Analysis of Nickelodeon

I've watched shows like iCarly, Big Time Rush, and True Jackson enough and I think I now know why I don't like these shows and why I think it has a negative impact on the viewers.

The thing is that in these shows, stardom seems to just come one day when they choose to. iCarly begins with three teenagers who want to make a web show. That's all fine and dandy, but then, out of the blue, they have their own studio with expensive equipment and everything. This is where things start going off track. The thing is, viewers at this point don't watch because they relate to the story. Instead, they're brainwashed that success appears at your doorstep when you want it to. I don't like this depiction of instant success because it's simply not what life is. Also, no one cares who dates who. It blows up the magnitude of relationship drama that is incredibly poisonous to younger viewers who strive to be like Carly, i.e. yelling at every moment that you want to get your point across. Come on, this show isn't even funny.

Same with True Jackson. When would a big company pass their executive position to a teenager? Are they stupid? Not only does it immediately stray away from reality, but then it shows viewers that it's okay to screw around when you supposedly have a high position in a big company. Once again, how does this relate to anyone? If people mess around in school, they get in trouble. Success doesn't just show up one day, and even if it does, it shouldn't lead to goofing off. Once again, these shows fail to relate to life and the viewers and only brainwash young viewers into thinking that this is actually how things work.

Let's go back to the days of Drake and Josh and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Why did I like these shows? Why did everyone like these shows? Because they depicted the lives of relatively ordinary people in ordinary situations (albeit excluding Megan). Drake and Josh was about two step brothers who have to deal with each other and life in high school. This was something that everyone could relate to in some way. It's just life, even though it gets silly. They don't just jump straight to stardom when they want to.

Ned's Declassified was the same. It had goofy characters, yes, but it also dealt with common occurrences in middle school and school in general. Everyone could relate to this show, even though it was pretty silly. It depicted the school lives of ordinary people and exemplified the stereotypes, like the bully and the jock, and placed them in an environment that people could relate to.

I feel like those older shows had more heart behind them. We could watch Ned and feel like "Hey, we're not alone. Other people deal with similar things in middle school as I do." We could watch Drake and Josh and laugh because brothers did act that way, and the two different personalities would always clash in some way, much like they would in real life. But shows like iCarly and True Jackson have no relatability factor. It's simply a means of making people wish that they could have success like they do. It is for this reason why I hate these new Nickelodeon shows the most. I'm still waiting for a new, organic show that doesn't have to be disgusting to appear.