Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Nickeloden - Sam and Cat
Nickeloden - Sam and Cat
West Coast
on her motorcycle and stops in Venice, Los Angeles. She witnesses Cat Valentine being thrown into
the back of a garbage truck and rescues her. They become friends and Cat convinces her to
become roommates after Cat's cheerful and supportive grandmother Nona moves to a retirement
home called Elderly Acres. To make money rather than getting traditional after-school jobs, Sam and
Cat develop an after-school babysitting business called "Sam and Cat's Super Rockin' Funtime
Babysitting Service", which leads them into a series of wacky adventures. Besides Nona, other
people involved in their lives are Dice, their next door neighbor who is notorious for helping people
for money, and Goomer, a dim-witted professional MMA fighter whom Dice manages. [11]
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
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, and ordered the pilot episode. [11] The
series was then picked up for 20 episodes in November, with the premiere planned for 2013.
Production began in January 2013,[22] 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.[1] Filming was scheduled to resume in early September 2013 to finish the second half of the
first season.[1]
Schneider originally aimed for a March 23, 2013, premiere of Sam & Cat, following the Kids' Choice
Awards;[23] however, Nickelodeon intended for the show to make its debut in the fall. [24] On April 18,
2013, the show's two stars Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande, via Twitter, announced its
premiere was set for June.[25]
Cancellation[edit]
On April 2, 2014, Nickelodeon announced the series would be on hiatus. [26] Although they insisted the
series was not cancelled, many speculated that it was. This was due to a rumored dispute between
McCurdy and the network, Grande's rising music career, and both actresses' desires to move on to
other projects. On July 13, 2014, it was announced that the last episode would be "#GettinWiggy,"
which aired four days later.[6]
Controversy[edit]
In March 2014, Jennette McCurdy became the subject of scandal after the leak of photographs
revealing McCurdy in various states of undress. Her absence was noted at the 2014 Nickelodeon
Kids' Choice Awards, where Sam & Cat won "Favorite Show" and Ariana Grande won "Favorite
Actress." McCurdy claimed that Nickelodeon was treating her unfairly and that was the sole purpose
for her failure to attend the awards.[27] On April 2, 2014, despite reports of a second season and with
four episodes yet to be produced, Nickelodeon abruptly put the series on hiatus. Rumors were that
McCurdy and Grande were having issues with the network over their salaries, with McCurdy
accusing Nickelodeon of paying Grande more money. Grande later took to social media to deny the
allegations.[28] The network explained that the hiatus was planned and said the series was not
cancelled.[29] However, three months later on July 13, 2014, Nickelodeon announced that the series
had been cancelled.[6]
For months in between, rumors of a feud between Grande and McCurdy ran high, and continued to
after the series' cancellation.[30] However, 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.[31]
Broadcast[edit]
The series airs on Nickelodeon worldwide. It premiered in Canada on August 12, 2013, on YTV and
on September 7, 2013, on the original channel.[32] The show previewed on September 1, 2013, and
premiered on October 14, 2013, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. [33] It previewed on September 30,
2013, and premiered on October 7, 2013, and October 11, 2013, in New Zealand [34][35] and Australia,[36]
[37]
respectively. In Southeast Asia it started airing on October 19, 2013. [38]
Streaming[edit]
As of March 2021, the series is available to stream on Paramount+,[39] Netflix,[40] Showmax,[41] and
NickHits (via Amazon Channels and Apple TV Channels)
Home media[edit]
Sam & Cat: The Complete Series, containing all 35 episodes, was released on DVD exclusive
to Amazon in region 1 on October 8, 2015.[42]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The pilot episode debuted on Nickelodeon June 8, 2013, to an audience of 4.2 million viewers. [43] The
second episode, one week later, drew 2.6 million viewers. [44] The most watched episode is
"#TheKillerTunaJump: #Freddie #Jade #Robbie," which aired January 18, 2014, to 4.8 million
viewers;[45] the second most watched episode is the pilot (4.2 million), while the least watched is
"#SecretSafe" (2.0 million, on October 5, 2013).[46] In the United Kingdom the series premiere
delivered 340,000 viewers, the most for that week. The Halloween episode (#DollSitting) premiere
on October 26, 2013, brought 210,000 viewers staying in the same place. [47]