Nickelodeon's iCarly has garnered its share of accolades since premiering in 2007. But the sitcom starring Miranda Cosgrove has never attracted such a high-powered guest as Michelle Obama before.
Cosgrove, who plays Carly Shay, the daughter of a military officer deployed overseas, said having the First Lady on the set caused a bit of a nervous bout. "And I usually don't get nervous," she said.
Obama shocked co-star Jerry Trainor, who plays Spencer Shay on iCarly, by playfully hitting him in the arm upon meeting him.
"I was like, what is happening? And the Secret Service were like, deal with it, buddy," Trainor laughed.
Other co-stars said they did not feel the First Lady's wrath, playful or otherwise. "She just set everybody at ease so quickly," said Nathan Kress, who plays Freddie Benson. Added Jennette McCurdy, who plays Sam Puckett: "It was one of the best days on set, and one of the best days of our lives."
Obama said during a prescreening of the new episode at a school with many students from military families in the Washington, D.C., area that she went on the sitcom -- a favorite of her daughters - as a tribute to those students. The episode, which airs at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time Jan. 16, revolves around Carly's father being deployed again after she was told he would return home from active duty.
"Kids like you make the same kind of sacrifices that your families do. Many of you have moved from school to school," Obama said.
Kress and Noah Munck, who plays Gibby Gibson on iCarly, both said they would, in fact, pursue a military career if not for acting. Not Trainor.
"I would be a fortune teller," he said.
Obama surprised the cast with her dance moves in a popular segment called "random dancing." McCurdy admitted the First Lady "out-danced" the regulars.
Obama laughed off such praise, saying she forgot her lines at times. "And they didn't even tease me," she said. "Well, Jerry did."
