt for giving Carly The Talk in "iSpeed Date".
- Sam and Freddie's agreement about their First Kiss. When Sam's drugged slip-of-tongue reveals it to Carly, Hilarity Ensues.
Like an Old Married Couple:
- Freddie and Carly behave like this, but they harmoniously get along peacefully and cordially whenever they're together since they've very like-minded.
- Carly and Sam. Their no-nonsense quarrel even gets to the point of having a symbolic divorce but they still reconcile in the end.
- Averted with Sam & Freddie early in Season 5. They don't clash Like an Old Married Couple, they aggressively lock horns like they always have, riddled with abusively toxic and dysfunctionally feudal clashing by frequently butting heads, getting under each other's skin, at each other's throats, and even dragging Carly into the midst of their intensely adversarial falling outs, which frustrate Carly to a point where she snaps and berates them for their bellicosely squabbling antics, and calls them on it, declaring that if they can't learn to get along without clashing, they might as well break up.
Limited Social Circle: Their social circle consists of Sam, Freddie and Carly. You can stretch that to include Spencer, and maybe Gibby and Wendy, when she was around.
Line-of-Sight Name: In "iGet Banned", when pressed by Sam for a name for his and Gibby's 'band', Freddie looks around and finally blurts out "The...(glances at the floor)...Floors!"
Local Hangout: The Groovy Smoothie, often-mentioned but unseen until well into the second season. The Meta reason is that having the trio spend so much time at Carly's house was wearing thin. The Groovy Smoothie allows scenes between Sam and Freddie that don't take place at school and can happen without Carly or Spencer being there.
Locked in a Room:
- The trio in "iSpace Out", where they do a 36-hour lockdown test in a space pod.
- Carly, Sam, and Pam are intentionally trapped in a room in "iSam's Mom".
Logging onto the Fourth Wall: Some of the websites featured on the show are actually real, such as http://worldofchucks.com and http://chickapedia.com.
Long Runner: Relative to other KidComs of its era with 109 episodes. Dan Schneider himself notes that such a large episode order is an aberration on Nickelodeon, citing 60-70 being the norm as was the case with Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and VicTORious.
Loony Fan:
- The Fangirl Amanda "Mandy" Valdez, who personifies overly devoted fans of the show.
- "iPsycho" introduces Nora, a lonely and homely fan which ended up way worse than Mandy by taking the trio hostage in her basement so she could stay popular.
- The in-universe Seddie vs. Creddie fans in "iStart A Fan War". Spencer and Jack Black's character appear to be this in their sub-plot as well.
Loophole Abuse:
- Used to great effect in "iPromote Techfoots" to get out safely from a contract.
- Also used in "iOwe You" to have Sam keep the money the iCarly viewers sent.
- There's no rule that specifically states that a full-grown adult can't wrestle in a community wrestling league. The pamphlet only recommended the activity to boys 6-10.
- Ridgeway High's handbook forbids students to wear tube tops or turtlenecks, but not from attending school shirtless.
- The rebuilt Proton Cruiser technically qualified as a "new car" as a prize for Nevel in "iGive Away a Car".
Lost Aesop: In-Universe. In "iOMG", Carly and Sam say in their webshow that a lesson has been learned, only to retract that and admit they learned nothing and wasted everyone’s time.
Love at First Sight: Carly confirmed in "iSaved Your Life" that Freddie had been in love with Carly since he first met her.
Loved by All: Fred is portrayed as very nearly having this. In "iMeet Fred", after Freddie politely says he doesn't like the Fred show and Fred reacts by saying he's quit making videos, Freddie becomes a social pariah who gets blacklisted from all of his clubs and regularly gets beaten on the street, and not a single mention is made of any Fred hatedom (and hoo boy, does one exist in real life) praising Freddie or defending him.
Love Dodecahedron: Carly once briefly dated Freddie (who is enamored with her) in Season 3, only for them to break up because Sam told him that Carly's feelings for Freddie were hero worship. Sam once had a crush on Spencer, and then later has full blown feelings for Freddie, who enters into a relationship with Sam. They broke up too Then Carly kisses Freddie in the original series finale, which seemingly rekindles their romance. Gibby has shown interest in both girls, and had a girlfriend named Tasha, who had an episode where it looked like she cheated on Gibby with Freddie. Melanie, who is Sam's twin sister, had an obvious crush on Freddie, and has kissed him as well.
Love Epiphany: Carly gets one in "iGoodbye" sometime before coming up to Freddie to kiss him.
Love Makes You Crazy: Ms. Ackerman wants to know where Spencer is for every minute of every day, and actually keeps logs on when he doesn't answer his phone.
