I Carly / Tropes U to Z

Tropes A to E | Tropes F to J | Tropes K to O | Tropes P to T | Tropes U to Z | Main Page

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U

• Ugly Guy, Hot Girlfriend: Gibby/Tasha. In addition, Gibby even has an attractive mother and cousin who dated Spencer and Freddie respectively.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: Played for Laughs.
  • Melanie's anecdote involved her identical twin sister Sam attempting to convince Melanie that the latter is an adopted child.
  • When Guppy first appears (shirtless) in the Shay's loft, Spencer mistakes him for a diminutized Gibby and is utterly alarmed. It does get funnier when an ending credit for an earlier episode involved Spencer "turning" Gibby into a 5-year old (Guppy).
• Unishment: After Sam gets detention in "iGot Detention", Carly and Freddie try to deliberately get themselves thrown in as well to do the 50th webcast of iCarly. Only Carly succeeds.
  Mr. Howard: Detention.
  Carly: Yay!
  Mr. Howard: Yay?
  Carly: Darn...
• Unnamed Parent:
  • Enforced with Spencer and Carly's parents, wherein their names are never disclosed throughout the series.
  • Sam's and Freddie's fathers are never named or mentioned. Although Dan Schneider did state that in a deleted scene for "iSpeed Date" that Freddie's dad is named Leonard Benson, but why Leonard departed is never explained.
  • Zigzagged with Freddie's mom, Mrs. Marissa Benson; likewise with Gibby's mom with the name Charlotte (but never mentioned).
  • "iWon't Cancel the Show" finally stated that their dad's name is Steven Shay.
  • Sam mentions her father in "iParty with Victorious", and "iLost My Mind" mentioning that he left the family and she does not know his location.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: "iChristmas". Carly gets really upset over two things in this episode that relate to Freddie. The first is that Freddie has moved on, and no longer is in love with her. The second is that Freddie also appears to have given up on their friendship as well. Not quite a full-blown example due to the Wonderful Life premise, but her lines indicate she is very upset that Freddie is not in love with her anymore.
• The Un-Reveal:
  • In "iThink They Kissed", Carly asks Sam and Freddie if they enjoyed the kiss. Before they answer, Spencer interrupts them, and the question is never answered (although in iKiss they both say they thought it was "nice").
  • In "iMust Have Locker 239", we never see the first poorly drawn bunny Carly drew. Though we did see her "redo", and it was still remarkably poor.
  • In "iTake on Dingo", the rip-off sketches on Totally Teri were never seen onscreen, only heard.
• Unstoppable Rage:
  • Sam displays this in "iMake Sam Girlier" after the bully Jocelyn pushes Carly down and when Freddie manacles her to Gibby in "iKiss".
  • Gibby in "iEnrage Gibby". The title says it all.
• The Unseen: Socko is never shown.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Sam, Sam, SAM! One wonders why Carly and Freddie would still have anything to do with her. Freddie especially — it's a small miracle that nothing she's done to him has resulted in a permanently disabling injury.
• Unusual Euphemism:
  • Carly's "Holy flab!"
  • Sam's "Whoa, daddy!", "No chiz!", and "Holy cheese!"
  • Freddie's "Oh, butter!" and "Good gravy!"
  • Spencer's "Gas bubble!" and "Holy similar!"
  • Gibby's "Oh, mustard!" and "Sha-Boom!"
• Urine Trouble: "Who has urine trouble?"
  Sam: [having been babysitting Ginger Fox's baby] Careful, he's a distance pee-er."

