'Quiet On Set': Most Shocking Revelations From Nickelodeon Doc

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” looks at the working conditions of Nickelodeon, the juggernaut behind children’s TV sensations in the 1990s and 2000s, and the lasting effect they had those involved.

In particular, the documentary tracks the influence producer Dan Schneider had on shaping Nickelodeon, creating shows and launching the careers of actors who would become major stars like Amanda Bynes and Drake Bell.

In the documentary, some of the writers, former child stars and other staffers who worked with Schenider allege the atmosphere behind-the-scenes was toxic.

Schneider does not appear in the documentary, but statements attributed to him responding to various allegations are shown on screen.

He has denied allegations of misconduct, telling the New York Times in 2021, “I couldn’t and I wouldn’t have the long-term friendships and continued loyalty from so many reputable people if I’d mistreated my actors of any age, especially minors.”

Nickelodeon announced it was parting ways with Schneider in 2018.

In a statement to TODAY.com on March 13, a spokesperson for the network said it had "adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”

“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct,” the network said.

The network also said its highest priorities were the “well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children.”

Here’s what to know from the first night of the documentary, which aired March 17.

Schneider's rise to Netflix and 'All That'

The first part of the documentary begins by tracking how Schneider came to be involved with Nickelodeon.

Following a stint as an actor, Schneider’s first writing job was for “Head of the Class.” Nickelodeon tapped Schneider write the pilot for the kids-centric sketch show “All That,” which ran from 1994 to 2005.

At the beginning of the “All That” era, Schneider “kept things pretty light” on set, former Nickelodeon director Virgil L. Fabian says, as footage of behind-the-scenes parties plays.

Interviews with former stars, however, suggested there was an undercurrent of pressure exerted on child stars. “It was in our best interest to go with the flow,” former "All That" cast member Leon Frierson says.

The second episode of the documentary spotlights more “All That” voices like Giovonnie Samuels, Bryan Christopher Hearne and Kyle Sullivan describing their experiences.

Sullivan calls the set “dysfunctional ... you could get away with more, like going overtime in ways that were pushing the envelope.”

The cast members say certain scenes were grueling, like one which involved pouring sugar and coffee into their mouths. “It was gross, it was weird,” Sullivan says. “The show was full of these uncomfortable sketches. I think Dan got a kick out of walking the line with that.”

Two cast members, Hearne and Samuels, describe the racial dynamics on set. Samuels says she was like the “token Black girl." Hearne says Schneider had a “closer relationship with some of the white kids,” and that he didn’t feel close to him “at all.”

Hearne, who is Black, recalls a moment that brought him to tears on set. At the time, he was being fit for a costume for “Lil Fetus," a sketch character meant to be the world’s youngest rapper.

“Someone said the skin tone should be charcoal. I started to get teary eyed. That was a moment when I felt, ‘I could go get my mom about this.” But also, I know my mom and I know she would’ve rose hell,” Hearne says.

Tracy Brown, Hearne’s mom, says she tried to tell Hearne’s agent about the show’s conditions.

“She was like, ‘Tracy, come on. Do it for Bryan. Shut up,'" Brown says in the documentary. "But I was like, ‘Things are weird here.”

The cast members say the “On Air Dares” segments of the show, seemingly modeled on the show “Fear Factor,” were “traumatic.”

The segments involved the show's cast sitting in vats of fish or worms. In one clip, a cast member has a scorpion placed in his mouth.

Hearne, at one point, recalls being covered in peanut butter, which was then licked off by dogs. “It was really uncomfortable. I didn’t like that,” he says.

“The thing that was most uncomfortable was having to watch your fellow cast mates be essentially tortured,” Hearne says.

Hearne was eventually let go from the show. In her interview, Brown says she was relieved her son left a “house of horrors.”

The discovery of Amanda Bynes

In the documentary, Katrina Johnson, who starred on “All That” from age 10 to 16, alleges she was “edged out” after puberty by a "younger version" of herself: Amanda Bynes. “The new favorite had arrived,” Johnson says.

Johnson says she discovered Bynes after watching her perform at the Laugh Factory comedy club in Los Angeles. Impressed, Johnson recommended Schneider see Bynes for himself.

"Dan saw her and immediately knew she'd be a star," Fabian, the former Nickelodeon director, says.

Bynes was cast on "All That" and got her own spinoff, "The Amanda Bynes Show," in 1999.

Johnson and Frierson, who were cast members from Bynes’ “All That” era, say her father, Rick Bynes, "carefully crafted Amanda's career" with Schneider. The documentary emphasizes their close relationship.

Fabian says Bynes and Schneider were "very close on the Amanda Show."

"Very few people made Dan laugh, and Amanda did," he says.

Karyn Finley Thompson, who worked as an editor on "All That," says she and Schneider had a "close relationship. She recalls seeing Bynes massaging Schneider's shoulders.

The documentary also looks into how their relationship soured as Bynes got older.