Love Triangle:
- Begins with a major plot twist featuring Sam privately kissing Freddie mid-Season 2, merely to overcome their frustrations of having never kissed anyone before and her way of mending fences with Freddie after exposing his dirty secret, as it turns out that they don't truly hate each other's guts. Afterwards they agree to keep it a secret and this changes the dynamic of their status, as they seem a little more friendly to each other most of the time, while simultaneously Sam sometimes is more mean towards him. This can be because Sam's feelings for Freddie actually began to grow after they shared their first kiss with each other. And her being mean to Freddie even more could've been her way of trying to hide her crush on him in an abusively twisted way.
- Then their smooch becomes a major plot device early on in Season 3 "iThink they Kissed", when Carly becomes outraged when she finds out about their first kiss in private, confronts them both about it and acts jealous. Considering we saw Freddie try to pretentiously over-impress Carly in "iDate a Bad Boy" with a prank call involving pizza that hilariously backfired, it's implied that he never stopped loving Carly even after that first kiss with Sam and still had feelings for her. Lampshaded when Sam walked in the room and curiously asked Carly "Will he ever give up on you?" to which Carly replies "I don't know." adding that she probably never should have told Freddie about her taste in guys.
- A major turning point occurs in Season 3, where Carly and Freddie affectionately enjoy their romance, starting with a romantic slow dance at the end of "iSpeed Date", and Sam's softer side is shown to Gibby. Then they spend the entire episode romantically dating and kissing in "iSaved Your Life", which features Freddie and Carly embarking on a romantic adventure, where Carly becomes smitten with Freddie (who just risked his own life to rescue her and injured himself), only for Sam to break them up by warning Freddie that Carly only admires his actions because of hero worship, which causes him to amicably break up with Carly on good terms, but they agree to remain as friends.
- Following their amicable split (after this major Creddie romance in Season 3 is put to rest), this is when the Sam/Freddie story arc comes into play in the second half of Season 4, established in the Season 4 finale "iOMG", which was a shocking Cliffhanger with plot twists, it flips the romantic agenda on its head by having Sam kissing Freddie, much to Carly's shock. When the show comes back they enter a 4-episode Story Arc early in Season 5, but break up in "iLove You". "iOpen A Restaurant" in Season 6 shows that Freddie is beginning to revisit and subtly rekindle his long lost romance with Carly. Even after everything he went through with Sam, he still has feelings for Carly, and tries flirtatiously asking her out in the hopes of getting back together and then ended in the finale "iGoodbye", which finally ends the speculation when Carly comes up to Freddie and initiates a Last-Minute Hookup smooch. Carly and Freddie passionately kiss.

Made of Incendium: Nearly anything Spencer creates or meddles with ends up on fire. This is roughly split 50/50 between things that shouldn't catch fire, like the doorman bell, or a drum kit, and things he really should be smart enough to not build, such as the overpowered metallic magnetic Christmas Tree. The drum kit is lampshaded by Spencer:
"How would that even be possible?!"
Made of Iron:
- Freddie endures what sounds like a brutal beating from Sam in "iMeet Fred", including apparently being hit hard enough with a tennis racket cause it to break. A blow of such severity to the head (Say from Sam wanting to knock some sense into him) would likely result in loss of consciousness, a concussion, and severe bleeding from cranial lacerations. Striking any part of the body that severely would be intensely painful and would result in definite physical trauma, possibly even broken bones. However, at the end of this, Freddie walks out looking somewhat mussed and scared but no worse for wear. Moments later Sam pushes him out of a tree house, and yet he is still able to actively take part in making Fred videos afterward.
- Freddie came out of "iSaved Your Life" with a broken leg. The inertia from the moving truck can do much, much worse to a human body. That or he has incredible luck.
Magic Countdown: In "iGot Detention", when Carly successfully gets detention and realizes Freddie hasn't yet, she says school's over in three minutes. However, only 30 seconds elapse between when she says that and the time the bell rings.
Malaproper:
- Gibby showing up in "iDo" wearing a bear costume, because he thought he was the Ring Bear and not Ring Bearer.
- In "iGot a Hot Room", T-Bo (deliberately) messes up with Carly.
  Carly: Here, I'm just done cleaning the juicer ports.
  T-Bo: What?! I told you to read the juice reports!
  Carly: (scandalized) What is a juice report?
  T-Bo: It's part of the fruit newsletter!
Malt Shop: The Groovy Smoothie is a modernised version of one of these, used as the Local Hangout.
Mama Bear: Mrs. Benson moves in for her Roaring Rampage of Revenge in "iFence", beating a bunch of Freddie's bullies and other fencing students while Dual Wielding a pair of sabers.
Manchild: Spencer is a sculptor for a living, often making whimsical and sometimes weird sculptures that usually end up catching on fire or exploding before being perfected. He loves light-up socks, has a pet goldfish (that he often forgets to feed, resulting in another pet goldfish), and once went to law school for three days. Carly calls him a man child in "iLove You". He calls himself a man child in the series finale.
