‘Quiet on Set’: Key takeaways from the documentary series’ bonus episode

Meredith Blake April 7, 2024

When Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV premiered last month,

[March]

the four-part documentary detailing the alleged abuse and discrimination behind some of Nickelodeons most beloved shows, the response was overwhelming.

On social media, fans whod grown up watching programs like All That and The Amanda Show reacted in horror to the series, which examined the allegedly toxic atmosphere on several shows from prolific creator Dan Schneider.

It detailed disturbing child sexual abuse cases involving two crew members on creator Dan Schneiders 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.

Many viewers reconsidered their love for shows they adored as children, while stars including Kenan Thompson have expressed support for people speaking out about their experiences. Schneider also issued a video apology.

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 premiered Sunday and is available to stream on Max.

Hosted by journalist Soledad OBrien, the bonus episode includes disturbing unseen footage and new interviews with Bell and All That stars Giovonnie Samuels and Bryan Hearne, who discuss the reaction to Quiet on Set.

It also features an interview with Shane Lyons, former All That cast member, who was not part of the original episodes but was motivated to come forward and share his own troubling experiences.

Here are key takeaways from the episode.

Drake Bell says he has not heard from any of the people who wrote letters in support of Brian Peck.

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, OBrien notes that Boy Meets World stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle, who wrote letters in support of Peck,

but

have since expressed regret about their actions on their podcast. She asks Bell if this has changed how he looks back on Pecks 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 …

there’s so many people who I mean, I haven’t

nobody’s reached out to me.

No one else? OBrien asks. No one at all.

Personally, no, not one person who’s written one of those letters has reached out to me, he says.

This may have changed since Bell spoke to OBrien for Quiet on Set. On Friday, the actor wrote 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.

Black actor Raquel Lee Bolleau shares a degrading sketch in which she was spit on by Amanda Bynes.

The episode features a previously unaired interview with Raquel Lee Bolleau, an actor who starred in The Amanda Show. She describes a sketch called The Literals, in which she repeatedly told Bynes character to spit it out.

Every time I said. Spit it out, she would spit what was in her mouth whether it was water, whatever directly in my face, says Bolleau. Everybody thought it was so funny. Ha ha. Everybody’s laughing. Me? I did not find it funny.

Bolleau was infuriated. I was so mad that the director hurried and put me on the side of the set and was like, Listen, Raquel. Breathe in, breathe out. She’s the star of the show. He said, Don’t make too much of a problem. I’m going to ask her not to spit in your face. But you have to keep your cool.

OBrien shows the footage to Bryan Hearne and his mother, Tracey Brown, who says the incident Bolleau described was racist, period.

That hit me really hard, says Hearne. To just be told you don’t matter in that moment you’re being spit on? And its like, this person matters more than you.

Shane Lyons alleges that Peck made inappropriate sexual comments to him.

Lyons tells OBrien how he once dreamed of being the new Chris Farley dreams that were dashed when he was fired from All That when he was 16.

He also says that Peck was charming, someone that 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 Bells 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.

[ran this by Ruthanne]

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,Alright,

I’m a kid. 13, 14. As I think back now, as an adult, as a 36-year-old, I would never have a conversation with a 13-year-old boy like he had with me. It makes absolutely zero sense.

Giovonnie Samuels says she told Schneider she was terrified of him.

Samuels says she felt like she was treated as a token Black actor and consistently asked to perform in stereotypical roles during the years she starred on All That. I was told, You’re so talented. We don’t know what to do with you! she tells OBrien.

Samuels also says that 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.

On social media, people whod grown up on Nickelodeon programming of the late 90s and early 00s, like All That and Drake & Josh, reacted in horror to the Investigation Discovery series. Featuring interviews with former child stars and crew members, the series focused on the work of producer Dan Schneider, who had multiple convicted pedophiles working on his shows and is alleged to have discriminated against women and Black actors, written inappropriate adult-themed material for children and generally cultivated an atmosphere that left minors vulnerable to abuse and manipulation.