ID Docuseries "Quiet on Set" to Explore Dan Schneider's Toxic Control of Nick Stars

[JamesG]

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture. Series such as "All That" and "The Amanda Show", among others, were obsessively consumed by children across the country and defined comedy for a generation.

But behind the upbeat onscreen presence on these shows with questionable jokes and over-the-top sketches, Quiet On Set reveals an insidious environment rife with allegations of abuse, sexism, racism, and inappropriate dynamics with its underage stars and crew.

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV will premiere across two nights on ID from 9PM-11PM ET/PT on Sunday, March 17 and Monday, March 18.

[TMC]

Dan Schneider, the creator of popular Nickelodeon shows like "All That" and "iCarly," was let go by the network in 2018 amid rumors and allegations of bad behavior on set. His departure marked the end of a long-standing collaboration with Nickelodeon and raised questions about the future of his iconic shows. This new documentary is exposing it all! So, let's get into it.

[blueberrymuffin]

So...was Schneider just a toxic control freak, or were the other rumors about him also true?

[TMC]

‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’: Everything We Know About the Shocking Dan Schneider Docuseries

Featuring interviews from Drake Bell and Alexa Nikolas, Max docuseries unveils the darker side of the kids’ channel.

[blueberrymuffin]

Kinda wish someone would answer my question, lol.

[tenter]

Originally Posted by blueberrymuffin

So...was Schneider just a toxic control freak, or were the other rumors about him also true?

OK I will answer your question.. but I'm not even sure what I'm saying though. I'm not good with grammar, but I'm trying to explain.

So I think, the rumors seems to be true about allegations for Dan Schneider.

I recalled back on the book Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died, she has negative experience work with "The Creator", referring to Dan Schneider. She was offered hush money to never talk about her experiences working with Nickelodeon, but she refuses.

Also Alexa Nicolas back in fall 2022 or so.. protesting about predators, like Dan Schneider. She had bad experiences working on Zoey 101.

[TMC]

In this video I dive into the heinous acts of several Nick employees over the last 20 years.. these crimes put a blotch on our favorite childhood shows, and they caused many to suffer physically, and emotionally.

Thank you For watching.

• Intro 0:00
• new allegations 0:55
• first predator 2:12
• second predator 3:57
• third predator 11:50
• fourth predator 14:05
• fifth predator 16:27
• in conclusion 18:59
• outro 20:01

[TMC]

Drake Bell details "extensive abuse" by acting coach during Nickelodeon days

At first, actor Drake Bell wasn’t sure he was ready to publicly reveal that he was the previously unidentified minor who had been sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon dialogue and acting coach Brian Peck, who was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2004.

“I think there was a lot of uncertainty up until very recently,” Emma Schwartz, co-director of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, tells Yahoo Entertainment.

The four-part Investigation Discovery (ID) docuseries examines the toxicity on the sets of Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider’s kid-themed shows — All That, The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, Sam & Cat, Drake & Josh — in the '90s and '00s. In the show, Bell, now 37, revealed he was the minor John Doe who accused Peck of sexual assault and abuse.

Schwartz and filmmaking partner Mary Robertson were deep into exploring that world — interviewing former cast members, writers and crew members about their experiences — when they connected that there were three different men who worked on Nickelodeon sets in that era who had been arrested and convicted of child abuse.

“We really wanted to understand how that had happened,” Schwartz says, “and in the course of having conversations, you start to have whispers of who some of the victims are.”

Bell was introduced to Peck during Season 2 of The Amanda Show in 2000 when Bell was 14 and Peck was 40. In the doc, Bell details how Peck — who had been talked up as having a hand in Leonardo DiCaprio’s early success — glommed on to him, pushing out Bell’s dad and becoming his manager.

In the series, Bell calls the "extensive" abuse “pretty brutal” and says it was “the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault.” Bell felt trapped. He later broke down to his mother about the abuse, which continued, and they went to police. Bell secured Peck’s confession in a call recorded by investigators. In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and oral copulation with a minor under 16. He served 16 months in prison.

Bell’s identity was kept a secret, and it stayed that way for over 20 years. The filmmakers of the series say much sensitivity was involved when they approached Bell to see if he wanted to share his story.

“Anyone who's a survivor of child sex abuse, you want to be very, very careful and very, very thoughtful,” Schwartz says. “You don't know if they're ready to speak. You don't know if they want to have any outreach — or that if even by reaching out, you could trigger them in some way. So I wrote a letter, and from that letter we began a conversation. It was not an easy conversation, and there was a lot of back and forth before we finally met. And once we met, I didn't know if he would want to move forward. Even once he got to a point where he was ready to share on camera, I don't know that he went home and said, ‘That was the best decision I made in my life.’”

