The newest Hollywood scandal emerges as the Nickelodeon docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” unveils the disturbing truth behind the work conditions during the late 1990s to the early 2000s. From the uncomfortable situations in the writers’ room to the treatment of child stars, this five-episode series tells all. In the biggest news break since the 2017 Harvey Weinstein revelation, this documentary will change the way society looks at children’s television.
CONTENT WARNING: This article will mention sexual harassment, sexual assault against minors, pedophilia and highly uncomfortable scenarios.
From the top
Dan Schneider began his career in the industry as an actor. From 1986 to 1991, he rose to fame by portraying the stereotypical “fat but funny” character in ABC’s “Head of the Class.” Through this role, he was able to see the writer’s room for the first time. He found a passion for it, and in 1993, he transitioned to writing and producing full-time. In 1994, Schneider came to the Nickelodeon stage and left an infamous mark on it. He and his production company, Schneider’s Bakery, went on to create some of the most memorable television shows in Nickelodeon history. These include the likes of “Drake and Josh” (2004 – 2007), “Zoey 101” (2005 – 2008), “iCarly” (2007 – 2012) and “Victorious” (2010 – 2013). However, life behind the scenes was nothing short of a nightmare.
Schneider left Nickelodeon in 2018 after the accusations of him fostering a hostile work environment hit the press. These accusations insinuate that Nickelodeon’s “golden boy” was sexist and racist, played favorites with his actors and harassed the female crew members. Furthermore, there are rumors that he frequently yelled at the child stars and forced them to do scenes that made them uncomfortable. A deeper examination of these accusations will occur later on in the piece. Along with Schneider’s questionable behavior, members of his crew committed heinous crimes against the child stars. All in all, the childhood many ’90s and early 2000s kids had has a dark foundation.
The writers’ room
Throughout the docuseries, the audience gets to learn a lot about the mistreatment of women during Schneider’s reign. The majority of the information comes from two female writers from “The Amanda Show” (1999 – 2002). Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen describe their time with Schneider as “one of the most disturbing (experiences) in their career.”
“Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship,” Stratton said in her interview for the series.
Schneider’s abusive behavior toward the female staff members varies from typical sexism in the workplace to sexual harassment. Firstly, he forced Stratton and Kilgen to split a salary during their time at “The Amanda Show.” They were the only women in the writers’ room, so everyone else, meaning the men, got full paychecks. He would repeatedly express that “women were not funny” and ask the male writers to name one funny female writer while Stratton and Kilgen were in the room. No one said anything in response to his demand. Furthermore, he would demand the women on the set, sometimes those being the child actresses, to massage him almost every day. In Kilgen’s case, Schneider told her that if she massaged him, he would put one of her sketches in the show.
“You always felt like disagreeing with Dan or saying… or standing up for yourself could result in you getting fired,” Kilgen explains in her interview.
On a more serious note, there were multiple times when Schneider would stream pornography during a writing session. Everyone in the room was subject to viewing this content as well. In another instance, one of the writers was asked whether she’d participated in phone sex for work before. The most uncomfortable revelation involves Schneider asking Stratton to perform for the writers one day. She was pitching an idea for a sketch, and he interrupted her to say, “You know what would be funny? If you leaned over the table and acted like you were being sodomized and told that story about high school.” After refusing the first few requests, she reluctantly gave in.
Sexual innuendos
In many of the shows Schneider created, the female child stars were subject to sexualization. Schneider would tell the actresses and costume department to pick “whatever was more revealing” for their costumes. These costumes would often include mini skirts, crop tops, tight-fitting dresses, low-waisted jeans and low-cut tops. Daniella Monet, the actress who played Trina Vega in “Victorious,” said in an interview with People that “(she) wouldn’t even wear some of that today as an adult.” Furthermore, Alexa Nikolas, an actress from “Zoey 101,” said she realized as an adult that her character was “for the boys.”
The other aspect of sexualization comes from the scenes some girls participated in. Nikolas and Jamie Lynn Spears participated in one of the first scenes that highlighted inappropriate material. Nikolas is trying to open a tube of goo, but the packaging will not budge. She finally rips it open with her teeth, and the goo splashes all over Spears’ face. The girls did not understand the joke behind it, but the boys on set did and would laugh during every take.
