Nickelodeon is reuniting the Zoey 101 cast — Jamie Lynn Spears, Paul Butcher, Sean Flynn, Kristin Herrera, Chris Massey, Erin Sanders, and Matthew Underwood — in an all-new version of the fan-favorite sketch “Thelma Stump.” The reunion will be featured in the July 11 episode of All That, which will air at 9 p.m. on Nickelodeon. The episode marks the first on-air reunion of the Zoey 101 cast since the show ended in 2008.
HollywoodLife spoke with the cast about reuniting on All That. Even after all these years, this cast is still incredibly close and loved being together on TV again. “It felt so magical,” Erin, who played Quinn, told HollywoodLife. “It felt like going back in time and seeing family members that you’ve missed a lot and didn’t even realize how much you missed them.”
For Paul, who played Zoey’s little brother Dustin, reuniting with the cast was like taking a trip back to his childhood. “We feel like a family,” he said. “Every time we’re together, the chemistry’s there. We pick up right where we left off. It’s nostalgic but it’s so familiar at the same time. I love these people. They’ve been my childhood. They were a lot of people’s childhoods, and they’re also amazing to work with. I think that’s an added bonus.”
It’s been 12 years since the show ended, and the cast revealed where they think their characters would be today. The possibilities are endless! “Obviously, I think that Zoey is doing something well, whatever it is,” Jamie Lynn, who played the one and only Zoey, said. “I think that her and Chase’s story is still open-ended, and I do think that there’s a lot more that needs to be told in that area, and I think fans definitely want to know what happens in that area as well.”
Jamie Lynn noted that there is “a lot about the characters that is still unknown — who their parents are, where they’re from. But, you know, there’s a lot of those things that we can really create a whole new story in a whole new way. But the heart of it will still be the same. It’s still these people that we fell in love with.”
When asked about a revival, the entire cast was 100 percent down for it. Jamie Lynn gave an update about the status of revival talks.
“I think the only issue that obviously the world is running into right now is that there’s a pandemic, and things are moving at a slower pace,” Jamie Lynn revealed. “But before this happened, conversations were starting and they’re still continuing, just at a different level during these times. The main goal right now is making sure that we do our fans justice by telling the story correctly and relatably so that we can create that same magic that we had when we did it the first time because that was what was special about it. These characters all had their own story to tell, and we want to make sure that we do that right, and then [have] the right home because as we grew up so did they, and I think it’s important to stay true to that.”
In addition to the reunion on All That, Jamie Lynn that there may be more Zoey 101 goodness on the way for fans. “There may be a theme song revival that we are doing that we’ll be able to hopefully share soon, so that is also something that they can look forward to and get something stuck in their head but in a newer way,” she said.