Market-Based Title: Averted with the series itself, but unusually one episode^note uses this trope in other English-language territories - "iShock America" airs outside the US as "iShock The World".
The Masochism Tango: Sam's abusively toxic and dissonantly contentious love-hate blowouts with Freddie is the epitome of Stockholm syndrome. Once they get together in the Season 5 premiere when she checks into a mental hospital having lost her mind due to her crush on him, the next episode features them aggressively locking horns at each other's throats so frequently, clashing and falling out to the point where Carly (who is their couples counselling mediator) becomes frustrated and fed up with their explosively confrontational blowout antics. She angrily tells them to screw off since they might as well break up if they can't resolve their own issues. By the next episode, they only clashed and butted heads three times that day, and that Sam still hits Freddie, just not in the face. They nearly split when Sam is revealed to have sabotaged an admission paper that could have helped him get into any college he wanted. Following a lengthy plight featuring abysmally dreadful, toxic and dysfunctionally ruinous clashing, the duo ultimately break up in the fourth episode "iLove You", upon realizing that they are far too dissonant and incompatible polar opposites who have nothing in common interests outside of the web show, and they can't coexist peacefully and harmoniously without ruining it for each other.
Master of the Mixed Message: Carly did this to Freddie in Season 1, despite her "We are just friends" lines, she will often act in ways that lead him on.
May–December Romance: Mrs. Benson and Spencer during "iChristmas" would be this. Mrs Benson would realistically be at least in her 40's (although it's possible she could be in her mid-30's), with Spencer about 27 years old.
Meaningful Echo: After their first kiss in private, Freddie stops Sam walking away by jokingly stating "Hey. I hate you" with a smile on his face and Sam responds with "I hate you too". Later, when they break up in Season 5, Sam professes her love for Freddie before they part ways and break up.
Merchandise-Driven: Parodied when Carly started advertising for sneakers on her show. The foot warmers and wi-fi pedometer linkup exploded and wiped hard drives, respectively, so they obviously didn't advertise them for long.
Military Brat: The Shays. Notable in that their father has been deployed so long that not only has he never been seen in-series, but nothing about their home's layout, decor, or location reflects a military background.
Minor Injury Overreaction: Spencer in "iCarly Saves TV". He pricks his hand with a screwdriver and starts freaking out because he's bleeding. Luckily for him, Mrs. Benson is as much of an overreacter as he is, and immediately runs to get her gigantic first-aid kit.
Spencer: Wait! I don't think I should be left alone, there's a hole in my hand! Mrs. Benson?!
Missed Him by That Much: Throughout "iTwins", Sam and Melanie constantly leave the scene just as the opposite is about to appear, leading Freddie to think it's a scam even more. This is because Sam is trying to avoid her sister as much as it takes because she can't stand her girliness. It isn't until the final scene where they are finally shown together.
Missing Mom: Carly's mother has never been mentioned, the likely choices are her completely abandoning her children (as their father has been deployed in the military since before the show started), being insane, locked up or dead. According to the revival, it's the first one. Sam's mother is something of a psychologically absent type.
"Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop: Freddie drops into Nevel's room on cables and is mistaken for a spider by Nevel's grandmother. He also gets stuck, and that forces the girls to complete the task. Then he gets chopped down by Sam.
Mister Exposition: Wendy. Tells the gang that another TV show is stealing their bits. Explains that Freddie gave up a sea trip to get rid of Carly's old friend who was trying to break them up. Parodied in the fandom, who consider her the Seattle version of Gossip Girl.
Mrs. Hypothetical:
- Sam calls Carly and Freddie 'Mr and Mrs Benson' in "iSaved Your Life".
- Carly in "iDream Of Dance": "If he's a nub, then someday I want to be Mrs. Carly Nub."
- Sam in "iPie": "Why can't I marry this pie? All I want out of life is to be Mrs. Sam This Pie."
- In "iParty With Victorious", Carly imagines herself as Mrs. (Steven) Carson, writing "Carly Carson" in various fonts.
Moe Couplet: Carly and Freddie. They both look cute together, peacefully get along harmoniously and cordially. Everything they do as a couple is cute to the extreme.
Moff’s Law: Used in-universe by Carly as an Author Filibuster as a stand in for the Word of God constant claim to focus on the comedy rather than the romantic vibes of the show amidst the heavy Ship Tease post-season 2 onwards.
Moment Killer:
- Spencer does this to all 3 of them: he cockblocks Carly so hard in her attempt to kiss Shane in "iSaw Him First"; when Freddie hits on Carly in "iDon't Wanna Fight", a flush is heard from Spencer's toilet; and as for Seddie fans, Spencer breaking in to find his banjo before they even answer Carly's question if Sam and Freddie liked their kiss.
- The episode "iSaw Him First" is quite full of moment killers where both girls attempt to kiss Shane first in all futility.
- Mrs. Benson abruptly interrupts the make-out session between Carly and Freddie in "iSaved Your Life".
