Nickelodeon and the White House joined forces to bring awareness of ways kids can support U.S. military families with a special episode of iCarly, "iMeet the First Lady," featuring the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. The episode premiered on Monday, January 16, 2012 on Nickelodeon. iCarly stars Miranda Cosgrove, Jerry Trainor, Jennette McCurdy and Nathan Kress.
The stars of iCarly appeared at four screen events for military families, including the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in Miramar, California; Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticul; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Fort Dix, New Jersey; and Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia.
“Having Mrs. Obama guest star on iCarly as part of Joining Forces, an initiative that supports and honors military families, was a great honor” said Marjorie Cohn, President, Original Programming and Development, Nickelodeon. “Her appearance helps us teach kids how important friendship and support are to military kids and their families. Plus, not only was the First Lady completely at ease when acting, she also showed some serious moves when she joined the iCarly gang in a bit of Random Dancing!”
Mrs. Obama watches iCarly with her daughters and chose to appear on the show because the lead character, Carly Shay (played by Miranda Cosgrove), is the daughter of an Air Force Colonel currently serving overseas in the military. In “iMeet the First Lady,” Mrs.Obama talks to Carly about her service to America as a member of a military family and thank her friends for supporting Carly during her father’s deployment.
In the episode, Carly and Spencer (Jerry Trainor) are excited that their dad is returning from active duty in time to celebrate his birthday and they begin planning a party to commemorate the occasion. Unfortunately, Colonel Shay is deployed again and must cancel his trip home.
When Carly learns that she will not be able to spend her dad's birthday with him, she feels devastated. The gang decides to cheer her up by transmitting a live feed to Colonel Shay during the next iCarly webcast, which is seen by some high level government officials. Mrs. Obama sees the webcast and pays Carly a visit to talk to her about her father and military duty. Mrs. Obama is moved by what Sam (Jennette McCurdy), Freddie ((Nathan Kress) and Gibby did for Carly and commends Carly for being such a strong and supportive daughter to a father in the service.
iCarly series creator and executive producer Dan Schneider makes his first cameo appearance on the show as a Secret Service agent.
Nickelodeon’s multi-platform offerings for “iMeet the First Lady” include highlights from the episode on Nick.com and the special are also available for purchase in HD via iTunes, Xbox, Vudu, Samsung, PlayStation and Amazon, beginning Tuesday, January 17.
Joining Forces is an organization spearheaded by Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, who have been leaders in supporting our nation’s military families and advocating for their priorities. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden promote Joining Forces
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