V

• The Vamp: Valerie in "iWill Date Freddie" uses her feminine wiles to lure Freddie to her web show, temporarily stealing him from iCarly, and goes so far as to try it on Sam. Another example is Missy trying to "break up" Carly and Sam.
• Vandalism Backfire: Inverted when Sam thought it was okay to bust through her locker door with a hammer because her combination wouldn't work. It turned out to be Gibby's locker — Sam's was the one next to it.
• Variety Show: An in-universe example with Carly's web show, which is shown throughout the series to incorporate comedic skits, musical performances, pranks, random dancing, turtle racing, and scary stories told by a floating bra.
• Very Special Episode:
  • "iGet Pranky" sort of subverts this. While it may be a more general, subtle "just say no" message, the lack of dramatic seriousness suggests that it's a Take That! to other older teen shows like Saved by the Bell.
  • "iMeet The First Lady" is about the importance of military families.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment:
  • In "iMake Sam Girlier", a bully shoves french fries down Sam's shirt. After Sam beats her up, she pulls a fry out of her blouse, eats it, and remarks that it's a pretty good place to keep french fries.
  • Pam Puckett keeps her lipstick inside her blouse.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: In-show example in "iWin A Date". While Spencer was looking at the emails sent to him by ladies from whynotdateme.com, he remarks that the most recent email sender is 'kinda pretty'. Carly then points out to him that she's really a dude. invoked
• Villain Ball: Missy in "iReunite With Missy". Missy tries to regain her old "best friend" position from Sam, by treating her nicely around people, but indirectly attacking her in ways that force Sam away from Carly. Sam herself is unsure if Missy is trying to hurt her, or if she's jealous of Missy. The evil plot is ruined when Missy gives Sam a Motive Rant for no reason. This pushes Sam to ask Freddie for help. Carly has no clue until she overhears Missy gloating about the cruise Freddie gave up to get rid of her.
• Villainous Crush: Nevel has a creepy crush on Carly.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Sam and Freddie qualify to a Type 2, starting from Season 2 onwards.
• Vocal Dissonance: In "iHalfoween", Nevel gives the iCarlys some candy which causes their voice to become disgustingly low-pitched.
• Vocal Evolution:
  • Freddie's voice became significantly deeper at the start of Season 2.
  • And, like everything else in iCarly-land, it is promptly lampshaded:
    Sam: Why does your voice sound deeper?
    Freddie: I dunno, puberty?
  • Gibby's voice has deepened as well.
• The Voiceless: The little girl who infiltrates the Shays' apartment in "iSpace Out".

W

• Walking Shirtless Scene: Gibby is Seasons 1-3, most of the time. He grows out of it by Season 4.
• Wall Slump: The imprisoned trio leans down against the wall in the sound booth while Nora sings obnoxiously in "iPsycho".
• Wardrobe Malfunction: In "iShock America", the trio's guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon goes wrong when Gibby's pants fall down. And he wasn't wearing underwear, either.
• Was It Really Worth It?: In "iHurt Lewbert", the iCarly trio use a cannon to prank Lewbert, but end up accidentally seriously injuring him. They get forced by Spencer to cater to Lewbert as punishment and Lewbert asks them for unpleasant to difficult tasks such as scratching his foot with a fork, feeding his lizard with honey-trapped bugs and finding him something to eat that he won't complain about.