Mondegreen Gag: In "iStakeout", detectives infiltrate the Shays' apartment to spy on the owner of the shop next door because they think he's sells pirated movies, as in illegal copies. He actually sells pirate movies, homemade movies about pirates, which are not illegal at all.
Monochrome Casting: iCarly's main cast is entirely white.
Montages: Spencer's out-of-control pranking the trio, Gibby, T-Bo, and several Groovy Smoothie customers in different instances.
Moonburn: In episode "iStakeout", Freddie manages to get out of swimming with his crazy, overbearing mother by claiming that he did not want to get "cloudburn." Oddly enough, she does eventually find cloud block.
Morality Pet: Carly is the only one who Sam doesn't make fun of or hurt in some way.
Mother Nature, Father Science:
- Expect Carly and Sam to solve problems in the natural (or the brawn) way and Freddie to resort to geeky gadgets and tech stuff.
- Played straight with "iGo Nuclear". Carly's projects involve a crude compost pit and an organic pesticide, while Sam used her fingers to rip an orange apart. Contrast Freddie's high-tech modern composter, Spencer's electric-powered scooter, and Cal's illegal nuclear-powered generator.
Motive Rant: Missy gives one to Sam, as part of her latching onto the Villain Ball. It ruins the plan because it turns Sam from questioning if Missy even was trying to get rid of her, into sure of it, and decided to bring Freddie in to help her, which she never had to do before.
Motor Mouth: The Shays. Both siblings can deliver long and impressive tongue-twisting dialogues. The trope's Sadist Teacher form is Mr. Devlin.
- In "iSaw Him First":
  Carly: Yes I did too! He told me he could beat his dad at arm wrestling and I said "No way!" and he said "Oh no, it's true" and I said "Wow, you must be really strong" and he said "I work out a litle bit" and I said "Really?" and he said "Yeah, you wanna feel my biceps?" and I said "Sure, I do" and they felt AWESOME!
- In "iRocked the Vote":
  Spencer: No, I'm sorry I didn't return the video! I watched it in my buddy Socko's house and his mom got mad because we spilled gravy on her carpet and she threw me out and I thought I left the video there, but I didn't. He says I did, I thought I didn't and I looked for it everywhere so - I don't mean to lie, I don't like lying, I don't like the way it feels. And you know I tell my sister that "Don't lie" and I tell my little sister "You shouldn't lie, it's not good" and they have their "Honesty is the best policy", right? But there's Sam, her friend who tells me how to lie and it makes me nauseous and I feel queasy, and I know I didn't —
- In "iDate a Bad Boy":
  Carly: Well, Wendy and I are trying to study, and Griffin kept turning up the music, so Wendy got frustrated and left. Then I told Griffin he's obnoxious and he said I shouldn't ruin his sense of humor and I said "Oh, really?" and he was telling me how immature I was and then I realized he's super cute. And he asked me if he liked music and I go "Who doesn't like music?" So then I turned on some music and we started talking and I realized he's sweet and smart and his lips were right there in front of me so I leaned over and I kissed him! And I don't kiss like (blathers her tongue), I KISS LIKE A PRINCESS!"
- In "iWon't Cancel the Show":
  Carly: Freddie says "in five, four, three, two", then points at us, then we introduce the show. Then after that, we go to that wheel over there and do a bit called "put that in your man purse", which you don't know about, but just play along and you'll figure it out as we go.
Mouth Taped Shut: In the episode "iSpeed Date", in order to announce that Carly needs a date without being interrupted, Sam straps Carly into a chair and tapes her mouth shut.
Moving-Away Ending: Before the Revival, the show ended with Carly deciding to join her dad in moving to Italy, saying goodbye to Spencer, Freddie, and Sam before taking off.
Mr. Alt Disney: Charles Dingo with with its theme park, the dingo as the beloved cartoon animal and its own version of Disney Channel. The whole episode was a massive Take That! against Disney Channel. Plus the fact that Mr Dingo's head was in cryogenics, which is a well known rumor about Walt Disney being frozen.
Murder the Hypotenuse: When Carly admits she likes Adam during the Webicon in "iStart a Fanwar", the in-universe Creddie shippers angrily clobber the "Creddie killer", with other Seddie shippers joining in.
Muscles Are Meaningless:
- Sam is apparently strong enough to manhandle anyone she needs to, despite Jennette McCurdy being absolutely tiny. Notable when Freddie, after his actor gained a ton of muscle, lost an arm wrestling match with her, despite it being clear his arm is nearly twice as thick as hers.
- Chuck Chambers and his brother Chip are both strong enough to beat up Spencer, a grown man in at least his late 20s, despite being a scrawny teenager and 9 year old respectively.
My Beloved Smother: The most overprotective mother in the nonfictional world would find Mrs. Benson outrageous. She even acts this way towards Spencer as well, especially in "iFence" where she even offers to sew Spencer's name on his underpants.