Some of Bell's uncertainty was lifted after filmmakers screened the final project with him.

“I think he felt it really did reflect his truth,” Schwartz says. “And ultimately, as this has come out, has felt a bit lighter from holding in so much for so many years that he's really still trying to grapple with and move forward from.”

Bell — who went on to star in Drake & Josh from 2004 to 2007 — detailed the horrors of what he went through, including going to court to deliver a victim impact statement and seeing Peck’s side of the courtroom filled with Hollywood supporters.

“That was one of the more shocking … revelations that came from the reporting of this,” says Robertson. “And I think for Drake, it was one of the more devastating aspects of a completely devastating experience.”

The filmmakers went to court to unseal the over 40 letters of support that were sent to the judge on Peck’s behalf, including those written by James Marsden, Saturday Night Live’s Taran Killam, Growing Pains co-stars Joanna Kerns and the late Alan Thicke, X-Men producer Tom DeSanto, Twin Peaks actress Kimmy Robertson and Boy Meets World co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle. (Last month, Strong and Friedle talked on their podcast about being “groomed” by Peck, who ingratiated himself into their lives. While they testified on his behalf, they later expressed regret over it.)

The betrayals hit even closer to home. While the doc noted neither Schneider nor any top Nickelodeon executives wrote letters in support of Peck, Drake & Josh director Rich Correll and the show’s stage manager Beth Correll did, telling the judge they’d work with Peck again in a minute. After Peck was released from prison, the Corrells hired him to work on a different kids’ TV show, Disney Channel’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, from 2006 to 2007.

“There are many remaining questions about the conditions under which the letters of support were written,” Robertson says. “And it's our hope that we'll learn more about that in the coming weeks and months.”

Bell talked in the doc about how the abuse led to “self-loathing” and “self-destructive behavior.” He “tried to escape” via alcohol and substance abuse. He was arrested twice for DUI in 2009 and 2015. In 2021, Bell pleaded guilty to one count of felony attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles relating to conduct involving a teen girl he met online in 2017 when she was 15. He admitted to making “mistakes” including “irresponsible text messages,” but denied physical contact with the victim. In 2023, Bell was reported missing and underwent a mental health evaluation once authorities found him. His wife, with whom he has a 2-year-old son, filed for divorce soon after.

The docuseries is not trying to be an exposé of Bell’s life after Nickelodeon, however.

“I do think that there are real differences between that [more recent] case and his experiences with Brian Peck,” Schwartz says “Really what we wanted to do with our project was focus on the voices who had been part of these sets and shows, [really] understanding that experience” in that specific period of time.

The doc digs into the work environment Schneider fostered. As Nickelodeon’s “golden boy,” Schneider created hit after hit, and before his 2018 ouster (with a $7M payout), he operated in a way that apparently went unchecked.

There’s a disturbing number of clips of the young child actors — including Ariana Grande and Jamie Lynn Spears — being made to do things that were overtly sexual in nature. He put kids in revealing costumes that made them feel uncomfortable. They were made to perform degrading and scary on-air dares. He got into a hot tub with a baby-faced Amanda Bynes and tried to help her get emancipated from her parents. He created recurring characters named “Penelope Taynt” and Peck’s character, “Pickle Boy,” seemingly just for the sexual innuendo. He blew up at child actors, humiliated female writers and demanded massages from female employees.

Being on a Schneider show wasn’t a 9-to-5 gig, and the kids mixed with behind-the-scenes adults after hours, including at parties, which blurred lines. Along with Peck, Jason Handy, a production assistant on All That and The Amanda Show, whose job was escorting young performers on set, was arrested for child pornography in 2003. Ezel Channel, an animator, was arrested for committing lewd acts on a 14-year-old boy and showing him pornography in 2005.

“We have over a dozen folks who have never really spoken publicly before about these experiences and really help shine a light in a way that I don't think the public has seen before,” Schwartz promises.

Bell says in the doc that Schneider was not aware of Peck’s abuse until he confided in him. He said Schneider offered to support him in any way he could, but Bell just wanted to move on.

• Nickelodeon Reacts To Drake Bell’s Reveal Of Sexual Abuse In ‘Quiet On Set’ Docuseries: “We Are Dismayed And Saddened To Learn Of The Trauma He Has Endured’
  
• Four takeaways from Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV
  
• 'Quiet on Set' Uncovers Abuse Allegations at Nickelodeon, Raises Deeper Issues. The docuseries, subtitled The Dark Side of Kids TV, will change how you look at some of Nickelodeon’s biggest hits—particularly the works of super producer Dan Schneider.

