“Quiet on Set’s” Loud Message to the World

By Hallie Finkelstein

Published in Slope Media printed magazine Spring 2024

iCarly, Victorious, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh, Sam & Cat, All That, The Amanda Show. If you were a Nickelodeon fan like myself, you grew up watching these shows. My younger brother and I would sit on the couch at seven and eight o’clock every Friday and Saturday night eating microwave popcorn and screaming at each other, “IT’S ON! COME BACK!” when the commercials ended. Watching these shows every weekend are some of my fondest childhood memories. I found them hilarious and was engrossed in every plotline. That is until March 17, 2024 when I began watching the new documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”

Speculation about Dan Schneider’s behavior on set with child actors has been circulating for a while, especially after iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jenette McCurdy released her memoir entitled I’m Glad My Mom Died. The memoir revealed disturbing behaviors of “The Creator” which many assume to be Schneider. Schneider allegedly exploited many of his child actors, creating toxic relationships with them. Actors and actresses from All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and Zoey 101 spoke out in the documentary about their traumatic experiences on the set of their shows. Many adults that these child actors were expected to trust were, in reality, predators and pedophiles. 

Most notably, actor Drake Bell who starred on Drake & Josh told the truth about his years working with dialogue coach Brian Peck. Devastatingly, Brian Peck’s close relationship with Drake Bell was much more than him acting as a mentor; he was sexually abusing Bell for a long period of time. This is the first time that Bell has shared his story publicly, and as a fan of his for many years, it’s extremely difficult to watch. He explains how this traumatic experience led him to years of substance abuse and bankruptcy, and how the awful acts of sexual violence that were inflicted upon him have affected his mental health and who he is as a person. 

After finishing this documentary the question arose for me of whether this documentary has ruined my blissful childhood memories of cozying up on the couch to a new episode of Drake & Josh or one of my other Nickelodeon favorites. At first, my answer was yes, absolutely. How can I possibly go on loving these shows and praising Nickelodeon after knowing about the hardships the actors went through in order for me to be able to watch them? How will I ever watch another episode of Drake & Josh knowing what Drake Bell was really going through at this time in his life? The answers to these questions are complicated, and I still haven’t been able to find them. What I have been able to find, however, is a true understanding as to why this documentary, although painful to watch, is an essential story for the world to hear. 

As much as I wish I could preserve my innocence and playful memories around these shows, I am no longer the kid who watched the new episodes of these shows each week. I am an adult (or at least, close to being an adult) who recognizes the importance of sharing the truly awful things that happened during the creation of them. The way that Dan Schneider treated women employees, children, parents, writers, costume designers, and anyone who was present on the set is despicable and unacceptable. We must hear the voices of the victims of his abuse to make sure that something like this, like the horrors that Drake Bell was subject to, never happen again. This is a wakeup call that things in the entertainment industry must change, especially when there are children involved. 

It breaks every piece of my heart to know that while I was living my very typical, normal childhood, and turning on the TV to a new episode of Zoey 101, the kids who played the parts of the characters I loved were not getting to live the abuse-free childhood that I was gifted with. As hard as it is, I will always hear the voices of Drake Bell, Alexa Nikolas, Bryan Hearne, and the other actors and actresses interviewed in “Quiet on Set” telling their stories when I watch a nostalgic old episode. I can choose to view that as my childhood innocence being stripped away, or I can choose to see it as a proud moment in entertainment industry history–hearing brave actors and actresses tell their traumatic stories and share with the world everything they’ve been through, so that no child actor or actress has to bear this kind of abuse ever again. I will choose the latter, and won’t let this ruin my fond memories. Rather, I will allow myself to have a greater understanding of the context surrounding these shows and how regardless of how successful a person is, no one ever has the right to abuse another individual.