My Friends... and Zoidberg:
- Freddie uses this in "iHate Sam's Boyfriend".
  Freddie: Hello, ladies. Or should I say lady and Sam.
  Sam: (squirts cheese to Freddie's face)
- Freddie gets this treatment so frequently that he gets forced to just add himself in when they forget to include him.
  Freddie: Dear Carly and Sam. And Freddie.
  Carly: Ooh, they added you.
  Freddie: Nah, I just added me.
- Freddie gets this all the time from Sam.
  Sam: Sonia, please make me a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato.
  Sonia: Yes, Miss Sam.
  Carly: I like grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato.
  Sam: Make that two, please.
  Sonia: Yes, Miss Sam.
  Freddie: I like grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato.
  Sam: Tough nubs.
My God, What Have I Done?:
- Freddie utters this line as a group (What have WE done?) when the gang realized that bringing back Marta made Lewbert's life even worse.
- Carly went into a breakdown of repentance in "iChristmas" when her wish turned her life into one she did not want.
- Freddie again evokes a variation of this trope in the extended version of "iSaved Your Life" in Season 3. After his dumping the girl of his dreams at the end of the episode, the one who he was enamored with for so long, his facial expression drastically changes into shock, while in the elevator and remorsefully questions, "What did I do?" Cue a zoom out of the Bushwell building as he heartbreakingly screams "WHAT DID I DO?!" in dejected sadness and despair.

Negatives as a Positive: The episode "I Promote Techfoots" has the iCarly crew be given a sponsorship to promote a new pair of sneakers called the Techfoot. The shoes turn out to be terrible, being uncomfortable to wear, easily fall apart, and even burst into flames if overheated. They're unable to get out of their contract, so they get the idea to highlight all of the problems with Techfoot, but present them happily as if they were actual features. The shoe company relents and gets them out of their contract.
Nerd Hoard: Carly starts seeing a guy who comes across with a "Bad Boy" persona. She ends up losing interest really fast (in addition to a Drama Queen freak out) when she finds out he has a Beanie Baby-esque collection. He would go online to buy the "only sold in Asia" stuff and only allows others to touch them after they wiped their hands with a wet nap. After all the hype surrounding his bad-boy nature, Freddie finds it hilarious.
Nerdy Bully: Nevel Papperman, despite being wimpy and odd, is a bad tempered kid with great computer skills and a popular blog, both of which he's more than willing to use against his enemies. When Carly rejected his advances he set out to make her "rue the day" and had since become a recurring villain always attempting to take down iCarly.
Never Lend to a Friend: The basis of "iOwe You". Sam agrees to pay back her debt of over $500 to Carly and Freddie, forcing herself to get a job that strains their friendship.
Never Mess with Granny: Spencer and Socko were taking Socko's grandmother on their camping trip because there might be bears.
Never Say "Die":
- Toyed with in "iHatch Chicks". "If the baby chicks aren't put back in the incubator in three hours... bad things." "What does that even mean?" "Six cute little chicken funerals!"
- As Sam says, her Uncle Carmine is the one to approach if you want someone "to disappear".
- Lampshaded aversion in "iEnrage Gibby", when Gibby threatens Freddie with a ''die latte''.
Never Say That Again:
- Sam hates the word "panties" with a passion and begs them never to say it around her.
- Although Spencer is convinced the word she hates is stairs, and proceeds to shout "Stairs, stairs, stairs!" at her.
New Job Episode: Sam in "iOwe You" and Carly in "iGot a Hot Room". For that lone episode anyway once their plotlines were resolved.
Nice Character, Mean Actor:
- Amber Tate. Very sweet on-camera, primadonna off-cam.
- Wade Collins. Turns out that he made up that whole "my mother needs surgery" thing to gain sympathy from the audience. He's really an insensitive, nasty hobknocker! And racist to boot.
- Carly is a nice, sweet, cordial and cheerful girl; by contrast, Miranda Cosgrove (who plays her) is a hardass boss, as seen in "iBloop", in which she criticizes Jerry Trainor (Spencer) for goofing off at rehearsals.
Nice Guys Finish Last:
- Freddie invokes this by trying to prank call a fishy pizza to his teachers house in front of Carly. When the pizza place calls back, he panics and flees.
- He actually pulls it off in "iStage An Intervention" when he successfully pranks Sam after she pranked him. Carly is impressed and delighted by his awesomeness, but Freddie lacks the confidence to follow through and try to ask her out.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Freddie gets the Shadowhammer on video, T-Bo explains to the newscasters that it was him who did so against his pleas, and one girl even tells the public the name of the hotel and Freddie's apartment. And then guess what happens.
