When I saw the trailer for Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, I was curious. I had an ex-friend who starred in one of the shows mentioned, and she has told me stuff about some of the people who participated in the four-part documentary that premieres at 9p.
The first two episodes are almost all about Dan Schneider, who created The Amanda Show, What I Like About You, Zoey 101, iCarly, Drake and Josh, Sam and Cat, and a few other shows. Several cast members, a few parents, and crew members have claimed that he was abusive on the set and oversexualized some of his KIDS shows.
While that has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years, it is filler until they get to the shocking part of the documentary.
I am not excusing his behavior. It was wrong, But sadly, it is how the business was before the Me Too movement. And it happened all over the industry. It is just more upsetting because he was working with kids. And hopefully, it is no longer happening with other producers who work on children’s programming.
I want to add an update. After reading Amy Berg’s only statement and what he did to her emotionally and physically when she was his assistant, I am now looking at things differently.
Because I, too, had a job where it was so awful, I suffered both mentally and physically. However, we were told just to accept it because that was how things were. And I say it was because things have changed so much over the years. Thankfully.
More should have been done to scold Schneider, so that it was not happening on his sets. But, sadly, we were raised to keep quiet. Thus why this is called Quiet on Set.
Also, I hope that no more child actors are getting molested, like what Drake Bell says about what happened to him by Brian Peck in the two episodes that air tomorrow at 9p.
It has taken me days to want to write this review because it is hard to watch him tell his story.
As soon as I finished watching all four hours, I contacted my friend whose child worked on one of the shows that Peck worked on. I don’t know why I needed to talk to her so badly, but I did. And she confirmed some of what was part of the documentary. And thankfully, her child was not a victim of Peck’s.
So what happened? In short, Drake says that Peck got close to him—so close that he put a wedge between him and his father. His father knew there was something off with him and tried to get him fired from the show. But all the producers and network told him was that he was being prejudiced because Peck is gay.
Eventually, his dad was not allowed back on the show. And Bell’s mom, who lived in Orange County started letting her son stay at Peck’s house so that he would be closer to the set and auditions.
At first, it was innocent, and then it wasn’t. And to hear Bell tell it, it breaks your heart. There was no one there to protect him, and he was too young to know how to get himself out of it.
Eventually, Bell went to the cops, and Peck went on trial for the crime. Several people wrote letters defending Peck, including James Marsden, Alan Thicke, Joanne Kearns, and Taran Killam. This is the first time we have heard their names because they have never been uncovered before.
Peck did go to prison but was released after just 16 months. And believe it or not, he got a job on another kids’ show before he was fired once his crime was revealed. But still.
And it is even scarier that I am going to tell you that Peck was not the only one who was arrested for having improper relationships with children who were on the Nickelodeon shows.
As I was writing this review, I told my friend to watch this doc because her children are professional actors.
I think any parent should watch this show because it doesn’t happen only in Hollywood. But somehow, it seems more relatable when it happens to someone famous.
So, by Bell finally sharing his story, it might help someone else. And hopefully, the same thing won’t happen to them that happened to him.
And yes, he addresses the problems he has had as an adult, which are related to what happened to him as a teen.
I did not go into full detail about what happened because you need to see it. Also, I don’t want to relive what I saw. I usually rewatch something to review it, but this was something I couldn’t rewatch.
My heart goes out to Bell and the other kids who were affected by the alleged sexual predators who worked on these shows.
Don’t say how did they get on these shows and work with kids. It happens in schools all over the country all the time. So, again, I say it is more relatable because it is someone famous.
In the last part of the documentary, the former child stars talk about how working at such a young age affected them—and not for the better. They all had issues with self-esteem afterward. Not because of Schneider but because of the industry in general.
It is hard for people to learn about rejection at such a young age. I see it with my friend’s kids when they don’t get parts. I see how hard it is on my former child star friends who are trying to recapture the fame they had as teenagers but never as adults.
It is not easy, and this documentary shows that. But it also shows a really dark side of predators who were allowed to get so close to kids.
And again, it is not just Hollywood. I worked at three jobs where men were arrested for soliciting a minor. All the jobs were in television, but not entertainment, and two were out of state.
But that is not the point. The point is that you should watch this poignant documentary tonight and tomorrow at 9p on ID.
In August of 2003, Brian Peck was arrested for 11 charges of allegedly sexually abusing an unnamed child on a Nickelodeon show. Then, in May 2004, he pled no contest to those charges. And finally, in October, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and he had to register as a sex offender.
