“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is a four-part documentary sharing detailed allegations tied to Dan Schneider, his time with Nickelodeon, and his actions behind the scenes. Hollywood is no stranger to controversy and exposure of sexual predators, but the recent revelation with Nickelodeon severely damaged its look as a “child-friendly program”. “Quiet on Set” reveals the toxic culture in the studio, some of the famous and beloved child stars suffering from psychological and sexual abuse, and the abuse of power from adults.
Dan Schneider was famous for his works in children’s television, some of his greatest works in Nickelodeon include the hit programs “iCarly”, “Drake & Josh”, “Zoey 101”, and “Victorious”. He was even referred to as the “Norman Lear of children’s television”, however in 2018, his true colors were shown.
During the #MeToo movement, an awareness campaign about sexual abuse/harassment, many details about Schneider were made public, including his alleged sexual misconduct and gender discrimination towards several underage Nickelodeon employees.
“I feel as though there are plenty of precautions but there could be more. I think more people should have spoken up against Dan Schneider and others who are doing this to children” said SRA Senior, Dryden Strauser.
Some child actors have spoken about Dan Schneider’s behavior – Jennette McCurdy, the star of “iCarly” who played alongside Ariana Grande in the spin-off “Sam & Cat”. McCurdy spoke about how Schneider made her drink alcohol while underage, massaged her shoulders, and made her extremely uncomfortable when he insisted she wear a small bikini while only 15 years old.
Scaachi Koul, a popular journalist and consultant for “Quiet on the Set”, spoke about how the people in the documentary are still alive and hoping for change so Nickelodeon will change how they work, reorganizing how they employ child actors. “A lot of the people that are talked about in the documentary, and the networks we’re talking about, are still in existence, they’re still engaged in the same programming, so I would hope things will change, that it will overhaul how Nickelodeon works,” says Koul.
“It has changed my views on Nickelodeon by pinning its recent downfall due to someone who is behind the shows going down a bad path, taking much of the Nickelodeon down in the process” said Strauser.
I didn’t grow up watching Nickelodeon much, if at all, I would catch some shows from time to time and I enjoyed them. As a teenager, I began to see more of their shows, but I never paid attention to what happened behind the scenes even when I got my phone. So all of this went over my head, I always thought that Nickelodeon was a family-friendly, innocent kids program, but now I see that even a studio such as this is not stranger to corrupt adult control and sexual abuse towards children.
“I feel as though there are plenty of precautions but there could be more. I think more people should have spoken up against Dan Schneider and others who are doing this to children” said SRA Senior, Dryden Strauser.