[TMC]

#DrakeBell, #KyleSullivan and others share their dark moments working at the #Nickleodeon network, so, let's get into it.

The image of Nickelodeon has officially unraveled.

Hello everyone and welcome back. Today I wanted to do a follow up video about the Quiet on Set documentary featuring previous Nickelodeon Stars. Along with talking about more instances with Drake Bell, we are also going to talk about Kyle Sullivan and his story as featured in this Variety Article. I also want to talk about the 2024 Kid's Choice Awards because Nickelodeon just announced that their award show will be in summer this year. The timing is too coincidental to not talk about. What are your thoughts?

[TMC]

Nickelodeon SENDS THREATS To Drake Bell Over New Documentary's ACCUSATIONS?!!

Nickelodeon has finally broken its silence on the unsettling controversies involving Drake Bell, delving into the murky circumstances they've found themselves enmeshed in. What recent shadows have been cast, and what somber words did they offer in response?

Drake Bell, known for his role as a child star, is now speaking up about something serious for the first time: the S A he faced when he was just 15 years old. He's bravely sharing his story on an upcoming TV series called "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV," which is scheduled to air on March 17 and 18.

Nickelodeon has issued a statement in the wake of revelations about S A and A disclosed by former "Drake & Josh" star Drake Bell, relating to incidents with dialogue coach Brian Peck during Bell's childhood.

In the documentary, Drake Bell reveals that he was A by Brian Peck, who worked as a dialogue coach on Nickelodeon's shows like "All That" and "The Amanda Show." Bell was part of "The Amanda Show" cast from 1999 to 2002, and later starred in his own Nickelodeon series, "Drake & Josh," which began in 2004.

Peck faced serious legal trouble when he was arrested in August 2003 on 11 charges linked to accusations of S A involving an unnamed child. In May 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to engaging in a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and to oral copulation with a minor under 16. As a result, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was required to register as an offender in October 2004.

For more than 20 years, Drake Bell kept his identity hidden as the minor involved in that case.

Nickelodeon has made a public response after Drake Bell's disclosure, stating, "Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."

One of the biggest, most pervasive scandals in kids' TV is set to be exposed, as the new documentary series "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids' TV" on Investigation Discovery explores the dark secrets surrounding the shows of Dan Schneider over his decades of domination at Nickelodeon. But as we all publicly reckon with the allegations and accusations of what happened behind the scenes at Schneider's Bakery, how do we, as viewers, respond to the controversy? I offer four big things to keep in mind as you watch the docuseries and navigate the weeks to come as social media and the kids' TV community at large grapples with the shocking new revelations. I also offer a few thoughts of my own on the Schneider situation, and how I've handled the topic in the past and going forward.

• Dan Schneider Denies ‘Sexualizing’ Nickelodeon Child Stars, Says Everything Was ‘Carefully Scrutinized by Dozens of Involved Adults’
  
• Dark side of Nickelodeon: Quiet on Set first two episodes premiere

[TMC]

"Quiet on Set" left us with a lot to talk about. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the biggest bombshells from Investigation Discovery’s 4-part exposé about Nickelodeon. Our countdown includes Drake Bell was "John Doe," traumatizing On-Air Dares, treatment of the female casts, and more! Did you watch “Quiet on Set”?

[TMC]

These moments weren't all that. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at Nickelodeon moments mentioned in “Quiet on Set” that seemed like kids’ stuff at the time, but in retrospect feel problematic, cringey, or downright creepy. Our countdown includes "Zoey 101," "The Amanda Show," "Victorious," and more! Has “Quiet on Set” made YOU question any other Nickelodeon moments?

• Josh Peck calls for children in the entertainment industry to be protected after watching Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
  
• This Disturbing New Max Docuseries Is Ruining Childhood Memories

[icecream]

When Dennis Blunden (Head of the Class) is a lot nicer than the actor portraying him, that's messed up.

[TMC]

QUIET ON SET THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV REVIEW | Double Toasted - Today at Double Toasted we review Quiet on set the dark side of kids TV. In this video, we show you the Quiet on set the dark side of kids TV trailer before giving our Quiet on set the dark side of kids TV reaction and discussion. We discuss everything from Drake Bell, Dan Schneider and more! What did you think about Quiet on set the dark side of kids TV?

Thoughts on "Quiet on Set"

I imagine, being one of Youtube’s “Nickelodeon Content Creators”, you want to know what I thought.

