Reader’s discretion advised: topics of sexual and other abuse are mentioned in this article.
MAX released a four-part documentary on March 18, about the child actors from the early 2000s that premiered on Nickelodeon called “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” with the last episode being released on April 7. The child actors that are mentioned in this documentary were exposed to sexual abuse and other forms of manipulation during their time on their T.V. shows.
Children that grew up in the early 2000s that watched Nickelodeon were brought T.V. shows such as “The Amanda Show,” “Drake and Josh,” “iCarly” and “Victorious” to name a few that were created by Dan Schneider. Schneider was commonly referred to as the “golden boy of Nickelodeon” throughout the documentary due to his one-after-another hit of sit-com T.V. shows on Nickelodeon.
Schneider was painted to have a manipulative and perverted personality, as many allegations centered around how he treated the children on his shows and the adults that worked with him.
The first episode, “Rising Stars, Rising Questions,” started the show off with two women who were writers from the first show Schneider created “All That.” Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen were interviewed, explaining how the two writers split their salary and were afraid of Schneider during the duration of their employment, with multiple allegations of sexual harassment during working hours.
Stratton and Kilgen were later fired for speaking out about their mistreatment.
Another point was made about Brandi, a child actor that was sexually preyed on by Jason Handy, a crew member on “The Amanda Show.” Brandi was hired as a background character and worked closely with Handy as he worked with all the kids on the show. MJ, Brandi’s mother, claimed she did not come forward to police about this because of the “fear of being judged as a bad parent,” Business Insider reported.
Brandi was given Handy’s email and was regularly sent emails from him about the show information. Eventually, he sent her a “picture of him naked masturbating, and he said he had sent it to her because he wanted her to see that he was thinking of her,” MJ, said in the documentary.
In the second and third episode, “Hidden in Plain Sight” and “The Darkest Secret” Drake Bell gave his live account of the sexual abuse he faced by acting coach, Brian Peck who was later arrested for child molestation among other charges.
Bell starred in smaller roles before being hired as a seasoned regular on “The Amanda Show.” Peck was known for having children at his home for acting purposes and was well liked by other parents. Bell was managed by his father who was also interviewed in the documentary as he explained not trusting Peck.
Later in the documentary Bell explained that he was manipulated by Peck to fire his father from being his manager to get closer to him. Peck let Bell stay at his house multiple times with the approval of Bell’s mother, who was unaware of the abuse that was happening to her son.
Bell recounts in the documentary of one time he was at Peck’s house at 15, “I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation.”
In 2003, Peck, 43 at the time, was arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance,” Variety reported. Bell had never been named as the minor in the assault until the documentary was released.
Bell mentions that at the trial when he gave his testimony against Peck, that multiple actors were present for supporting Peck. Letters were written to the judge by actors including James Marsden, Taran Killam, Tom DeSanto and more pleading to the judge that Peck was innocent.
In the fourth episode, “Too Close to the Sun,” the documentary dives into the sexual allegations against Schneider. As in multiple episodes across his shows, he demonstrates sexualizing young girls through adult jokes.
Throughout the documentary Schneider provided multiple comments to these allegations, not taking responsibility for the inappropriate behavior that happened on any of his shows.
The fifth episode titled “Breaking the Silence” will be on Investigative Discovery on April 7th and later on MAX for streaming.
