Thread by @mattxiv

while we’re talking about dan schneider, i’d like to discuss how he used britney spears’ fame to create zoey 101, only to turn around and mock her mental health and motherhood on icarly 5 years later. a thread.

zoey 101, one of schneider’s most successful shows, was written for jamie lynn spears in 2004. dan originally sought her out because he wanted to meet “britney spears’ sister.” he knew the name would bring viewers to the show, and was “just hoping she’d be good.”

britney wrote “follow me,” the zoey 101 intro song. the show went on to air 61 episodes over 4 highly successful seasons.

five years later — at the height of dan schneider’s new show, icarly — schneider wrote an episode called “iFix a Pop Star.” the episode centers around a “washed-up former teen pop sensation” ginger fox, who is an obvious parody of britney spears.

the britney comparison is made clear from the beginning, when we’re introduced to ginger’s hit “hate me, love me” — a reference to britney’s “if u seek amy,” where she sings “love me, hate me, say what you want about me.”

the entire episode is a ruthless parody of britney’s 2007 breakdown, with her portrayed (through ginger fox) as an unhygienic, talentless, self-obsessed 26-year-old with no work ethic.

the “PMAs” performance that carly and friends are supposed to help ginger with is a parody of britney’s infamous 2007 VMAs performance of gimme more, which she delivered amidst a mental health crisis to national media criticism.

perhaps most offensive and unnecessary were the jabs at britney’s ability to be a mother. bad parenting is a running joke throughout the episode — ginger forgets her son’s name, loses him, and discards him to be cared for by carly, sam and freddie.

britney spears is one of many women dan schneider used and then put through hell to line his own pockets. #justiceforbritney