“We heard the boys saying, ‘It’s a cum shot,'” Nikolas says in her documentary interview.
The actress who arguably had the worst of it was Ariana Grande during her time on “Victorious.” Her character, Cat Valentine, was the ditsy, cute girl at school, which made her perfect for sexual innuendos. Grande filmed scenes where she would suck her toes and lay upside down on her bed, and pour water over herself. The most disturbing scene she did involved her massaging a phallic-looking potato while saying, “Give me the juice.”
In other shows Schneider created, he would often include jokes about getting hit in the face with sausages. He also occasionally made the female actresses eat hot dogs, pickles and other interestingly shaped foods during their lunch scenes.
The tokenized
In the documentary, two Black actors who worked with Schneider multiple times came forward to discuss their experiences with him. Both felt like they were there for racial profiling.
Bryan Hearne from “All That” remembers a specific sketch he was the star of where he was portraying “Lil Fetus.” It was a joke about the youngest rapper to ever live. He would be lying on the floor in a leotard with a microphone, pretending to rap while in a woman’s uterus. When he was getting his makeup and costuming done for this sketch, he was “referred to as ‘a piece of charcoal.‘” The stereotyped role of a rapper was his go-to in the show. He would also play a pushy teenage cookie salesman, a play on drug dealing, regularly.
Giovonnie Samuels, the sole Black actress on “All That,” recounts in the docuseries that she was denied treatment because of her skin color. She was the only girl on set who did not have a professional hairstylist to prepare her for her scenes. Furthermore, there was a sketch where the actors were drinking large amounts of crystallized coffee sugar that was being poured from a large funnel hanging from the ceiling. Samuels was the only person in the sketch who did not undergo training to avoid choking during this sketch.
In the fifth episode of the series, another Black actress came forward to discuss her mistreatment on Schneider’s Nickelodeon. Raquel Lee Bolleau was an actress on “The Amanda Show” and often did sketches alongside the star of the show. However, there was one sketch she was a part of that did not sit well with her. Lee Bolleau’s costar spits in her face every time one of the directors says “spit it out” in the sketch. After the third time she was spit on, she was visibly upset and ushered off the stage by the director. They told her to breathe and that “(her costar) was the star of the show, don’t make too much of a problem.”
The Bynes effect
Amanda Bynes was the first it-girl of Nickelodeon. Before she was a television star, Bynes would perform at the Los Angeles Laugh Factory. This is where Schneider discovered her talent in comedy. She came to the channel in 1996 to star in the kid version of SNL, “All That.” Her comedic talent stood out to Schneider so much that he made a show just for her. Bynes became the host of “The Amanda Show” and ushered her into the limelight. After “The Amanda Show” ended in 2002, Bynes went on to star in multiple 2000s hit films, such as “Hairspray” and “She’s The Man.” After the 2010 film “Easy A” premiered, Bynes stepped away from Hollywood, and has barely been seen since.
Bynes has quite an infamous reputation in Hollywood. She began to abuse drugs at the age of 16, was accused of multiple hit-and-runs, was arrested in 2012 for a DUI and was arrested again in 2013 for reckless endangerment and criminal possession of marijuana. Bynes was placed under a 5150 psychiatric hold in 2013 after setting fire to her neighbor’s driveway and having a public mental breakdown. Many believe her outbursts come from her silently coping with the inappropriate relationship she had with Schneider.
While there is no evidence of a sexual relationship between the two, Bynes and Schneider had an interesting friendship. On “All That,” Schneider often dressed her in phallic-looking nose prosthetics and skintight spandex suits. He also created the character Penelope Taint for Bynes to portray on “The Amanda Show.” The last name is a clear reference to a part of the male private regions, which Schneider claimed to be funny. He also created a scene where they would be sitting in a hot tub, Schneider fully dressed, and Bynes in a bikini.
The production assistant
Jason Handy was a production assistant who worked on “All That” and “The Amanda Show” during Schneider’s reign at Nickelodeon. His job was to ensure the safety of the child stars by making them comfortable on set and directing them on where to go. He was a best friend to the kids on set, and everyone loved him. Even more so, the parents trusted him with their children. However, things with Handy were not as they seemed.
