I, like many Gen Z babies, grew up watching Nickelodeon and Disney Channel religiously. Shows like Drake and Josh, Victorious, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Sam and Cat were staples that made my preteens. Everyone wanted to be like the young actors they watched on TV every week, bubbly and always with a smile on their face. I mean who wouldn’t want to be a teenager running around on a television set with growing fame? However, the recent docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, has completely blown this optimistic thinking by showing what it was actually like to work for Nickelodeon and the lack of protections in place for young actors.
innuendos
The first disturbing thing discussed in the series is the use of sexual innuendos throughout Nickelodeon shows mostly due to the writing and suggestions of show-runner Dan Schneider and producer/director Brian Peck. These went from the naming of characters like Amanda Bynes’s Penelope Taynt on The Amanda Show to reoccurring “bits” such as Brian Peck’s Pickle Boy character on All That. Though these “jokes” went over our heads as kids, it raises a serious concern. The fact that these innuendos were allowed on shows for children raises the serious question about who these jokes were meant for and how they were allowed to be aired.
on-set atmosphere
Then there was of course the atmosphere on Dan Schnieder and Brian Peck’s set. Giovannie Samuels detailed how she as one of the few Black kids on set of All That was faced with racism sometimes even within skits and felt pressure to agree due to the lack of roles for people of color. In addition, many of the child actors interviewed for the docuseries state how Schnieder would even count his money on set, but many of the set workers were underpaid.
Then, to top off the terrible conduct, the history of Dan Schnieder and Amanda Bynes was brought up though she herself was not interviewed and unable to give her perspective. There were many times people on set saw a young teen Bynes giving Schnieder a massage and even a scene in The Amanda Show where a teen Bynes is in a bikini in a hot tub with a fully-clothed Schnieder. However, the crossing of boundaries went beyond the set as Bynes tried to get emancipated from her parents at 16 and stayed with Schnieder for a while.
This crossing of boundaries would continue into Schnieder’s run as the show-runner for Victorious where videos with the characters would be posted online. There are many disturbing videos involving a young Ariana Grande who is seen putting fruit into bras and spilling water onto herself in a suggestive way. Once again, there is a sense of lack of safety for children actors on sets as show-runners like Dan Schnieder are able to take advantage of children for personal and monetary gain with no checks and balances due to bringing in views for their network.
criminal charges
The main focus of the end of the docuseries goes into the sexual assault charges against Brian Peck, a producer and director for Nickelodeon for years. In 2003, Peck was arrested on sexual assault charges against a minor and he would be sentenced to 16 months in prison. However, it was not known that the minor was actually a child on the Nickelodeon sets with Peck and that it was Drake and Josh star Drake Bell, who it is important to note was charged with inappropriately texting a minor himself, though that does not negate the harm done against him and the importance of shedding light on survivors of sexual assault.
The docuseries details how Peck personally sought out mentoring a young teen Bell before pushing his manager father out, managing Bell himself. Bell would often spend the night at Peck’s and Peck would travel to see Bell perform with his band. However, things would take an even darker turn as Bell recounts sleeping on Peck’s sofa one night and being awoken to being sexually assaulted by Peck. Peck would then continue this assault on Bell until Bell finally broke one night over the phone to his mom, leading to charges being taken against Peck. However, the docuseries points out that many people involved with Nickelodeon wrote letters of appeal stating Bell was either lying or provoked Peck’s actions. To make things even worse, Peck would be released after only four months of jail time to then return to work on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. It once again raises the issue of power presiding over safety in the entertainment industry, especially for children.
conclusion
Overall, Quiet on Set truly shines a light on the issues with not just Nickelodeon but Hollywood overall. This series displays how many survivors of sexual assault are silenced and invalidated within Hollywood, even with children. In addition, sets can also be breeding grounds for racism and exploitation against children with fear keeping people silent. There truly needs to be a discussion on how to protect children on sets so that registered sex offenders are not present and able to walk freely with their career intact, harming others, and overall children are not in an environment where they are put in danger or put down.