HBO just dropped a new limited-series about the experiences of child actors and crew members from the golden age of Nickelodeon. Streaming on HBO Max, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV was released on March 17, 2024. Directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, the four episodes detail the horror stories offscreen from some of the most successful kids television shows on Nickelodeon. The show dives into themes of sexism, discrimination and topics of abuse. This documentary is for mature audiences and may be hard to watch.

The show focused on the inappropriate behavior of creator Dan Schneider. He got his big break as a writer from the 90s sketch comedy show, All That. This show was very similar to current-day Saturday Night Live, just a kid friendly version. It was revolutionary for the time because no one had ever thought about kids doing sketch comedy. All That’s success launched Schneider into a position of fame and power. He would later go on to create shows like The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh, iCarly, Victorious, and more. His creations became staples in pop culture, kids television, and on Nickelodeon. He was the “golden boy” in a golden age for the network.

Some eye-opening stories were told specifically from the actors and writers from the TV shows, All That and The Amanda Show. There were instances of sexism within the writer’s room for the Amanda Show specifically. Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen were the only two women in a room full of men. There were comments made by Schneider himself that included insults like, “Women aren’t funny”. He would blast emails making them do embarrassing things like shouting insults in the room or asking them very unprofessional questions. This created a very tense and hostile environment for the women who only shared a single salary between the two of them. When Nickelodeon found out about the split salary, the creator threatened Kilgen that she would never work again if she spoke out about it.

A sense of discrimination was also felt on the set of his first show, All That. Many actors felt there was favoritism. Many times, when a child actor’s parent would speak up about something, the child would get on Schneider’s “bad side”. This concluded in less screen time, very few lines of dialogue, bitter attitude, and eventually being cut from the show. Brian Hearn was a prime example of this downfall. When his mother began questioning things on set, he started to get treated differently from the rest of the cast. Eventually when the season was being picked up for the following season, he was asked not to return. 

Hearing about Drake Bell’s story in the third episode was one of the most traumatic parts of the series. After decades of staying silent, he finally opened up about the abuse he endured from acting coach, Brian Peck. Bell didn’t go into any details of what happened, but he talked about the grooming process and how the abuse affected him during the time it took place and after. Understanding what Bell was really going through offscreen was eye opening and upsetting. While he was on our screens during Drake and Josh, he was facing court proceedings and dealing with this unfathomable trauma. He went through so much pain and suffering only for Peck to be sentenced for sixteen months. Even more disturbing, Peck was able to continue to work on children’s television and is walking free today. 

Quiet on Set is definitely a series to watch to be educated on very sensitive matters. It got intense and emotional, but it dealt with a serious issue that needed to be brought to light. On March 19th 2024, Dan Schneider posted a response to the series on his youtube channel. He apologized for his past actions and debunked certain claims made in the show. Schneider turned the comments off on the video, so it is difficult to determine people's response to the apology. There needs to be more awareness raised about what happened to these child actors, who are now grown adults.My hope is that more people come forward so that justice can be served for all the kids that sacrificed their childhoods for ours.