Carly, Sam and Freddie are hired by a car saleman's son to host a contest for a free new car to raise publicity for their lot. The winner, shockingly, is Nevel Papperman. When Freddie and Sam go to retrieve the car for him, the two find out that the owner doesn't have a son and the car did not exist. Carly, being disappointed with the news, starts to question Nevel on how he won the contest. The three find out that Nevel was the one who created the contest and the car, hiring some kid to pretend that he was the lot owner's son to set them up. But iCarly must still provide him with a car. Meanwhile, Spencer buys a prop from a movie online, but finds out that he was simply fooled by a replica, and Carly decides to exploit a loophole, saying that a "Car" is any vehicle that can go over 25 miles per hour for at least three seconds. Using that they give the prop to Nevel as his new car, to keep iCarly from getting shut down by the LCC for fraud. Nevel then tests drives the car, and crashes into a flower shop, and iCarly succeeds in prevention of getting their website shut down.
Carly hosts her own home-grown web show, iCarly. She lives with her twenty-something brother/guardian Spencer and produces her Web casts from a makeshift third-floor loft studio. Grappling with adolescence, she never aimed to gain fame as a rising star/underground celebrity to kids. As events unfold in the pilot, it all happens by accident when a teacher puts her in charge of the school talent show. She and her sassy best bud Sam turn the audition process into a show, which Carly's tech savvy smitten friend Freddy tapes - including their hilarious banter and great chemistry - and posts on the Web without telling the girls. The on-line audience clamors for more, and a pop phenomenon blooms, with Carly and sidekick Sam's regular Web casts ultimately featuring everything from comedy sketches and talent contests to interviews, recipes, and problem-solving.