Quiet on Set Shows the Darkest Side of Kids TV
By a news writer who covers film, TV, music, and celebrities
Dan Schneider, the disgraced overlord of Nickelodeon’s golden era, was first accused of misconduct in 2018, when Hollywood was reckoning with the abuse baked into the industry amid the Me Too movement. Behind the marquee sketch series All That and The Amanda Show, together with sitcoms Kenan & Kel, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, and Victorious, allegations that the creator and producer often terrorized sets mounted for years. Those allegations are finally being addressed in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a new four-part docuseries on Investigation Discovery. After reports first emerged in 2018 about his alleged on-set anger issues and documented tendency to post pictures of the feet of young actresses he employed on Twitter, additional victims stepped forward. In 2022, former child actors, including iCarly’s Jeanette McCurdy and Zoey 101’s Alexa Nichols, called out “sexualized” scenes Schneider included in children’s shows. Crew members, for their part, alleged gender discrimination and harassment, specifically recalling moments when Schneider asked them for massages in the middle of the work day.
The series brings the damning allegations against Schneider into sharp relief, skewering Nickelodeon’s entire kids’-TV apparatus, which blinded itself to the abuse adult employees and young stars, such as Drake Bell, reportedly faced. Schneider denied allegations against him in the documentary. “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct,” Nickelodeon said in a statement to Vulture. “Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.” Here’s every disturbing revelation from the series so far.
Dan Schneider latched onto Amanda Bynes, whose star turn on The Amanda Show helped launch his career.
Schneider earned his first “Created by” credit for The Amanda Show. He specifically developed the series with Bynes in mind after casting the tween in All That and being stunned by her ability to do complicated character work and make people laugh. When he tried to follow her into mainstream, adult success with the WB series What I Like About You, he reportedly facilitated Bynes’s running away from home and attempted emancipation, the documentary says. Bynes later withdrew the emancipation request and went on to star in the show, though she has since spoken publicly about the toll of her time in the spotlight.
