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.