“I am a pervert, full-blown,” Handy wrote in his journal that was later confiscated by the police.
A child actress, only referred to as Brandi, befriended Handy on the set of “The Amanda Show.” She was a guest star for one episode but kept in contact with him via email for potential job opportunities. These emails were friendly until one day when Brandi received one with an image attached to it. The image was a naked picture of Handy touching himself with the caption “thinking of you.” Brandi was 11 years old.
Handy was arrested in 2004 on charges of child sexual exploitation and the distribution of sexually explicit material. When the police raided Handy’s house, they found over 100 sexually explicit images of young girls. They also found labeled ziplock bags that held personal items of the young girls he found attractive. One of which included a 9-year-old Nickelodeon star’s underwear. The girl remained anonymous, but sources in the docuseries state that he forcefully kissed her a few times. Handy’s sentence was six years in prison and registering as a sex offender.
Five years after his release from jail, North Carolina officials arrested Handy in 2014. His charges were two counts of violating the sex offender registry and three counts of indecent liberties with a minor. He is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Petersburg, VA. His release date is Aug. 28, 2038.
Ringing any Bells?
The biggest revelation in the docuseries involves the Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. On Aug. 19, 2003, Peck was arrested on 11 counts for violating the Penal Code section 288. In simpler terms, his charges were for molesting a minor. The child’s identity remained anonymous throughout the investigation and trial process. That is until this documentary premiered.
The child Peck assaulted was none other than Nickelodeon heartthrob Drake Bell, the star of “Drake and Josh.” The two met on the set of “The Amanda Show,” and Peck quickly manipulated his way into Bell’s life. He had Bell fire his father, Joe, from being his manager and insisted on taking on the role himself. Bell would often stay the night at Peck’s house for auditions in LA since he lived about two hours outside the major city. One night, Bell woke up on Peck’s couch, where he slept every time he stayed over, to Peck violating him. He was 15 at the time. The abuse lasted for about two years, and Bell describes “the abuse (as) extensive, and it got pretty brutal” in the docuseries.
“Think of the worst stuff that someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault,” Bell adds in his interview for the docuseries.
The fifth episode of the series reveals Peck also made passes at child star Shane Lyons, but nothing intimate ever happened between them.
With letters of support from multiple big names in the child star business, Peck pleaded no contest to two of the 11 charges against him. He spent 16 months in prison and became a registered sex offender. Details of the case can be found here with the case number XNWLA043791-01.
After his release, Peck signed on as a voice actor for Disney’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” He was already a convicted sex offender at the point of his hire.
Director’s notes
This docuseries is harrowing, to say the least, but it is so incredibly important for the community. Children’s television is instrumental to how individuals grow up and become adults. Every afternoon, after school, kids would tune in to their favorite program and wish they were the actors on that screen. Now the world knows that these child actors endured a traumatic upbringing in the industry so kids everywhere could have a happy one.
The beginning of the series displays a warning that states, “If you were a child of the ’90s, this is going to ruin that for you.” While this may have ruined some people’s views on their childhood, this statement isn’t entirely factual. Nothing in this world can take away the memories of watching your favorite television show. This series does not diminish the enjoyment Nickelodeon gave to young kids, it just opened the world’s eyes to the horrors behind the scenes. Boycotting Nickelodeon after this series is completely understandable, but the point of the series is to shed light on the lack of protections for child actors. This is not about hating Nickelodeon, although it is understandable if people do. This production was made to ensure the horrific things that happened to these children will never happen again.
The end credits
Since the premiere of “Quiet on Set,” Schneider did an interview with Boogie, aka T-Bo from “iCarly,” responding to the allegations against him.
Following Bell’s brave revelation of his sexual assault, other child actors have come forward to share their stories. Although it was not entirely his choice to share his story, “Zoey 101” actor Matthew Underwood shared his experience with sexual assault in an Instagram post following the documentary. He was receiving backlash and death threats for not showing support for Bell.
The five-episode investigative series is available to stream on Max. Viewer discretion is advised.
If you or anyone you know is struggling from experiences with sexual assault, support can be found here. You are not alone.