Nightmare Fuel:
- In universe, in "iChristmas", for Carly, Carly no longer being friends with Sam and Freddie, dating Nevel, iCarly no longer existing and having Spencer engaged to Mrs. Benson. The iCarly webshow would be dead, or Valerie or Rhona Berger would have come up with the idea with Freddie and made their own popular one. Carly gets teased by Wendy, one of the only other characters shown to spend time with Carly. With Spencer playing a straitlaced, emotionally absent father figure, no friends, no webshow, Carly probably felt like she didn't exist at all.
- If there was any 'tipping point' for Spencer to become 'normal', it likely involved the death of their father on military duty. This would have forced Spencer to live with his grandfather, which eventually resulted in 'normal Spencer'.
Nipple and Dimed: The chest enhancers from "iWas A Pageant Girl" have nipples on them.
Nobody Here but Us Birds: "iGot Detention" episode where they have Freddie sneak into detention with them.
Carly: (like a bird) Caw-caw!
Freddie: (unconvincingly) Caw-caw...
Carly: Do it like a bird!
Nobody Poops: Lampshaded on "iPsycho". As Freddie is going over their overly planned itinerary with Carly, she asks when they should go to the bathroom.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: Some episodes feature parodies of celebrities.
- "iCook" has Ricky Flame (Bobby Flay).
- "iFix a Popstar" has Ginger Fox (Britney Spears).
No Ending:
- One being the end of "iBelieve In Bigfoot" where the gang and some other guys are left stranded when their RV gets stolen.
- At the end of "iThink They Kissed", the trio have been tied up with duct tape by escaped felons, and Carly enviouly questions them if they enjoyed their first kiss. Sam gazes at Freddie for a few seconds, then Spencer busts in with his Banjo, plays a few chords and the show ends. Considering we saw Freddie pretentiously try to overimpress Carly in "iDate a Bad Boy" with a prank call involving pizza that hilariously backfired, it's implied that he never stopped loving Carly even after that first kiss with Sam and still had feelings for her, lampshaded when Sam walked in and curiously asked Carly "Will he ever give up on you?" to which she replies "I don't know.."
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- Freddie, every time he does a good deed, expect it to bite him on the ass later. In "iSam's Mom", he catches an elusive criminal on video when no one else could. He's rewarded with nothing but a coupon (buy a dozen smoothies, get 10% off on your 13th), which expired the very next day. Then on national television, T-Bo and a female schoolmate reveal his full name and address while the crook is still on the loose.
- This is is what results in the plots of "iPsycho" and "iStill Psycho".
  - In "iPsycho", the iCarly trio attend a party for Nora Dershlit, a fan of theirs who has no friends and whose neglectful parents left her alone on her own birthday. They even do a webcast encouraging Nora's school mates to come to her party. Their reward for this kindness is being held hostage by Nora. Fortunately, they are able to escape
  - In "iStill Psycho", the iCarly trio are called to Nora's probabtion hearing. Carly is at first perfectly willing to let Nora rot in juvie but after seeing both Nora and her parents in tears decides to argue in favor of letting Nora out on parole. Against their better judgement, they also join Nora and her mother for dinner. This turns out to be a trap and they are once again at Nora's mercy only this time, her parents turn out to be just as twisted as Nora is and are in on the plot.
No Guy Wants an Amazon:
- In "iBeat The Heat", Freddie is bothered when his online girlfriend, Gibby's cousin Sabrina turns out to be much taller than him.
- In "iMake Sam Girly", Sam becomes convinced of this, and it's what convinces her to get her Girliness Upgrade, but it ends up being subverted with Pete, who likes her better as a tough girl. For some reason he's never shown again.
No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Gibby versus Nora. It's a battle of Bloodless Carnage, where both of them took quite a lot of punishment and all Gibby got was a cut in the lip.
No Indoor Voice: Most of the characters (save for Freddie and Principal Franklin) can get pretty shouty at times.
Noodle Incident:
- In "iMust Have Locker 239", the first bunny Carly drew is never shown.
  Carly: It's better than the first bunny I drew.
  Freddie: That is not possible.
  Sam: Ohhh, it's possible...
- In "iReunite With Missy":
  Carly: That's Kevin. If he asks if you want to see his onion ring, just say no.
  Missy: Why?
  Carly: Just say NO!
- In "iSpy a Mean Teacher":
  Freddie: I assure you, twenty years from now, I'll be Carly's second husband.
  Carly: What happened to my first husband?
  Freddie: Nothing you can prove.
- In "iQuit iCarly":
  Freddie: (to Spencer) I'm not giving you a spongebath while you watch television! Not after the last time.
- In "iBelieve in Bigfoot":
  Spencer: I met a freaky rabbi in Vegas once...
- In "iHire an Idiot":
  Spencer: I can't go back to law school! That was the worst 72 hours of my life!
  Freddie: Even worse than that time those bikers took you to —
  Spencer: *Loud obnoxious interrupting noise*
- In "iPsycho":
  Spencer: I remember when they said I couldn't go to camp anymore.
