By TeeJay Small
| Published
If you grew up watching the golden era of Nickelodeon programming, including such classic shows as Drake and Josh, iCarly, and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, you’re definitely familiar with prolific actress-turned-author Jennette McCurdy. The young woman, who released her shocking memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died back in 2022, is best known for starring as Sam Puckett in such shows as iCarly and Sam and Kat, though she has gone on to star in a handful of roles before pivoting exclusively to writing. One such forgotten series starring McCurdy includes Between, a critically panned sci-fi outing that is currently streaming on Netflix.
Jennette McCurdy Stars In Between
Like most people who watched Between, I happened to randomly stumble across the thumbnail while browsing Netflix recently. The series, which looks like the kind of thing you might expect from a student film on YouTube, caught my eye once I recognized the familiar face of Jennette McCurdy.
Given that I’d just finished reading her heart-wrenching book for the third time, she was fresh on my mind, and even fresher on my algorithm. I had mixed feelings about checking the show out, given McCurdy’s misgivings about her acting career outlined in I’m Glad My Mom Died, though ultimately my curiosity got the better of me.
For those who have never heard of Between, the Netflix series centers on a group of teens in a small suburb by the name of Pretty Lake. One day, a mysterious disease wipes through town, quickly infecting and killing everybody over the age of 21. Obviously, this development plunges the neighborhood into a Lord of the Flies-style abject chaos, which is only exacerbated when the entire area is deemed a quarantine zone and cut off from the outside world.
Behind-The-Scenes Issues
Between ultimately ran for only two seasons, both of which are available in full on Netflix, though the real interesting story of the show seems to be the numerous tales of behind-the-scenes mayhem. As you can expect with any series starring child and young adult actors, there was a lot of teenage angst floating around the set, which made it extremely difficult to maintain continuity.
Actors would routinely change their look and hairstyle without permission from the studio, prompting costumers, makeup artists, and hairdressers from the show to scramble to keep up. Furthermore, Jennette McCurdy was forced to portray a character who was deeply pregnant while filming Between, despite the fact that she was struggling with eating disorders and body dysmorphia at the time.
While some tales about the production of Between on Netflix sound like run-of-the-mill Hollywood issues, others are significantly more serious. Apparently, a live tiger was set loose while the series was in active production after the wild beast slipped away from its handler. Luckily, nobody was injured, but the situation was obviously untenable and could have quickly become a serious tragedy.
Streaming On Netflix
Critics were quick to lambast the series for its use of cliches, stiff acting, and poor-quality visual effects. Today, Between touts a fully rotten critic score of only 22 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, the series, which initially aired in Canada on Citytv, has found some new life on Netflix, primarily from viewers like me who were curious to see McCurdy take on a role beyond her tenure with Nickelodeon. Those interested in checking this one out can stream Between on Netflix today.
