Nickelodeon: Childhood NOT Ruined

This week the network known as Investigation Discovery released a four part documentary titled Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV. The point of the documentary was to uncover the behind the scenes abuse that was endured by the children and women who worked for the iconic children’s television network known as Nickelodeon. Countless fans who were born in 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s were anticipating a floodgate of secrets that would uncover a hidden history of scandal, but not even those who were privy to the sketchy private lives of some of Nickelodeon’s biggest creators anticipated the rollercoaster of emotions set free by this documentary that is quickly taking entertainment media by storm.

In its earliest introductions the documentary starts off by giving us the personal accounts of many former cast members from both the 90’s and 2000’s Nickelodeon hit sketch show All That. Former cast members including: Leon Frierson, Katrina Johnson, Bryan Hearne, Giovannie Samuels and Kyle Sullivan among others from the interwoven web of shows brought to Nickelodeon by famed creator Dan Schneider all shared their stories of the mistreatment they endured and vulgarities that they witnessed.

Nickelodeon’s live action programs were known for their upbeat comedy for young adults. There was not a child walking the streets of America in the 90’s all the way up to this very moment who was not in love with shows like All That, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh, Zoe 101 and ICarly, but among those smiles and laughs created by these talented young artist was an abusive workplace marred by the adults from which it was in part established.

The abuse and inappropriate innuendo that was conducted on the set of these shows spearheaded by Dan Schneider was highlighted by former All That cast members like Bryan Hearne and Giovannie Samuels who both discussed racial abuse as well as having to endure degrading acts as part of the show’s composition. Hearne would go on to admit how certain occurrences such as having been brought to tears after being mocked for his skin color by one of the crew members and having to perform an act on live television in which a group of dogs licked peanut butter off of his entire body left him feeling degraded. The one man who sat at the center of the degradation these young stars faced was none other than Dan Schneider.

The two female writers who wrote for Dan Schneider’s creative team back in the day were Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen. Both women spoke heavy on how they were victims of misogynistic abuse from Schneider and how they were degraded by him in front of their fellow crew mates before he eventually collapsed both of their careers out of spite. The only female Schneider truly seemed to value was the amazing and talented Amanda Bynes. Yet everyone could see from what befell Amanda Bynes’ troubled future seemed to be marred by an implied sense of hidden abuse that she was dealing with under Schneider’s influence.

Among even the most baffling stories of Narcissistic abuse enacted by Dan Schneider, the part of this documentary that brought everyone to their knees and made the hearts belonging to every individual who was watching stop was the sexual assault that took place in an environment that was infested with sex predators. One such crew member who was outed as a predator was production assistant Jason Michael Handy who most notably worked on All That. The other was of course acting coach Brian Peck, who became the center of the horror show when his abuse of actor Drake Bell was documented by both Drake Bell and his father Joe.

Nothing was more candid than the story Drake Bell and his father Joe told about the history of sexual assault that Drake faced from dialogue coach Brian Peck. It was utterly heart wrenching to hear Drake recall how Brian presented himself to Drake as a caring friend and mentor who was only grooming Drake with manipulation before eventually making his truly sick and perverted intentions well known. Once Drake finally found the courage to expose the web of sexual abuse that he was trapped in he had to suffer the indignity of watching a lot of big names in Hollywood defend his abuser in court. His father Joe Bell worked hard to protect him from the clutches of the predatory Brian Peck, but Drake was being unconsciously blinded and manipulated by Peck to where he didn’t see what was happening initially. Joe Bell’s tears were a knife in the heart to every viewer who watched him as he expressed the indignity and pain of discovering the sexual assault that happened to his son.

As a lifelong Nickelodeon fan I knew about many of these stories forever, but I had never actually heard anyone go into details about what exactly took place. So when I heard this documentary was coming out I couldn’t wait to watch it. Off the bat I knew there were going to be some heart wrenching revelations and that could not have been more apparent when saw the reactions of the people who watched it before I did. After I finally watched it all I could think about was how deeply my heart empathized with all of those childhood heroes of mine. I hate all the pain that both the children and the adults on the set of these shows had to go through. I also admired the parents of these young stars for how much they fought for their children. Parents like Bryan Hearne and Drake Bell’s really loved them. How could any human being not feel sorrow for what they endured?