• Wedgie:
  • Wedgies occur several times throughout the series. Notably, in the episode "iHate Sam's Boyfriend", Sam and Carly have been working on perfecting a wedgie machine for the show. They decide to use Jonah as their first victim after he tries to kiss Carly while he is dating Sam. As payback, Sam hooks Jonah's tighty-whities to the machine and allows him to get a hanging wedgie from the machine for more than two hours.
  • In "iWill Date Freddie", Sam gives Freddie a wedgie while her arms are wrapped around him to give him a hug.
• Wham Episode: "iOMG" viciously hits a home run with this, further lampshaded by Carly and Freddie's wide-eyed reactions. While "iKiss" and "iSaved Your Life" had reasonable plot devices for the ending scenes, the episode's entirety shoots out the ending into another familiar Nickelodeon show.
• Wham Line:
  • From the very first episode, the comment that inspires iCarly: "Carly and Sam, you chicks are hilarious! When's your next show?"
  • From "iPie": "He checked out...forever."
  • From "iGive Away a Car":
    Carly: Why do you have that printed out?
    Nevel: Because I like to print things.
    Freddie: No, you'd only print that out if you knew you were gonna need it.
    Sam: Yeah. How did you know there was gonna be a problem getting you the car?
  • From "iOMG": Sam confesses that Freddie is the one "she's in love with" using a kiss.
• What Does She See in Him?: In "iEnrage Gibby", Carly, Sam, and especially Freddie are dumbfounded that Gibby can get someone hot like Tasha as his girlfriend. They all agree in the end that "There's something wrong with that chick."
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Sam assaulted an ambassador in "iWon't Cancel The Show". Sure, she was in juvie, but that's what always happens when kids get arrested. She still would have had to go to court for a trial and possible incarceration.
  • Both major Ship Tease moments are this. Sam/Freddie because they haven't (and look like they won't) ever tell the audience if they liked their kiss, and if Carly's feelings really were hero worship or if she still carries those feelings for Freddie.
  • "iStill Psycho": Gibby, after getting stuck in Nora's chimney while trying to get to the cops, is seen at the end of the episode still stuck, with no explanation of how he was pulled out.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Spencer wears Size 10 dresses and, apparently, has his own pair of fake boobs (although he does not keep them in his apartment...). Also, Miranda and Noah crossdressed as the "facial hallucinations" of Spencer and Mrs. Gibson respectively.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?:
  • The very first question Sam's mom asks about iCarly after watching it for the first time is "Who names their kid 'Gibby'?"
  • In "iNevel", the titular antagonist mocks Spencer's sculpture, prompting Spencer to mutter "Nevel's a stupid name" under his breath.
• Wild Teen Party: The party Andre throws at Kenan Thompson's house in "iParty With Victorious" is a little downplayed; there's obviously no alcohol or drugs, but with loud music, several rap battles, and exciting games, it certainly counts.
• Will They or Won't They?:
  • Carly and Freddie get together, but then break up in the same episode. Sam and Freddie get together 3 days after Sam reveals her feelings for Freddie, then they break up again after.
  • In the end Freddie and Carly get a moment in "iGoodbye" when Carly kisses Freddie and he celebrates it.
• With Friends Like These...: Freddie and Sam. In the series finale "iGoodbye", Freddie calls Sam on the phone, and out of the blue she asks if he is calling because he wants to get back together. After repeated "well, uh, do you?"s, they pretend it never happened.
• Written-In Absence: Jennette McCurdy was in the hospital when the cast was taping "iWon't Cancel The Show". Thus, Sam was absent in the episode, explained as spending the day in juvie after shoving food into a Mexican ambassador's pants. (Remarkably, this is the only episode of the entire run in which any of the four original cast members are absent.)
• Why Don't You Marry It?:
  Sam: "I love this pie. I wanna be Mrs. Sam... This Pie."
  Freddie: (talking about a guy doing a dance video for iCarly): Come on, he's a total nub.
  Carly: If he's a nub, someday I wanna be Mrs. Carly Nub.
• Word Salad Philosophy: Reuben in "iWin A Date". Also, in the video "iHave A Question": Weird and Random" on the website, where the cast descend into 'Reubenesque' banter.
• Worse with Context: When Freddie is talking about his newfound freedom after his micromanaging overprotective mother is too busy taking care of Lewbert after being injured twice
  Freddie: Last night, slept with my socks on.
  Sam: So?
  Freddie: Just my socks.
• Wrong Insult Offense: From "iStill Psycho":
  Carly: Nora... YOU'RE A NUTCASE!
  Nora: The proper term is "disturbed, lonely sociopath."

