TW: Child endangerment and sexual harassment
The documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids’ TV was released on March 17, 2024; it consists of five episodes describing the abuse and neglect child stars and workers received behind the scenes of well-known kid shows. Around four decades ago in 1979, the popular channel Nickelodeon was created and gained popularity in the mid-1990s when Dan Schneider joined the production team. Since then, Nickelodeon released a variety of shows geared toward the younger generations. This channel has produced over 600 shows, however, The Amanda Show, iCarly, Sam & Cat, Drake & Josh, Victorious, and Zoey 101, were the most popular, yet controversial, at the time.
These early 2000s shows were, and still are, key parts of kids’ day-to-day lives. The Blue and White conducted interviews with teens who grew up watching these shows to understand how this docuseries changed their outlook on Nickelodeon. Sophomore Imani Ross shared, “I loved Nickelodeon before watching this show, it was my childhood. I would sit and enjoy so many of the shows before school.” Ross continued by sharing how much Nickelodeon has changed after watching the documentary, “It changed my outlook a lot. I used to love Nick and finding out the dark truth about the producer and people who worked around children was absolutely appalling. I have never been more disgusted that someone allowed these things to happen and no one could stand up for children and workers who were treated harshly during Dan’s time there.”
This series, directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, deep dives into the past and stories of Nickelodeon stars, even bringing a few on for interviews. One of the features on this show that surprised people most was Drake Bell, who is most known for his roles in The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh. In the interview, Bell shared his experience working on Nickelodeon along with the sexual abuse inflicted upon him by producer, Brian Peck. Ross responded to Bell’s revelation by stating, “The most surprising thing I learned was what happened to Drake Bell and how his dad knew that Brian Peck was no good but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.” Bell goes on to explain how this abuse affected not only him, but his family too. Another feature includes Alexa Nikolas, who played Nicole Bristow on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101. Nikolas explained that her experiences behind the scenes are what ultimately caused her to leave the show after season three. In response to the allegations, Schneider released his response: “Watching over the past two nights was very difficult. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.” Nikolas later shares a YouTube video with her response to Schneider’s statement, “I’m going to cut to the chase here: You don’t feel anything, Dan. You have no idea what accountability is. You’re searching for it, maybe, but you haven’t landed on it. That’s for sure. This is not the way.”
Throughout the series, especially episode one: “Rising Stars, Rising Questions,” it is explained that Schneider not only treated the female cast differently, but the writers too. He even went as far as asking if they were okay with being referred to as “the girls.” One of the two female writers for The Amanda Show, Christy Stratton, stated, “Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship.” She later shared that Dan believed “women can’t write funny,” and challenged her and female co-writer, Jenny Kilgen to “name a funny female writer.” Both women stated that this was when they realized that Schneider did not value the child workers or women.
Although this series explained the situation in greater detail, people caught wind of the controversy surrounding Nickelodeon years ago. Camille Wade, a sophomore, stated, “I knew about Dan Schneider being a ‘creep’ for a couple of years through TikTok, but it wasn’t until I watched the documentary that I learned about Drake Bell’s story. That being said, I thought Dan Schneider was solely responsible for everything. It was a shock to learn that so many people were in on it, whether they helped create the jokes and mishandled the children, or they remained silent instead of speaking out.” During this time, many of the adult workers either did not know about the crude actions or did not speak out about them due to fear of losing their jobs and ruining their reputation. It is explained that because of Schneider’s social status, he could easily fire anyone who speaks out against him and make sure they “never work again.”
As more episodes are released there’s a possibility for further accusations regarding these topics. The Blue and White highly recommends you watch this series on Max as it highlights the importance of child safety along with recognizing the potential signs of endangerment in not only children but adults as well.
