File this under "things we were not expecting, but couldn't be happier to have."
In case you're a child or were living under a rock in the early 00's, let us paint you a picture of one of the greatest shows ever to grace Nickelodeon between 2005 and 2008: Zoey 101.
Zoey 101 told the story of a young girl (Jamie Lynn Spears) attending the high school of our dreams, also known as the Pacific Coast Academy. She was one of the first girls to enroll at the previously all-boys school, and it was the coolest boarding school ever, filled with wacky students and wacky teachers, located right off the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway.
We were devastated to learn that that school did not actually exist, and were even more devastated when the show ended in 2008, somewhere around the time Jamie Lynn Spears became pregnant.
We kind of thought we'd never hear from the show again, until creator (and Nickelodeon super-producer) Dan Schneider dropped a big surprise on us last night. After promising on Twitter that our minds would be blown, Schneider directed fans to the Zoey 101 marathon on Teen Nick, which included a little mini-episode that fans had never seen before.
The short, which you can watch above, takes place in present day and features Chase (Sean Flynn) proposing to a girl who isn't Zoey, until Michael (Christopher Massey) shows up with Zoey's entry into the time capsule that was buried in an episode that aired exactly ten years ago, yesterday.
There's quite the fun little surprise coming today. I'm smiling just thinking about the reaction. Stay tuned, y'all... ;)
? Dan Schneider (@DanWarp) September 18, 2015A clip from that episode shows Zoey telling Chase that even though the time capsule is supposed to be opened in 20 years, Chase could open it in 10 to find out what she said about him, and once he hears her call him her potential soulmate, he grabs the ring back from his new girlfriend and runs off to find the true love of his life.
Then…to be continued…?
Apparently, Dan Schneider has quite an efficient calendar system, because this is one impressive feat. We haven't thought about Zoey 101 in years and could have probably lived without ever hearing what Zoey said in the time capsule, but now that we have, all that we really want is more.
If that "to be continued" is just speculation, we may never get over it. We may also never stop singing that theme song we forgot we knew all the words to.
Thank you, Nickelodeon, for making good on promises we totally forgot you had made. Our teen selves could not be happier right now.