  Gibby: Why, because you were too old?
  Spencer: No.
- The constant references to something involving a goat on Carly's 15th Birthday the year before that made it her "worst birthday ever" in iGot a Hot Room. and how T-Bo's sister fell off the ladder.
- Sam's life is full of these. Example; her grandfather died fighting a bull but no explanation is ever given as to why he was fighting one in the first place or how he died in the fight.
- From "iPsycho": The clown had an aneurysm, nobody showed up, even her parents ditched her to go to Wyoming- and Nora's still had even worse birthdays.
- What did Gibby do in the bathroom in "iSam's Mom" that had that Asian guy run away in terror and get a policeman?
- "iOMG": What did Sam draw on Gibby's forehead and then upload?
No Periods, Period:
- Spencer had to go a drugstore once to buy some "supplies" for Carly. They promise never to speak of it again.
- During Carly's freakout in "iMeet Sam's Mom", Pam Puckett asks Carly if she has "girl cramps".
No-Respect Guy: Freddie is frequently abused, pranked, teased and bullied by Sam, manipulated by Carly, and even humiliated in public at school.
No Sense of Personal Space:
- A Running Gag where Carly always tells off Freddie to step back when he's too close, but is reversed when it's Carly who grabs on Freddie for a Security Cling.
- Carly and Sam are a standout example of this, fueling most of the show's Les Yay.
- Paul, that guy from Pini's in "iDate Sam and Freddie" who keeps trying to tell Carly weird things about himself.
Not Helping Your Case: This bit:
Carly: When did you become so uncool?!
Spencer: Uhh, when did you become a little baby who yells at me when I don't give her what I want?
Carly: RIGHT WHEN YOU STOP GIVING ME WHAT I WANT!
"Not Wearing Pants" Dream:
- Gibby interrupts Sam's dream in "iDream Of Dance" in this manner.
- Spencer is also prone to this.
Not What It Looks Like: In "iEnrage Gibby", Freddie and Tasha have a private talk together in the studio, and Tasha trips and falls on him. Then Gibby enters, and it appears as if the two are making out, infuriating him enough to fight Freddie.
Nothing Is Scarier: Played for Laughs. In one episode, Gibby walks out of a bathroom holding a plunger, with a victorious expression on his face. Another man walks out behind him absolutely terrified. The audience is not given a single clue what Gibby did with that plunger.

Obsessive Hobby Episode:
- In "iStage an Intervention", Spencer becomes obsessed with an old video game called "Pak Rat". He spends all his time playing the game refusing to even go to the bathroom or do the work he's being paid for. He refuses to stop playing until the kids convince Sasha Striker, who's known as the "Pak Rat" world champion, to challenge him. At the end, Carly plays the game and becomes just as obsessed as her brother.
- In "iFence", Spencer teaches Freddie how to fence and then they can't stop fencing even when they're blocking people in the living room or annoying their friends, because Freddie is naturally talented and they want to beat Spencer's rivals. Apparently, this is genetic and Freddie's grandfather used to be a talented fencer before he became obsessed, leading to his downfall.
Obfuscating Stupidity: In "iHire An Idiot", Ashley, the hot intern Freddie picked. She seems to be as dumb as Cort but in the end is revealed to be a very intelligent college student. She only pretended to be stupid as part of Freddie's plan to get Carly and Sam to fire Cort.
Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In "iPromise Not to Tell", Spencer rebuilds his giant A sculpture for Carly, thinking that she got straight As for the semester. He's completely unaware that Freddie hacked into the school's computer to change her lone B (and two of his grades as well) and they both feel bad about it.
Object Ceiling Cling:
- Carly does this to a worm in "iGo Nuclear". It falls on Spencer's head a bit later.
- Spencer does this to a tray of cucumber cups prepared by Mrs. Benson.
Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The second bloopers episode is entitled "iBloop 2: Electric Bloopaloo".
Oh, Crap!: In "iOMG": The look on Freddie's face when his mood-detecting app states that Sam is in love. Later the look on Carly's face when she witnesses Sam and Freddie kissing.
Older Than They Look:
- Gibby is in the same age as his classmates, but in real life, Noah Munck is actually 3 years younger than Miranda Cosgrove and Nathan Kress.
- Spencer is supposed to be in his mid to late 20's. Jerry Trainor is 33 (Spencer acts about 9, so maybe it averages..)
Old Media Playing Catch-Up: It's a basic-cable SitCom/KidCom about kids who do a webshow. Every character seems to have the latest digital gadgetry.
Old Shame: In-universe, fencing is this for Mrs. Benson, which also served as her Chekhov's Skill.
Once per Episode: The webshow. Only "iBeat The Heat" and "iLove You" didn't include it.
