Villainous teacher Francine Briggs
Francine Briggs (Mindy Sterling) is a recurring villainess from the Nickelodeon series iCarly. She is a notoriously reviled teacher at Ridgeway High School, which is attended by the show's main protagonists: Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, and Freddie Benson. Throughout the series, Francine was shown to be a haughty and arrogant woman, seemingly having a disdain for the students at her school.
Introduction[]
The series' first episode, "iPilot", had Francine bringing Carly to the office of Principal Ted Franklin, after she claimed responsibility for posting photos around the school showing Francine's face on the body of a rhinoceros (a prank that Sam was really responsible for). Francine was shown to be enraged at Carly regarding the prank, and also subtly showed disdain for her older brother/guardian Spencer for his art career. Ultimately, Francine decided to punish Carly by having her record auditions for the upcoming talent show, callously mocking Carly as she revealed that that she would have to miss a concert she was going to go to that weekend.
During the auditions, Carly and Sam briefly start joking about Francine's breasts after seeing an auditionee who they believe resembles her, with Freddie recording their quips as part of the video and unintentionally uploading it online. While Freddie was ultimately able to delete the video, Francine revealed to Carly and Sam that she'd already seen the video and heard their comments about her when she met them to get the CD of the auditions. In addition to that, Francine rejected the kids that Carly and Sam believed should be featured in the talent show by claiming their unusual acts weren't real talents, and smugly declared she wouldn't let any of them into the show (possibly out of spite for the comments the girls made). Carly, Sam, and Freddie decided to go against Francine's beliefs, however, by featuring the kids on a web show they would run weekly, thus sparking the creation of the gang's titular web show.
Events[]
Francine's next major appearance on the show came in episode 1.08, "iSpy a Mean Teacher", which opened with her yelling at students through a bullhorn in the hallway and cruelly smashing an orange a student tries to give her to (citing that she "hates citrus fruits"). This inspires the iCarly crew to secretly record what Francine is like outside of school, with their plan leading to Carly and Freddie becoming trapped in the closet of Francine's apartment. During their confinement in Francine's apartment, they learn that their teacher is highly into fitness (seeing her in the midst of an exercise regimen) and that she has an affinity for Randy Jackson, as shown by the abundance of Randy Jackson memorabilia in her closet.
In an attempt to free her friends, Sam calls Francine and poses as a milk inspector to distract her. The plan fails, however, when Freddie trips over Francine's bagpipes and breaks them. After attempting to fix her instrument, Francine reprimands the teenagers for their actions and demands an explanation. After Carly explains that they wanted to see what she was like outside of school for iCarly, Francine mocked their webshow as "mucus from the nose of the digital age" and gave them an ultimatum: either they allow her to perform her bagpipes on iCarly, or she would have them suspended from school and arrested for breaking into her house. The teens ultimately conceded to Francine's demand, and watched in dismay during her performance as their audience (the biggest one they'd had thus far) begin to dwindle. To regain their viewers, however, Carly and Sam had Freddie use their recently installed green screen to put humorous backgrounds behind an oblivious Francine, regaining their audience. Francine was met with praise from her students at school the next day, with Francine remarking to the iCarly crew that she believed they were applauding her for her musical talent.
Francine's next (and last) major villainous appearance would be in the Season 3 episode, "iHave My Principals", which opened with her and Mr. Howard (another hated teacher at Ridgeway) taking pleasure in bringing the iCarly gang into Ted Franklin's office, believing them to be in trouble. In actuality, however, Ted informed the teens that he wanted to appear on iCarly as a birthday surprise for his daughter, who was a fan of their webshow. Following his appearance on the show, however, Ted was abruptly fired by Superintendent Harold Gorman, who believed his appearance on iCarly was "unbecoming" of a principal. Afterwards, Freddie and Sam confronted Gorman regarding his decision as he was with Francine and Mr. Howard, learning in the process that he'd appointed Francine and Mr. Howard to be Ridgeway's new co-principals. As a result, the former teachers ran Ridgeway with an iron fist, having a mandatory school uniform enforced and eavesdropping on the students through the school's PA system.
In an effort to get Ted rehired as principal, the students of Ridgeway conspire to make Francine and Mr. Howard appear negligent when Superintendent Gorman came to evaluate them, locking the two in the principal's office closet before wrecking havoc on the school as Gorman arrived. The plan unintentionally works when Ted arrives to collecgt his last check and orders the students (sans Carly, Sam, and Freddie) back to class, with Gorman deciding to have Ted rehired as a result. Francine and Mr. Howard attempt to convince Gorman against his decision, with Francine even attempting to seduce the superintendent, only for their attempts to fail as Gorman warns them to leave while he was still allowing them their teaching positions back.