"Zoey 101" returns to screens with a sequel

The early 2000s are not only a great inspiration for contemporary fashion, but also for film and TV. So, after the return of Carrie Bradshaw in And Just Like That, the reboot of Gossip Girl and the possible reboot of Harry Potter, it is now the turn of kids who grew up watching Nickelodeon to relive a piece of their childhood thanks to sequels of Zoey 101. In fact, the star of the series, Jamie Lynn Spears, announced via her Instagram profile that filming has just begun in North Carolina on a movie tentatively titled Zoey 102 that will feature Pacific Coast Academy alumni reuniting for a wedding:

"I’m beyond thrilled to be back alongside my PCA family and continue the story of Zoey and all the characters fans know and love. As an executive producer, it’s been an exciting opportunity to work with such incredible talent as well as Paramount+ and Nickelodeon."

Much of the original cast has signed on for the new project, and so, in addition to Spears reprising her role as Zoey Brooks, the Louisiana girl who has just arrived with her younger brother Dustin at Pacific Coast Academy, a prestigious Malibu institution that until then was exclusively for boys, we will see Erin Sanders (Quinn Pensky), Sean Flynn (Chase Matthews), Matthew Underwood (Logan Reese), Christopher Massey (Michael Barrett), Abby Wilde (Stacey Dillsen) and Jack Salvatore (Mark Del Figgalo) back together. Notable absentees include Austin Butler who played, James Garrett, Zoey's love interest, in the last season of the series, and Alexa Nikolas who starred as Nicole Bristow. Not long ago, in an interview that has since gone viral on Tik Tok, the actress recounted that she was bullied on set by Spears and other colleagues, pointing out that Nickelodeon did nothing to protect her. 

The bullying allegations are not the only controversy faced by the series that aired successfully for four seasons, from 2005 to 2008, and a total of 65 episodes. The most important one concerns its abrupt cancellation that was blamed on Jamie Lynn's decision to leave the show. In an interview at the time (later debunked), the teen star had stated "after I finished filming, I just wanted to go home to Louisiana and finish high school, be a cheerleader, and stuff like that," but then the discovery that she was pregnant had messed up her plans somewhat. For many, it was the then 16-year-old Spears' pregnancy, frowned upon by Nickelodeon, that caused the end of Zoey 101. 

In addition to delighting fans of the series, the sequel to Zoey 101, due by the end of 2023 on Paramount+, represents an opportunity for Jamie Lynn Spears to return to the scene and clean up her image from the media battles with her sister Britney. After the show's cancellation, in fact, the actress has not regained the same popularity, limiting herself to a couple of country singles and small roles in minor projects, most recently in the Netflix series Sweet Magnolias. Recently, the actress has been back in the news only because of some statements made by Britney, who has always accused Jamie Lynn of never taking her side against her father's conservatorship, but rather of being her parent's "accomplice" and attempting a rapprochement at the end of her guardianship with the sole purpose of garnering public and fan support for the singer. Jamie Lynn tried to deny the allegations in a memoir stating that she has always loved and respected Britney, but at the time of her nervous breakdown she was very young and distracted by pregnancy issues to realize the gravity of what was really going on.