Talk:Seddie/@comment-3180503-20140709194306/@comment-3180503-20140710171404

@Embargo I actually also think the network pushed him...a lot. They didn't add Ariana on the show because she was famous at the time or even because she was rising to fame. They added her because her character Cat was extremely popular on Victorious (to hopefully compliment Sam, who was presumably the most popular character on her respective show). This combination was supposed to create a "ratings bonanza" that the network stupidly imagined. "Popular Sam + Popular Cat = Popular Show a durrrr!!1"

The reason I believe Nick pressured Dan into this is because you can easily tell (as early as the second episode) that he was ticked off at Nick for prematurely cancelling Victorious. And he kept making little digs at them all throughout. In fact, as Passionate pointed out, you can sort of call the entirety of TKTJ a purposeful "shark jump" of his career and it shows he's fully aware of it. He's gotten to the point where he has to put his characters in absurd, contrived situations in order to create any semblance of entertainment/enjoyment for both fans and the cast.

If anything, Ariana's sky-rocketing popularity is probably what nailed the final coffin in the show. I actually think Nick didn't anticipate nor want Ariana to get this popular. Even with all the Jennette drama aside, if Ariana was still enslaved to Nick and hadn't gotten big in the music industry, they could have written the show around her and made it "The Cat Show." However, predictably, Ariana lost interest in doing the show as soon as her actual career took off. I wish I could say the same circumstances are true for Jennette. :/