QUIET ON SET, the new four-part documentary detailing inappropriate behavior and abuse on the set of Dan Schneider’s various Nickelodeon shows, starts off on its worst foot, with all the earmarks of trashy tabloid journalism. A couple of gossip journalists walk us through events and interject how you’re supposed to feel about them. There’s one moment where Leon Frierson, former ALL THAT cast member, talks about how uncomfortable some of the costuming made him, about how the noses on a nose-themed superhero costume has some unfortunate phallic resemblances, and then we cut to a writer from Buzzfeed going “and then the sneeze gag is basically a c** shot joke!”

Frierson never says that. In a later episode, a similar comparison is made to a gag on ZOEY 101, but there it’s actress Alexa Nikolas making that connection from the workplace environment she had found herself in. It’s an authentic observation, where in the earlier example it was outsider sensationalization, playing to the “crusaders” on Twitter and Tiktok where the public side of Schneider drama has mostly lived over the past decade. They bring on Marc Summers, Nickelodeon elder statesman who had virtually no presence in this era of the channel, for all of twelve seconds so that he can watch a clip of a Schneider show and go “oh, wow, they aired that?”

You can imagine how the producers' eyes must have lit up when they learned that Brian Peck, former Nick dialogue coach and convicted sex offender, owned a John Wayne Gacy painting. I mean, yeah, that’s ****ed up, but it has virtually nothing to do with anything. It is, however, a perfect “can you believe this” moment that can be clipped and shared on social media for shock value. It’s something that the documentary can ride as a viral moment.

QUIET ON SET was produced for Investigation Discovery, whose bread and butter is schlocky true crime documentaries. Shows like EVIL LIVES HERE and WHO THE (BLEEP) DID I MARRY. Not exactly tasteful television. The channel is owned by Warner Bros Discovery, and was simultaneously released on Max. Warner Bros Discovery owns Cartoon Network. The documentary puts emphasis on Nickelodeon being on the top of the children’s cable game, and often brings up the Disney Channel as Nick’s main competitor. At no point is Cartoon Network mentioned, because, well, nobody wants to say their competitor is doing better than them, and saying you’re doing better than Nickelodeon would defeat the documentary’s narrative.

My point is that I do not believe QUIET ON SET comes from a genuine place. It’s cheap schlock shock documentary filmmaking that wants to attract the same crowd who watch serial killer shows for fun.

However.

It’s also a space where a lot of people who were hurt during this time at Nickelodeon have come forward to tell their stories, and that pretty much nullifies all the gross exploitation elements present in the early parts. When these people start speaking for themselves, the documentary has no choice but to let them speak, and its more garbage instincts fade away. By the time Drake Bell starts telling his story, the gossip journalists all but vanish until the end, and there’s a stronger sensitivity to everything.

The topics raised are harrowing. Workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, child abuse, sexism on set, racism on set, and general mispractice paint a meaningful picture of the toxic environment Nickelodeon was allowing at this time. The stories told by AMANDA SHOW writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen are infuriating. And then the sexual assault of Drake Bell by Brian Peck. Not an easy watch. It shouldn’t be an easy watch. What a ****ing awful thing. It’s heartbreaking to watch.

The documentary handles it with an unexpected tact and evenhandedness. It doesn’t excuse Bell’s later behaviors, and it allows Schneider to come off as one of the few adults who handled the situation correctly, even if the rest of the documentary is largely against him. I wish this had been the tone of the entire piece.

QUIET ON SET is an important document of a terrible entertainment workplace. It’s a shame they dumped a bunch of trash on top of it. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s one of those things that’s going to be referenced to a lot over the years, and I hope that the people who make children’s television were learn the right lessons from it.

[TMC]

Like most of you this week, I've had my eyes glued to the new viral documentary series about Nickelodeon's abusive practices for child actors, Quiet on Set. The series examines controversial producer Dan Schneider, several convictions of assault against children, and even sexual abuse of child actors who we know and love from some of our favorite Nickelodeon shows growing up.

This series was incredibly eye opening, not just to hear the testimony of people like Drake Bell and former employees at the network, but also to understand the subtle innuendo we never picked up on as kids watching shows like iCarly, Victorious, Drake and Josh, and more that was intended to be inappropriate comedy---for CHILDREN.

Today, I'm sharing my thoughts on kids' television and entertainment and what we should have been more protected against, and showing YOU things you may not have picked up on at Nickelodeon when we were younger. Trust me, you don't want to miss this.

Today we’re going to discuss “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” a new docu-series that came out this week on HBO Max which dove into the toxic work environment and even abuse endured by the child actors of Nickelodeon in the 1990s. Let’s get into it.