For all of us who grew up with 90’s Nickelodeon, Amanda Bynes was the Lucille Ball of our time. We loved everything she did from All That to The Amanda Show and beyond. She was a beacon of joy to countless during our childhood, especially mines. So when her downward spiral began in the early 2000-teens everyone was confused as to why. Over time it was speculated that there was a web of hidden abuse that she was put through during her time at Nickelodeon, most likely at the hands of Dan Schneider, but none of it was seemingly ever confirmed. Quiet On Set alludes to how much Dan Schneider’s toxic ways surrounded Amanda perhaps more than the others in a way because of how much he favored her and if this is why Amanda became undone over the past decade then it is a pure shame at the lack of protection she had. Amanda brought us so much joy, but on the inside she was dying.

I think the part of this that really made me so angry was the amount of support that child predator Brian Peck was giving by a lot of Hollywood big names when he was exposed for how he tortured Drake Bell, added to the fact that he was only given a year in prison. Evil men like him don’t deserve to see the light of day and he should be in prison for the rest of his life for his actions. Dan Schneider has since gone public apologizing and justifying his actions recounted in Quiet On Set, but that’s not enough for me. I feel like he should be paying millions of dollars in restitution for all the people he has hurt and as for all the celebrities who defended Brian Peck, they need to be exposed because the certainly have some explaining to do.

My Childhood Was Not Ruined

Now here comes the most self reflective part in all of this for me. In light of all these scandalous revelations many of our fellow Nickelodeon fans have taken to social media and expressed how they now feel that their childhood was ruined because of all these heinous secrets that have finally come to light. I’m here to say no, my childhood was not ruined and if you’re a Nickelodeon fan reading this and feel like your childhood was ruined then you should consider taking a different outlook. All the bad that our favorite Nick stars discussed was real, that goes without question, but guess what? So was the good.

The fun loving positivity we witness from Nickelodeon was not any less real just because there were bad things happening behind the scenes, it just means there was good and there was bad, just like every other aspect of life. What I found most interesting in the testimonies of these Nick stars was that in light of all the abuse they went through, all the good that we loved about Nickelodeon is what they loved the most as well. Bryan Hearne said that what hurt so bad about being abruptly fired from All That was being taken away from the environment of great friendship he formed with his fellow cast mates. In light of all the abuse he faced, the same energy we loved was also what he loved.

Something that really stuck with me was how Drake Bell commented on how the beginning of his time on Drake & Josh was what how he persevered through the aftermath of his abuse. He said the show was a great escape for him and he really got to enjoy his time there with everyone. It really warmed my heart to hear Drake’s Drake & Josh cast mates Nancy Sullivan and Josh Peck voice their love and support for him after he shared his story. Nancy Sullivan even referred to him as her son again, that’s further confirmation that their bond was real.

Being the nerd I am I follow many of the classic Nick stars on social media, many of which are the ones who were abused and they are always posting throwbacks and memories of the good times they had back in the day on Nick. So just like those memories are precious to us, they are also precious to the stars who gave them to us, and if that’s the case then why should we disown those memories? Because there were terrible things that played out in their midst? There will always be terrible things happening in the midst of good anywhere we go, including the type of abuse our favorite Nickelodeon stars faced, but that doesn’t make the good any less good or real, so we shouldn’t see the good as any less good or real.

Wanna hear an interesting twist? Hearing the stories of abuse that the children of Nickelodeon faced actually made me respect and appreciate them and the memories they gave us even more. We all have a pain or trauma that we have endured that has scarred our existence, but through that pain we always have something that makes us feel better and helps us through the darkness. Nickelodeon was that for countless children, including myself, so to know that they were battling trauma while helping me through my own made me love and appreciate Amanda Bynes, Giovannie Samuels and Drake bell way more than I ever did before. Just like we can’t forget the memories Nickelodeon gave us we also can’t forget these testimonies that our favorite stars shared with us on Quiet On Set. We need to learn from these stories and be more aware of what is taking place around us. Who knows, it may be one of us who stops some poor youth’s childhood from being ruined.

~This is dedicated to every young star from Nickelodeon who made our lives as children fun.