Honestly, if you grew up in the early 2010s, you probably remember exactly where you were when Nickelodeon announced that Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande were getting their own spin-off. It felt like a fever dream. Two of the biggest characters from iCarly and Victorious living in a vibrant, slightly chaotic apartment in Los Angeles, starting a babysitting business? It was a recipe for absolute gold.
But looking back at sam & cat episodes now, the vibe is a bit more complicated than just simple nostalgia.
The show only lasted one season. 35 episodes. That’s it. Yet, it feels much larger in the cultural consciousness than other shows that ran for five or six years. Maybe it’s because of Ariana Grande’s meteoric rise to pop superstardom right as the show was ending, or maybe it’s because of the behind-the-scenes drama that eventually leaked out years later in Jennette McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. Whatever the reason, there is a weird, frantic energy to the show that makes it endlessly rewatchable, even if some of the humor is, well, pretty bizarre.
The Weirdest Premises in Sam & Cat Episodes
Dan Schneider’s shows were always known for being "out there," but Sam & Cat took things to a different level of surrealism. Think about the premise of "#SalmonCat." In this episode, the duo is forced to change the name of their babysitting service because it’s too similar to a 1970s TV show called Salmon Cat. They end up tracking down the original creators—played by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams of Laverne & Shirley fame—who have been in a decades-long feud.
It was a meta-commentary on TV history that most kids watching at home definitely didn't get. But that was the charm.
Then you have episodes like "#PeezyB," where Kel Mitchell (of Kenan & Kel legends) plays a huge rap star who hires Sam as his assistant. It’s loud, it’s fast-paced, and it’s genuinely funny in a way that feels improvised. Sam Puckett’s aggressive, butter-sock-swinging energy clashing with Cat Valentine’s high-pitched, "red velvet cupcake" personality shouldn't have worked. On paper, it’s a disaster. In reality, it was the ultimate "odd couple" dynamic for the Gen Z generation.
The pacing was relentless. One minute they’re trying to save a goat from being turned into jerky, and the next, they’re stuck in a giant wooden box in the desert. It’s chaotic.
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Why the Babysitting Business Was Just a Backdrop
The show was titled Sam & Cat’s Super Rockin’ Fun-Time Babysitting Service, but let’s be real: they were terrible babysitters. Most of the time, the kids they were watching were either plot devices or the source of some elaborate physical comedy gag.
Take the episode "#NewGoat." They end up watching a goat while trying to win over their neighbor Dice’s approval. Or "#BabysittingCommercial," where they make a low-budget ad that somehow results in them being targeted by a rival babysitting service run by a kid named Butler. The stakes were always incredibly low, yet the characters treated every situation like a life-or-death crisis.
That’s the secret sauce of a good sitcom.
The British Con Artists and Recurring Chaos
One of the most memorable recurring elements across several sam & cat episodes was the presence of Gwen and Ruby. These two British girls seemed sweet but were actually master manipulators who scammed the girls out of their money and their dignity.
In "#BritishBratty," we see Sam and Cat get completely played. It was one of the few times Sam Puckett actually met her match in terms of deviousness. Usually, Sam is the one doing the hustling. Seeing her get out-hustled by two polite-sounding children was a stroke of genius. It gave the show a bit of an edge that Victorious sometimes lacked.
The Crossover Events That Broke the Internet
If we’re talking about the peak of the series, we have to talk about "#TheKillerTunaJump."
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This wasn't just another episode; it was a massive Nickelodeon event. It brought back Jade West (Elizabeth Gillies) from Victorious and Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress) from iCarly. For fans of the "Schneider-verse," this was the Avengers: Endgame of kids' TV.
The tension between Jade and Sam was electric. Everyone expected them to fight—and they did, mostly verbally—but they also bonded over their shared love of being "difficult." Meanwhile, Cat is jealous of Sam’s friendship with Jade, leading to a ridiculous stunt involving a tank of "man-eating" tuna. It’s an hour-long special that encapsulates everything great and ridiculous about that era of TV.
The chemistry between Gillies and McCurdy was so good it almost made you wish the show had been about them instead. But then you’d miss the specific brand of "spaced-out" comedy that Ariana Grande brought to Cat. Even though Grande has since distanced herself from the "Nickelodeon persona," her comedic timing in these episodes was actually top-tier. She committed 100% to the absurdity.
The Reality Behind the Camera
It is impossible to discuss sam & cat episodes without acknowledging the tension that eventually ended the show. By the time they reached the final episodes, like "#GettinWiggy," things were reportedly falling apart.
Jennette McCurdy has been very vocal in recent years about her experience. She felt the show was beneath her as an actress and was frustrated by the perceived double standards in how she and Ariana were treated. While Ariana’s music career was exploding—she was literally performing at the AMAs while filming the show—Jennette felt stuck.
This behind-the-scenes friction makes the later episodes feel a bit different when you watch them today. You start to notice when the two leads aren't in many scenes together. You notice when the plots feel a bit rushed. The series finale, "#GettinWiggy," wasn't even intended to be a series finale. It’s just... the last episode they filmed before the "permanent hiatus" became a cancellation.
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A Quick Reference for the Best Episodes to Rewatch
If you’re diving back into the series on Netflix or Paramount+, don't bother watching them in order. It’s a sitcom; the continuity is loose at best. Instead, go for the ones that actually landed the jokes.
- #Pilot: It’s actually a solid start. Seeing them meet for the first time via a garbage truck is classic.
- #OscarTheOuch: A kid who is cursed with bad luck. It’s slapstick at its finest.
- #Twinfection: Sam uses her twin sister, Melanie (another iCarly callback), to prank Cat. It’s genuinely mean-spirited in a funny way.
- #SalmonCat: Watch it for the TV legends Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams.
- #TheKillerTunaJump: The ultimate crossover. Essential viewing.
- #BlueDogSoda: A surprisingly "rebellious" episode where they fight against a ban on a specific soda. It’s weirdly relatable.
The Legacy of the Show in 2026
Even though the show was short-lived, its impact is surprisingly durable. It served as a bridge between the classic 2000s era of Nickelodeon and the more modern, social-media-driven era of entertainment.
It was the last time we saw Sam Puckett. It was the launching pad for Ariana Grande to become a global icon. And it remains a weirdly comforting, high-energy relic of a time when the biggest problem in the world was how to get a goat out of a living room or how to win a "texting competition" against a bunch of toddlers.
The show isn't perfect. Some of the jokes feel dated, and knowing the backstory makes certain scenes a bit melancholy. But the core of the show—two girls trying to make it on their own in a city that makes no sense—still resonates.
If you want to revisit the series, the best way to do it is with a bit of perspective. Appreciate the physical comedy. Laugh at the bizarre side characters like Goomer and Dice. But also realize that this show was a product of a very specific, very intense time in TV history.
Next Steps for the Ultimate Rewatch:
To get the most out of your rewatch, start with the iCarly episode "iStart a Fan War" and the Victorious episode "Brain Squeezers." These give you the best sense of who Sam and Cat were before they were thrown together. Once you’ve done that, jump into the "#TheKillerTunaJump" special. It’s the highest point of the series and serves as a perfect microcosm of the entire show’s energy. After that, check out Jennette McCurdy’s podcast Empty Inside if you want to understand the "why" behind the show’s sudden ending. It provides a level of context that makes the on-screen antics feel even more impressive considering what was happening off-screen.