Chapman students reflect on new perspectives on beloved childhood shows after ‘Quiet on Set’ documentary
Chapman students discuss the new documentary series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” and how it affected their views of favorite childhood actors and beloved Nickelodeon shows. Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, Staff Photographer
During a trip to Tahoe over Christmas break, senior business administration major Niko Vuckovich stumbled across a slew of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, about sexual misconduct allegations and foot fetish rumors against Dan Schneider, creator and producer of various Nickelodeon shows, including “Drake and Josh”, “iCarly” and “Victorious.”
With nothing else to watch on the hotel TV, Vuckovich turned to the Nickelodeon channel and on came a now infamous “Victorious” episode where Ariana Grande’s character Cat is in her room trying to stuff her foot in her mouth and making suggestive hand motions to squeeze a potato.
“I was watching it, and I was like, ‘Holy shit. This is really uncomfortable,’” Vuckovich said. “Now that I'm an adult, I look back at it and, like, that is disgusting. My knowledge of Dan Schneider's allegations wasn't super high, but after rewatching that episode, specifically, I was like, ‘Oh my God. This guy's crazy, especially with his writing.’”
On March 17, the first four episodes of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” aired, and in doing so, unleashed the behind-the-scenes truth and stories of childhood actors on television sets, with a focus on Dan Schneider and the shows he created for Nickelodeon.
The documentary also touched on other figures who were present on set, including Jason Handy — a production assistant sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 for child sexual exploitation — and Brian Peck — a dialogue coach sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2003 for child sexual abuse. The documentary includes accounts from former Nickelodeon child stars, their parents, Nickelodeon staff members and culture journalists.
Similarly to Vuckovich, senior theater major Ariel Bradshaw was also aware of Schneider’s misconduct allegations prior to watching the documentary series. Growing up, Bradshaw loved watching “iCarly” and “Victorious,” and a few years ago found herself going down a conspiracy theory rabbit role where she discovered the allegations against Schneider.
But Bradshaw soon realized her initial encounter with the theories behind his behavior barely scratched the surface of just how serious the situation was.
“I did know about Dan Schneider's allegations. I didn't know to what extent,” Bradshaw told The Panther. “All I knew was that he was creepy and into feet. But watching the documentary helped me understand what all of those allegations really meant and the intensity of them. And it changed how I view a lot of the jokes, staging and costumes of the shows.”
One of the Nickelodeon child actors that the documentary chose to highlight is Drake Bell, from the show “Drake and Josh.” Vuckovich told The Panther seeing Bell appear on the screen at the end of the second episode made his stomach drop, and little tears formed in his eyes.
Despite his disgust and sadness over the treatment of Bell, Vuckovich is now happy to see an outpour of support on Bell’s social media pages.
“I’ve seen a lot of support for (Bell), which I think is really cool. Almost all of his Instagram and TikTok comments have been like, ‘Take the time you need to heal.’ Because as much as it did happen a long time ago — and he has been through a lot and got a lot of therapy — coming out with a story like that is exceptionally difficult, and it’s like reopening an old wound.”
As someone with a parent in the entertainment industry, senior creative producing major Jack Cohenour found it odd, and frankly disturbing, that the parents of these child actors were not more involved with their children’s lives on set.
“My mom works as a children's entertainer, so I've actually done a lot of work for children's streaming services. So obviously, when I'm working, I'm observing that culture,” Cohenour said. “To me, it's crazy the culture on a set with kids who are six, seven or eight and then once they get to be 11, 12, 13, it's like, suddenly the parents are allowed to be absent. For me, that was very strange to see (in the documentary).”
With so many allegations and stories coming out in the documentary, it leaves Nickelodeon fans wondering how and why they didn’t stop Schneider sooner or if it’s possible they didn’t know what was taking place behind closed doors.
“I think (Schneider) probably did a really good job of hiding it, and it seems like everyone that they interviewed, from the two female writers to the costume (designers), it was kind of a consensus that Dan Schneider had all this power.
At the same time, I think Nickelodeon employed an ignorance-is-bliss mindset, not really digging into what’s going on on set because Dan Schneider is making them so much money. I think they were in the dark on what was happening, but it’s primarily their fault for not looking deeper.”
While the documentary was crucial for sharing the stories of victims, it has also torn away these shows’ facades of innocence, therefore ruining the enjoyment of them for people like Vuckovich.
“Someday, I hope to have kids and I always thought, ‘Oh, when I grow up, I'll be showing my kids ‘Drake and Josh’ and ‘iCarly’”... and (the documentary has) really soured my perception of (those shows) to where I won't show my kids these shows that I grew up with. I don't want them being exposed to their disgusting nature.”
If anything positive can come out of a horrible situation, Bradshaw hopes it will be a bit of change in how the industry runs.
“I pessimistically don't think anything is going to change because this is the system that Hollywood has been founded on,” Bradshaw told The Panther. “But I would really hope that more documentaries like this and more people coming forward with their stories will help inspire others to create a different process and to treat child actors differently.”