One Dialogue, Two Conversations: In "iEnrage Gibby", when Carly is talking to Mr. Klemish, she thinks they're talking about a bad review of Spencer's sculptures, while Mr. Klemish thinks they're talking about Spencer's death.
One-Hour Work Week: Spencer. He spent more than a week playing a video game instead of building a commissioned sculpture work, including finding and beating the now hot girl who had the world record 10+ years ago, worked during the night before it was to be completed, and received a huge wad of money for it at 9am.
One of the Girls: Played With in regards to Freddie; He is part of the Two Girls and a Guy trio, but in at least one episode he did lament the fact that he did not have any male friends to hang with. As the series went on, it did appear that he gain other male friends as part of nerdy clubs away from Carly and Sam.
One-Steve Limit:
- Two characters named Tasha have appeared on the show. The first in the Season 1 episode "iNevel", and a recurring love interest for Gibby in Season 3, in the episode "iSpeed Date".
- Chuck. One is a delivery man "without a personality", while the other is a devious recurring pre-teen character.
- Brad. One is the big-shot producer from TVS ("iCarly Saves TV") and the other brings the fudge ("iHire an Idiot", "iOMG").
- Carly's boyfriend's name in "iParty With Victorious" is the same as that of her father's: Steven.
- Two characters named Fred. One's the tech producer Freddie. The other's the internet sensation Fred.
- Two girls are named Melanie: Sam's sister and an unseen student, Melanie Katz.
- The name "Stephanie" is used for Jake Krandle's girlfriend and the baby of Mrs. Benson's cousin who likes anyone but Freddie.
- "Harper" is used for the TV musician in "iCarly Saves TV" and Carly's roommate in the revival.
- Ironically, there are two characters named Mario: One works at Galini's Pie Shop, and the other was one of the students whom Spencer dumped garlic powder on when they were still in school.
Only Sane Man:
- Freddie, again, complete with volunteering for aLiz Lemon Job (almost exactly Liz Lemon's actual job, for that matter.)
- Carly early on, but they seemed to move away from this so she could do more physical humor.
- Spencer, of all characters, was the only character in "iTwins" who was not a Jerkass Ball or Idiot Ball. Unlike Carly and Sam who did nothing to prove to Freddie that Melanie is not a prank, Chuck's harassment of Spencer was Caught on Tape by Socko's laptop, and Spencer uses this to prove to Carly that Chuck is evil and to ask for payback.
- Courtney, the daughter of Freddie's mom's therapist in "iBalls". When the 3D webcast caused the viewers to have problems with their vision, the webcast cured hers — she was suffering from "bilateral optic stenosis" her whole life and her sight became clear from watching it. Because of this the 3D technology is given to the American Optometric Association.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- If it's Carly or Freddie that starts to suggest breaking and entering, vandalism or general mayhem, and not Sam, then the situation has definitely got out of hand.
- In the Season 4 finale "iOMG", Sam's wanting to help Freddie and Brad with a homework assignment, and then going to a movie with them, raised a lot of red flags.
- Freddie tells Sam that she has been acting very differently ever since Brad showed up in "iOMG".
- In "iReunite With Missy", Sam invokes this when she goes to Freddie to try to convince him that Missy is trying to split up Carly and her. He doesn't believe her and demands proof, which makes Freddie think about it:
  Sam: 'Cause I came here. Have I ever come here for help before? For anything?
Opposites Attract: Subverted or Inverted Trope with the Fred/Sam story arc in Season 5, depending on how you look at it. The subversion is they are polar opposites that become physically attracted to each other but they eventually break up when the actual relationship fails. They can't find any common ground in their interests and actually end up sabotaging them for each other when they try being involved in each other's activities. It ends up being the main reason why they dump each other. The inversion is Sam wants someone abnormal like herself, and Freddie wants someone more normal and well-suited for himself (like Carly), so that while they did have an Opposites Attract vibe, it's not what they need for a relationship.
Out-of-Character Moment: Freddie ignoring Carly bawling her eyes out whilst she's crying and curled up in a ball at the end of "iChristmas". When Carly tells him to leave her alone, he shrugs his shoulders and then blathers on about rehearsing for their next webshow. It's done so that they can reveal they are back in the 'real' world, and Carly can get better, but there's no way on earth Freddie would ever ever leave Carly's side when she's crying like that.
Overly Long Gag:
- The code to unlock the Bensons' door in "iSaved Your Life".
- Germy's sneezing as he leaves the iCarly studio in "iWill Date Freddie".
Overly Narrow Superlative:
- The Award Show episode includes awards for things like, "The Most Interesting and Yet Frightening Tongue Video" and "Best Milk Squirting from Eye Video".
- Justified to an extent, since the guys were all complete strangers, at least one of whom openly admits to just wanting to make out.
Overused Running Gag: T-Bo's food-on-a-stick is put up with a couple of times, and now every time it's brought up he is forcefully rejected by the other characters.

I Carly / Tropes K to O

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