Editors Note: The following story contains mentions of sexual assault. If you, or someone you know, is experiencing sexual assault, reach out to the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673.
“Quiet on Set” is a documentary that tells the behind the scenes of young kids on television from 1990 to the early 2000’s. The documentary focuses on popular shows on Nickelodeon. Guest stars from the shows were interviewed about the environment on set and the relationships they built while filming. The main crew member that continually came up was always Nickelodeon Producer Dan Schidener.
Dan Schneider was the brains behind the shows “Drake and Josh,” “All that” and “The Amanda Bynes Show.” Schidener was seen as a mentor for kids coming into the film industry. But as the show goes on, behind the scenes there wasn’t leadership. Schneider would tell very inappropriate jokes on set and would include them in his shows or skits. I watched these shows as a kid and I didn’t notice it because this isn’t something a child should understand. Children’s television should be a positive place with jokes that kids understand.
Schneider was very sexist to two female writers who helped Nickelodeon by making them split their salary when none of the other men on set had to. He made the female writers do inappropriate actions and he promised money and their skits to be featured in one of his shows.
Child actors, now adults, are able to see these disgusting and completely inappropriate jokes Schneider incorporated in the shows. Actors from the Nickelodeon show, “All That,” expressed how Schneider was really creepy and made them feel uncomfortable on set. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Drake Bell, star of the Nickelodeon show “Drake and Josh,” appeared in the fourth episode. I had watched Drake and Josh when I was younger, it was a very comedic show and the two main characters acted very natural. Unlike other popular Nickelodeon shows such as “Victorious,” “Sam and Cat” and “Zoey 101.” In these shows comedy and dialogue was very strict and to the point I think a lot of scenes from these shows looked very peculiar.
Bell explained in the documentary how peck was always hanging out with the kids on set in a comfortable setting. Peck Bell’s former dialogue coach Brian Peck had sexually assaulted him. The case was taken to court and was classified as the “John Doe” case until now. The term “John Doe” is used to anonymously name the plaintiff in a court case. In this case it would be Drake Bell wanting to be named anonymous.Lots of popular child actors supported Brian Peck by writing letters in his defense and showing up on the court date. Actors such as Will Friedle and Rider Strong from “Boy Meets World” supported Brian Peck.
It makes me so sad that these actors supported Peck because Boy Meets World is my favorite show and I think Will Friedle and Rider Strong, completely different now. I could never be a fan of an actor who supports sexual assault. The entire time while watching this episode, I just cried.
On social media, pictures of actress Amanda Bynes have been going around, and everyone wants to know if she could be using drugs based on her appearance recently. Journalist Kate Taylor appeared on the documentary and spoke about Amanda Bynes and her relationship with Dan Schneider. Child actors on set explained their relationship as “close.” She was seen giving him neck massages or standing behind him hugging him.
Bynes and Schneider’s relationship was further examined, but it was rumored Bynes was using drugs and had severe mental health issues in her late teen years. Bynes went from TV shows to movies and her career was basically launched by Dan Schneider. The way Bynes and Schneider’s relationship was described in the documentary was absolutely disgusting. It was clear that his intentions with Amanda were not appropriate.
The very last episode of the series was an interview recap with cast stars from “All That” and Drake Bell. They were asked about how the release of the documentary affected you. The documentary has gone viral on social media and has tempted co-stars and fans to reach out to actors and give support. Drake Bell expressed how no one really reached out to him except his Drake and Josh co-star, Josh Peck. All That stars said they have had people on social media reach out and give support.
This documentary was so good, I usually don’t like documentaries but with this one I was hooked. I watched it all in one day. It was so interesting and I wanted to know more. Dan Schneider has denied all of these allegations of sexual assault of Bynes and sexism in the workplace, but why did he get fired then? His story doesn’t add up but the documentaries does. Hopefully, this documentary can serve as a backbone for the future of the treatment of child actors on set, and a shaky reconciliation for the past trauma executives have caused in the past.
