A piece of my childhood died last Monday with the release of the docu-series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV”.
The chilling reality about one of my childhood favorite television networks, Nickelodeon, unraveled in four different episodes each a little over 40 minutes.
The docu-series weaves a tale of horrors with the stories of former employees, child stars, parents and the support of two journalists.
Directors Mary Roberston and Emma Schwartz set up these interviews in a way that makes it easy for the audience to follow.
The first episode of the documentary establishes the professional dynamic of actors and writers on the iconic ‘90s and 2000s show, “The Amanda Show”.
Journalists Kate Taylor and Scaachi Koul guide the audience through the intricacies of this particular story.
The audience learns the beginnings of Dan Schneider, Nickelodeon's most memorable producer and screenwriter.
Shows that came from the mind of Schneider are “Drake and Josh”, “The Amanda Show”, “iCarly”, and “Victorious”.
The documentary provides the story behind who Schneider was and initially establishes him as a well-liked man.
Like many documentaries though, this beloved and funny man would evolve into someone who was less than desirable to be around.
This helped to show the audience that there were warning signs of maltreatment and how culture enabled this behavior by normalizing patterns of harassing behavior early on.
Similarly, this revealed that the environment created by Schneider didn’t allow for anyone to express their discomfort.
Two screenwriters, Jenny Kilgen and Christy Stratton, who were the only two female writers for “The Amanda Show”, described their experience of the work environment.
“He could literally be nice and then mean and then nice and then mean, like, throughout the day,” Kilgen said.
I felt my stomach tighten and squeeze as Kilgen and Stratton recounted the harassment they endured from Schneider.
Kilgen recounted an experience about how Schneider would send messages to employees to say out loud.
“Scream ‘hammers’ and you’d scream it,” Kilgen said. “Then it would be more degrading, like, scream ‘I’m an idiot’ or ‘slut’.”
Kyle Sullivan, a former cast member for the Nickelodeon TV show “All That” described how directors got away with more.
“The show was full of these uncomfortable sketches,” Sullivan said. “I think that Dan got a kick out of walking a line with that.”
As I got older, I saw online speculation about these sexual innuendos and the truth about Dan Schneider.
I feel like this docu-series helped to confirm these speculations from first-hand experiences of people who worked with him.
Seeing the scenes I watched as a child flash on screen with fresh eyes left me horrified and genuinely queasy.
The scenes and characters from the beloved TV shows I used to watch were tainted with hidden sexual jokes and stories that made me want a chemical bath.
A scene in particular that stuck with me was a young Ariana Grande sucking on her toes or squeezing a potato while squealing, “Come on, give up the juice”.
Looking at this as grown adult I truly felt my stomach drop and made me question the types of shows I was consuming.
There is a lot to unpack in this series with so many stories interwoven into the larger issue of protections being needed for child stars.
The docu-series calls into question so many aspects of my childhood. Who else was affected? How can we help these individuals and what can we do to prevent this in the future?
Another major vocal point of this docu-series were the stories about two former Nickelodeon employees; Brian Peck and Jason Handy who were convicted of child sexual abuse within the same year.
Drake Bell’s story was probably one of the most shocking ones featured in this series, especially considering the archetype he played on air.
Drake Bell, a former Nickleodeon star, shared his story about the sexual abuse he endured at the hands of a production assistant.
Peck was an actor and dialogue coach loved among cast members, their parents and other crew members.
So much so that despite revealing to them he was pen pals with a pedophile and murderer, John Wayne Gacy, no one batted an eye.
Bell described what it was like going through these abusive experiences while also rising to fame and struggling to maintain his status as a role model.
“I didn’t know how to process it and I think that led to a lot of self-destruction and a lot of self-loathing,” Bell said.
I give kudos to the directors of this docu-series for being able to foster an environment where people felt comfortable enough to come forward to talk about such horrific memories.
At the same time, I wished they had touched on Bell’s charges of child endangerment related to accusations of him allegedly grooming a 12 year old in 2017, according to a 2024 Entertainment Weekly article.
I think it also speaks to a bigger issue about how sexual abuse victims can become perpetrators themselves.
A 2018 research article published by Cambridge University Press showed that there was a positive correlation between a perpetrator being a victim.
I fear that Bell’s story, which he bravely shared, will overshadow the crimes he committed against a young girl.
I wish certain things were further questioned, such as Dark Bell’s child endangerment charges, because it’s not just something that can be glossed over.
I think this series is a reminder that some of our favorite memories are connected to people who caused the most horrific pain for others.
“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” further proves that we need further protections for child actors and hold individuals accountable for their crimes.