For 20 years, we didn’t know who that child actor was. But today, we found out. And it is Drake Bell.
Bell will be breaking his silence in the four-part documentary Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV on Investigation Discovery. For the first time, the star of Drake and Josh will be talking about the abuse he said he suffered on the set by Peck.
This is not the only story that will be coming out about the Nick shows we grew up with in the ’90s and ’00s. Other actors, their parents, and crew members from shows like All That, The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, iCarly, Sam & Cat, and Victorious, will also be sharing stories of their experiences.
The doc will air on ID on March 17th and 18th, and it is definitely going to be an eye-opening two-night event.
In 2008, we fell in love with the cast of Glee. Just 12 years later, three of them would be dead. Tonight at 9p on ID, we learn about The Price of Glee and the toll it had on everyone’s life who was part of the series.
Things seemed like they were as swell for the cast of Glee as what we saw on television, but it was not. In the three-part series, we learn what it was like to work on the show. And it was a challenging job for so many reasons.
Before they got the roles, they had to audition. One actor sent in a video of him playing fake drums. One person got into a car accident on the way to their audition and was pulling glass out of their hair throughout it. And can you guess who lied about their age?
Finally, it was time for them to shoot the pilot. There was so much unknown, like if the show would succeed. However, whoever watched the episode, knew it was going to be a hit. And soon after it debuted, the cast might’ve wished it failed.
In order to be a cast member, you need to be a triple threat. But not all of the actors could sing, dance, and act. So along with filming their scenes, they had to take singing lessons, dance rehearsals, voiceover classes, and record the songs in the studio for the albums. As a result, there were times when they were working over 100 hours a week. And just when they thought they were going on hiatus, they were sent out on tour. So they were never able to rest.
If that is not enough, they were instant stars. People were jumping the fence at the studio to get closer to their favorite Glee cast member. They were afraid for their safety. So they had to build a wall between the trailers and the stage so that no one could get in. In fact, at least one actor had to move out of their house because security thought it was the safest thing to do.
But what security couldn’t protect them against was the effect it was having on them. Cory Monteith suffered from drug and alcohol addiction when he was a teenager. He was able to get himself clean long before Glee, but was the stress of being famous too much for him? The show spoke to his former roommate and people who worked on the show, and you will get to hear their take on it. Then, the hairdresser, who worked on the show, says something that will haunt you.
Something that has also haunted us is how Naya Rivera died. The show will talk to an expert who might be able to give some insight into what happened that fateful day in the river. While her father gives us insight into his daughter.
Her father talks about the time she dated Mark Salling, and he cheated on her. Were there clues that the show might’ve known about his horrible secret that led to him taking his own life?
And it is no secret that Lea Michele was not well-liked by her cast members. So what do the crew and other cast members have to say about her?
Along with all of the above, they talk about the crew members who died.
The three hours go quickly because we learned so much about their time on the show and after it ended. I left out so much, like who was the reason they went back into production so shortly after Monteith died and the effect it had on everyone but that person.
If you are a fan of Glee, you are not going to want to miss The Price of Glee tonight on ID and streaming on Discovery+.
In 2009, we fell in love with Glee. And 13 years later, we are obsessed with the awful things that happened to the cast since its debut.
No one is more infatuated with their demise than ID, so they are bringing us The Price of Glee on January 16th.
The special will look at how “In May 2009, 10 young actors made their TV debut on Glee. By 2020, all of them would be famous. And three of them would be dead.”
What a fucking tagline. But so fucking true. One overdosed, one committed suicide while being investigated for child pornography, and one died saving her son.
So you have to wonder, is this show cursed? Because what other scripted series had a cast with so many controversies as this one? None.
Therefore, I can’t wait to hear what they found out when the 3-part limited series.
I am a fan of Horror movies, so I have seen the ones where people move into abandoned funeral homes. They never have a happy ending.
Hopefully, that will not be the case for the Blumberg family, who actually bought a real dead, I mean real live, funeral home.
Heather, Arryn, and their two kids, Rafferty and Noa, are going to renovate a 12,000-square-foot, 1800s Victorian funeral home in Dresden, Ontario. What could go wrong as they do construction in the 38-room house? They find bats and bones, and that is only the beginning.
I can’t wait to see what else happens when the 6-episodes of We Bought a Funeral Home debuts October 1st on Discovery+.