Y-Z

• Yandere:
  • Miss Ackerman to Spencer in "iHave A Lovesick Teacher". She starts off as a sweet and shy woman who just wants to be loved. However, she starts changing the longer they’re together. She refuses to give him his own space for even one minute, constantly texts him and demands he text her back, invades his personal time and forces him to spend all his time with her. She also attacks him when she and Spencer appear on Carly’s show due to him breaking up with her.
  • Marta Trundel, Lewbert's ex girlfriend. Because of her, Lewbert got his wart and was compelled to change his name to escape from her. The woman seemed to be a pretty nice and cool girlfriend until what's Beneath the Mask showed as a manic Control Freak. Lastly, Lewbert was more than happy to stay in prison just to get away from her and smacked a cop to extend his imprisonment.
  • Nora, who locked the main characters in a recording studio in "iPsycho".
• Yank the Dog's Chain:
  • Carly is awarded an A+ for the eco-friendly power generator she made with new building mate Cal, and is freed from the root and berry retreat. But then the police show up and reveal Cal is a wanted criminal who created nuclear power from black market uranium rods, and one of them happened to be the main fuel supply for the generator. Since Carly built an illegal power generator, she gets a bad grade and is forced to attend the retreat for extra credit.
  • Freddie wins a competition for the giant locker. He proceeds to do a victory dance of sorts, insults Sam... and then they reveal Sam won the competition as well. To add insult to injury, at the very end of the episode, Sam's (implied to be) drunk mom crashes into the school and demolishes the locker in one fell swoop.
  • Spencer rejoices in getting Chuck grounded by his father Mr. Chambers. Spencer jumps around and whoops, realizing later he remained locked inside the basement storage.
  • Nevel has barely began to recover his good image, but a sudden spur of Hair-Trigger Temper plummets him back to being caught on camera being a jerk again.
• Yawn and Reach: Freddie uses one of these to try and bust a move on Carly in "iDon't Want to Fight". Freddie fails, not just because he's Just Friends, but because he's interrupted by a toilet flushing (Spencer saying goodbye to a goldfish he killed). He also arguably started off too far away for a really effective move.
• Year's Supply Prize: In "iCook", Carly, Sam, and Freddie win a year's supply of free steaks for beating master chef Ricky Flame.
• You Have to Believe Me!:
  • Carly and Sam (especially the former) to Freddie repeatedly in "iTwins", about Melanie's existence.
  • Sam to Freddie in "iReunite With Missy" about Missy trying to force Sam out of her and Carly's renewing friendship. And when Freddie asks why he should:
    Sam: Because I came here. Have I ever come to you for help before, for anything?
  • Spencer to the iCarlys in "iBelieve in Bigfoot" about the Beevecoon.
• You Just Had to Say It: In "iStake Out", Spencer meets his old camp bully again and Freddie asks why Stu is nicknamed 'Spanky'. Spanky shows Freddie why, and Spencer sarcastically thanks Freddie for asking while being spanked in the butt with his own umbrella by Spanky.
• You Meddling Kids: In "iSpy a Mean Teacher", Sam mocks Ms. Briggs after she had caught them in her house and blackmails them to guest her on the webshow.
  Sam: ...or you could just let us get away while screaming (raises fist with an elderly voice) You rotten kids!
• You Monster!:
  • Spencer to the soup-stealing... well, monster, in "iDate A Bad Boy".
  • Carly occasionally pulls this on Sam when they have a big fight, most especially in their iconic break-up scene in "iQuit iCarly". The show even handwaves that Carly is very aware how horrible her best friend can be.
• You Should Have Almost Died Instead: Mrs. Benson to Carly in "iSaved Your Life." Even though Freddie chose to get hit by a truck instead of Carly, who he saved, his mom interprets the incident as Carly trying to kill Freddie.
• Zany Scheme: Not relied on as much as other shows in its genre.
  • "iMight Switch Schools": Sam and Freddie rescheduling Carly's interview with a private school headmistress to her apartment, setting up a mini-golf course there, inviting two dozen kids over, and getting the kids to think she had a prize hidden on her, done to sabotage Carly's chances of being admitted to the school so Carly wouldn't leave them.
  • "iHave My Principals": After Principal Franklin guested in iCarly which resulted him to be fired, two of the meanest teachers take his place. When the new co-principals create a reign of terror at the school, the iCarly gang connives with all the students. They hatch a plan to have an all-out schoolwide rebellion in order to prove to the school superintendent that their previous principal is much better than the new ones.
  • "iScream on Halloween": Subverted. Carly explains a complicated scheme to gain access to the locked door of Apartment 13-B, but Sam just picks the lock.
  • "iWant My Website Back": Defied. Mandy comes up with a plan to get iCarly.com back from Nevel. As soon as she mentions it involving three zebras, Sam shuts her up.