‘Quiet on Set’ response prompts bonus episode with more to tell
When “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” premiered, the four-part documentary detailing the alleged abuse and discrimination behind some of Nickelodeon’s shows, the response was overwhelming. It detailed disturbing child sexual abuse cases involving two crew members on creator Dan Schneider’s shows and included a bombshell interview with Drake Bell, former star of the series “Drake & Josh,” who says he was abused by Brian Peck, a dialogue coach. (Peck was convicted in 2004.)
“Quiet on Set” also featured interviews with other former child actors, parents and crew members who accuse Schneider of sexist and racist behavior and of writing inappropriate adult-themed content.
The reaction to the series has been so extraordinary that filmmakers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz created an additional episode, “Quiet on Set: Breaking the Silence,” which is available to stream on Max.
Hosted by journalist Soledad O’Brien, the bonus episode includes disturbing unseen footage and new interviews.
“Quiet on Set” details how many famous and influential people, including James Marsden, Taran Killam and Joanna Kerns, wrote letters on behalf of Peck. In the bonus episode, O’Brien notes that “Boy Meets World” stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle, who wrote letters in support of Peck, have since expressed regret about their actions on their podcast. She asks Bell if this has changed how he looks back on Peck’s sentencing, when Bell walked into the courtroom and saw so many familiar faces there in support of his abuser.
“No,” he replies. “I worked with Will on ‘(Ultimate) Spider-Man’ and there was a lot of opportunity to apologize or talk about it and he never did.”
But, he continues, “everybody deals with their trauma in different ways. Everybody comes to different conclusions at different times in their lives and realizations. And I mean I really appreciate their perspective now. But I mean, that day is so ingrained in my mind, and ... nobody’s reached out to me.”
This may have changed since Bell spoke to O’Brien for “Quiet on Set.” The actor has since written on X: “I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong we are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him.”
Shane Lyons, former “All That” cast member, who was not part of the original episodes, was motivated to come forward and share his own troubling experiences. Lyons says Peck was charming, someone who many of the child actors on the show were “enamored with,” because he was “someone that we knew we can kind of run things by, work with, improvise with. It was very helpful in that context.”
Lyons says he found Bell’s story “absolutely gut-wrenching,” and that he was lucky that “nothing like that happened to me.” Though, he adds, “there were certainly some passes.”
Lyons goes on to recall an incident in which Peck made a joke about “blue balls” — which, at the time, he thought was a reference to racquetballs.
“I just didn’t know what they were. And he goes, ‘Well, we know what blue balls are. Right, Shane? I said, ‘Yeah, like racquetballs.’ All right, I’m a kid — 13, 14. As I think back now, as an adult, as a 36-yearold, I would never have a conversation with a 13-year-old boy like he had with me. It makes absolutely zero sense.”
Giovonnie Samuels, who was also on “All That,” says Schneider reached out to her a few weeks before the documentary aired and asked if she would provide a quote in support of him — even though he also knew that she was participating in the series.
“I did come back to do (the series) ‘Henry Danger,’ which was some time later. He was like, You had a good time on set, right?” she says. “I told him I was terrified of him . ... I said, ‘You have the power to make people stars. And I was intimidated by you. I wanted to do a good job.”