iCarly Versus Hannah Montana

Breakdown/Shakedown

iCarly premiered on Nickelodeon on September 8th, 2007 and is currently running its 4 season. The series was created by Dan Schneider and has Robin Weiner & Bruce Rand Berman acting as current producers for the series. The series is currently airing new episode and re-runs on Nickelodeon. It is also shown in Canada and U.K.

Hannah Montana premiered on the Disney Channel back in March 24th, 2006. The series was created by a trio–Michael Poryes (co-creator of That’s So Raven), Rich Correll, and Barry O’Brien. Michael Poryes also co-produces it, along with Steven Peterman. Old episodes air on both Disney and on ABC Kids Block. It has just aired its final episode.

Category 1:  Main Cast

iCarly
Carlotta “Carly” Shay
Samantha “Sam” Puckett
Fredward “Freddie” Benson
Spencer Shay
Charles Cornelius “Gibby” Gibson

Hannah Montana
Miley Ray Stewart
Robby Ray Stewart
Jackson Rod Stewart
Lillian “Lilly” Truscott
Oliver Oken
Rico Suave

Who Wins?

I will say that I feel that both shows have a strong main cast, though I feel iCarly has a better range of them. However, Hannah Montana is more of a family type show since 3 of 6 main characters are related (plus Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus both star in it). While that makes Hannah a great option for a whole family, it might not be as popular show for tweens who want a show of their own. This is where iCarly comes into play, as it allows kids to have a show of their own without anything to offer for the whole family. So winning would depend on really what you want from a show. For me, I say iCarly wins, since it is more of a real show for tweens. But Hannah Montana does offer a chance for families to enjoy a show together.

Category 2:  Secondary Characters

iCarly
Marissa Benson
Lewbert
T-Bo
Nevel Papperman
Charles “Chuck” Chambers
Guppy Gibson
Principal Theodore “Ted” Franklin
Mrs. Francine Briggs
Mr. Lucas David Howard

Hannah Montana
Amber Addison
Ashley DeWitt
Traci Van Horn
Susan B. Stewart
Ruthie Ray Stewart
“Bubba” Joe Stewart
Aunt Dolly
Mikayla
Little Girl

Who Wins?

Both shows have a huge amount of secondary stars, almost to the point that the show cannot follow their secondary stories all that well. In a way, that hurts both shows.  I think Hannah Montana wins this one by having more serious secondary characters and have them count in the stories, while iCarly sort of leaves that to be desired and more less includes these characters as their own standalone plots.

Guest Stars

iCarly
Jane Lynch
Jack Black
Victoria Justice
David Archuleta…

Hannah Montana
Cody Linley
Corbin Bleu
Ashley Tisdale
Cole and Dylan Sprouse
Jesse McCartney
Kevin, Nick, and Joe Jonas
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Donny Osmond
Ray Romano
Rob Reiner
David Archuleta
Sheryl Crow

Who Wins

Hannah Montana has had a wider selection of guest stars and offers something for everyone on that level. Still, that doesn’t exactly mean that show should win over iCarly. While iCarly may lack in the guest starring department, doesn’t really make it a weaker show. We have to remember that Hannah is bigger and is older than iCarly, thus they would have more guest stars. Still, I will say that they are more tied on this level than one winning over the other.

Category 3: Over-All Concept

iCarly in a way was based on following the success of Hannah by being about a popular teen icon–only this time it was a web star instead of a singer. Carly also did not hide it, as Miley hid her alter ego Hannah. The cute show is based around Carly’s friendships and, of course, her web show.

Hannah Montana, on the other hand, is about a teen girl who lives two lives–her famous one and her private one. It’s based on her hiding her secret and her family along with friends.

Who Wins?

That is a tough one to pick, since it is no secret both shows are neck in neck with each other. Both shows have their good concepts as well as not so great sides. But I will pick honesty over secret lives–thus I pick iCarly as the official winner on the basic concept. Yet I will still say that Hannah Montana does have a value to it; not showing honesty is my main issue.

Overall Thoughts

Both shows are cute and have a lot of humor involved, which helps keep them lighthearted enough for young kids. In a lot of ways, both shows were more or less kept at a younger age level for teens, tweens and their younger siblings. Thus making both a fun option for slumber parties, even if Hannah is more of family show.

iCarly is one show that I feel like does not take fame to a level of realness without painting it on too thickly. With real characters and real life situations that they keep light with humor, it doesn’t tackle many serious issues and thus makes a great escape from reality, while not driving too far off from real life.

Hannah Montana is much farther away from reality with a double life as a teen superstar. Being devious and plotting are much of what this show uses in their episodes. This isn’t exactly a show that offers values or even really gives you anything like real life. Still, it is a fun show to watch for pure entertainment reasons.

Favorite Moments

For Hannah Montana my favorite moment has to be from the first episode, when Lilly finds out that Miley is Hannah. It is a classic scene and does show why you should not lie. I love the fact that they kept it light and with plenty of humor.

I really like iCarly‘s episode “iPsycho,” since it shows just how odd fans can be. It keeps it in a funny light, but also shows just how dangerous it can be. It was a well done choice of an episode to show a real life scenario and still keep it friendly for kids.

Intangibles

Both shows are about being famous teens and the life of being a star. They feature a main star and, of course, her friends. But that is where they end in likeness. How both Carly and Miley handle fame is very different. Both are famous for different reasons, and Carly’s friends are also famous while Miley tried to hide it from her friends. The shows differ in more ways than they are similar.

Over-All Winner

These two shows were easy and hard to compare on different levels. While iCarly was modeled after Hannah Montana, it took a spin of its own and became more of a unique show, thus making its current state tough to compare to Hannah. Still, it is hard to ignore that both shows are about teen girls who are famous and how they live their lives with this extra added fact.  I will stick with my “Over-All Concept” winner and say that iCarly wins because it has a better message underneath the story.  But which show do you like better, and why?