Top 10 Stars You Forgot Were on iCarly

In the Season 2 finale, Carly is persuaded to participate in a cage fight for charity. Her opponent is Shelby Marx, played by Victoria Justice, who makes the fight personal when she’s led to believe that Carly intentionally pushed her grandma. At this point in her career, Justice had already appeared as Lola Martinez on “Zoey 101”, and in the Nickelodeon TV movie “Spectacular!” Less than a year after her appearance on “ICarly”, Justice took center stage as Tori Vega on the Nick sitcom “Victorious.” Another year down the line, the “iCarly” crew would have a crossover with the kids from Hollywood Arts High School. While it’s noted that Tori and Shelby share a resemblance, the episode brushes over the fact that they’re essentially doppelgangers.

“iCarly’s” crossover with “Victorious” also marked a homecoming for Kenan Thompson. Before he was the longest-running “SNL” cast member, Kenan got his start on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series, “All That.” Kenan and his co-star, Kel Mitchell, went on to appear in their own sitcom, as well as the theatrical comedy “Good Burger.” “iParty with Victorious”, was the first Nickelodeon project to prominently feature Kenan in several years, with Kenan’s mansion providing the home base for a massive party. While the party is actually fairly small by Kenan’s standards, he’s perturbed to encounter a stalker in a Panda costume. Kenan decides to help out with the revenge plot against Steven Carson and even gets a solo during the performance of “Leave It All to Shine.”

Considering that Victoria Justice and Kenan Thompson already had ties to Nickelodeon, we imagine it wasn’t that hard to book them. But how did the show land the First Lady of the United States? Apparently, this special episode was specifically written with Michelle Obama and her Joining Forces initiative in mind. Joining Forces was started by Obama and Dr. Jill Biden in an effort to help service members. In the episode, the First Lady is drawn to “iCarly” since Carly and Spencer’s father is a U.S. Air Force Colonel. In addition to raising awareness for Americans in the military and their families, “her excellency” cuts loose with a little random dancing.

Gibby Gibson isn’t exactly someone we’d peg as a ladies' man, but he took everyone by surprise in Season 3 with the introduction of his attractive girlfriend, Tasha. If this brunette bombshell looks familiar, that’s because she’s Emily Ratajkowski, who’d go on to appear in multiple Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, as well as music videos for Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke. Outside of modeling, Ratajkowski has also appeared in a Super Bowl commercial for Carl’s Jr. and played Ben Affleck’s mistress in “Gone Girl.” Although Tasha is clearly out of Gibby’s league, she practically worships the ground he walks on. Since Tasha only pops up in a couple episodes, their relationship is kept fairly vague, which makes it all the more hilarious.

By 2012, Emma Stone was on the cusp of superstardom, having appeared in “Easy A,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” and “The Help.” Yet, the young actress still found the time to drop by the set of “iCarly.” Stone’s character, Heather, is starstruck when she encounters the “iCarly” crew at an eatery. Actually, “starstruck” may be putting it lightly, as Heather goes into total superfan mode. Screaming in excitement, leaping onto their table, and forcing the gang to take selfies, Heather makes Spencer look like a mature adult by comparison. She even breaks into the men’s room to touch Gibby and eat his meatballs . . . it’s not what it sounds like. Only a couple years after making this uproarious cameo, Stone received her first Oscar nomination for “Birdman.”

For much of the series, Sam’s family is something of an enigma, although it’s made clear that she doesn’t have very nurturing parents. We’re given a better glimpse into Sam’s dysfunctional home life in Season 4 with the introduction of her mother, Pam Puckett. Who better to play Mrs. Puckett than Sue Sylvester herself, Jane Lynch? If you ever wondered where Sam developed her smart aleck, hostile, borderline criminal tendencies, look no further. Sam and Pam’s name-calling eventually escalates into wrestling, but the mother and daughter ultimately come together thanks to some aggressive therapy. While Pam was only mentioned off-screen up until this episode, we’d developed a strong idea of what she’d be like, and Lynch totally lived up to our expectations.

Before taking over “The Tonight Show,” Jimmy Fallon played himself in an extended “iCarly” episode. The special also featured a Tina Fey cameo, providing a mini “Weekend Update” reunion. As a fan of their web series, Jimmy invites the “iCarly” stars to appear on his late-night show. The segment starts off great with Sam playing her mustached character and Jimmy plugging a Screaming Mel Gibson doll. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Gibby suffers a wardrobe malfunction. The NCC, a parody of the FCC, thus orders “iCarly” to pay a $500,000 fine, even though their show obviously doesn’t have the biggest budget. Fortunately, Jimmy has their backs, helping them raise more than enough cash. What’s next, Jimmy meets “Good Burger?”

This boy band was everywhere in the early 2010s, including “iCarly.” One Direction drops by the set to perform their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful.” The song is just one of the episode’s highlights, as Sam warms up to Zayn Malik while Gibby tries to give other band members foot massages. The group finds itself down a member when Harry Styles drinks from Carly’s water bottle and gets Jungle Worms. Styles milks his illness so that Carly will continue to wait on him hand and foot. You’d think that Harry would have personal assistants at his beck and call, but having Carly look after him is admittedly funnier. Fortunately, Styles suddenly feels better once he fears Gibby may be replacing him.

Before she was Carly Shay or even Megan Parker, actress Miranda Cosgrove made her film debut as Summer Hathaway in the Jack Black comedy, “School of Rock.” Black has also frequently collaborated with Nickelodeon, hosting the Kids’ Choice Awards on three occasions; so, it was only a matter of time until he guest starred on “iCarly.” Nevertheless, it was still quite the treat when Black stormed onto the scene as an overly dedicated cosplayer. With Black playing Aspartamay and Spencer dressed as Aruthor, the two turn Webicon into a literal battleground. Fully committing to their “World of Warlords” roles, the two compete to see which of them is the true warrior. In the end though, it’s Carly who reigns supreme.

Before we get to our topic pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Drake Bell
“iBloop”

Austin Butler
“iLike Jake”

Taran Killam
“iMeet the First Lady”

Randall Park
“iGot Detention”

David Archuleta
“iRocked the Vote”

A month before winning his second Primetime Emmy for portraying Dr. Sheldon Cooper on “The Big Bang Theory,” Jim Parsons played an even quirkier character in the Season 5 premiere of “iCarly.” In a role that seems tailor-made for Parsons, he plays a mental hospital patient named Caleb. Convinced that he’s from the year 2077, Caleb claims that California is going to sink into the ocean, while Carly is destined to become Vice President of the United States. Hey, crazier things have happened in politics! He also says that Ryan Seacrest will be taken by aliens, although we think Caleb might be the real alien. Either that or those neutronium cotton pants have gone to his head.