Schneider and Bynes moved from Nickelodeon the CW for "What I Like About You," co-created with Will Calhoun. He denies he was pushed out from the writers' room, according to a statement aired in the documentary.

But their relationship soured when Schneider involved himself in Bynes' failed effort to emancipate herself from her parents, the documentary alleges.

TODAY.com has reached out to Bynes for comment and has not heard back at the time of publication.

Inappropriate jokes, including some featuring Ariana Grande

The documentary revisits some of the jokes on Nickelodeon shows and how they might have had inappropriate subtext, referencing adult content on kids’ TV.

For example, in “Victorious,” a young Ariana Grande tries to “juice a potato“ by moving her hands over a brown potato.

Frierson, the former “All That” cast member, remembers being cast as “Nose Boy.” For the costume, Frierson wore a large brown prosthetic nose on his face and shoulders, which seemed to resemble male genitals. During the punch line, he sneezed snot.

“Frankly, it was just uncomfortable,” Frierson says. “But I always did my best to be a trooper, never complained. We knew being close to Dan could mean an extra level of success. It was important to be on his good side, and he made it known who was on his good side.”

The name of Penelope Taynt, a character on “The Amanda Show” who was Bynes’ alter ego, was a joke about the taint, a slang term for the part of the body between the anus and the genitals. Writers say Schneider asked them to “keep it a secret” from Nickelodeon executives.

TODAY.com reached out to Grande for comment and has not heard back as of this posting.

A spokesperson for Schneider told NBC News “every scene was approved by the network and these shows are all still being aired today. If there was an actual problem, they would be taken down, but they air constantly all over the world, enjoyed by kids and parents.”

Like an 'abusive relationship' in the writers' room

Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, two former writers on “The Amanda Show,” allege in the documentary that there was an abusive environment in the writers’ room. 

“Working for Dan was like being in an abusive relationship," Stratton says.

“He had fostered this very fun, casual atmosphere, but I felt Dan could be very volatile and could turn any moment. I was scared," she says.

“You always felt like disagreeing with Dan could result in getting fired,” Kilgen says.

The writers, the only women hired on the show, were asked to “split a salary,” and agreed to for similar reasons.

“This was my dream job,” Kilgen says. “Don’t be a complainer. Do whatever you have to do to get this job.”

In a statement that airs during the docuseries, Schneider said he had no control over staff salaries on the show.

Stratton says the early days were “great,” but they didn’t stay so. Stratton and Kilgen felt targeted as women.

“It was early on that Dan said he didn’t think women were funny,” Stratton says. Kilgen says Schneider “challenged” the room to “name a funny female writer.”

“That was my first indication of trouble, that maybe this guy didn’t value women in the writers’ room,” Kilgen says.

Kilgen and Stratton say Schneider would force pranks on the staff, pestering them to say random sentences out loud, like “I’m a slut.”

Stratton also says Schneider once challenged her to eat two pints of ice cream in 30 minutes for $300 dollars. Stratton agreed because she had “no money.” She completed the challenge, throwing up afterward, but then “the money didn’t come.”

Kilgen says Schneider got “worse and worse.” He played pornography on set and asked Kilgen to “massage him” several times in the writers’ room and the studio, Kilgen says.

Then, Kilgen recounts “the wrongest thing I’d seen happen to a woman in a professional environment, ever.”

The women say Schneider pressured Stratton into retelling a story, but acting like she “was being sodomized” while doing it.

“I think, ‘That poor girl and what she had to go through.’ I would not do it today, but I did it then," Stratton says.

Both eventually left the show. Kilgen filed complaints against the production company for gender discrimination, hostile work environment and harassment. In response, Nickelodeon did an internal investigation and settled. Kilgen says the experience had a “lasting impact on her career.”

Karyn Finley Thompson, an editor on "The Amanda Show," also shares her experiences as a woman on set, which included Schneider making “degrading” comments to her.

Working around the clock, from 8 a.m. to midnight, Thompson said she once “keeled over” and had to go to the hospital.

“As I’m leaving and curled over, I could see someone say, ‘How is the show going to get finished?’ I remember saying, ‘I’ll be right back,’” Thompson says.

Thompson says she left after Schneider gave a job he had promised to her to a younger man with no experience.

“I was livid ... I got out of my chair and I never came back,” she says. 

Schneider says he never considered gender when hiring, per a statement that appears in the documentary.

Convicted pedophiles on set

The documentary spotlights two convicted sex offenders on the set of Nickelodeon shows: Jason Michael Handy, a former production assistant, and Bryan Peck, and actor and dialogue coach. Both were convicted while they were working on Nickelodeon sets.

The mother of a former "Amanda Show" child actor, listed only as MJ in the documentary, speaks out in the documentary about her daughter's exposure to Handy.

Brandi, MJ's daughter, was booked on the show at 11.

A a production assistant, Handy "(guided) the kids to where they needed to be," Brandi's mom says.

"You thought, 'Oh, I could be friends with this person," she says of Handy.

On the way home, MJ says her daughter Handy asked to email with her. A week later, Brandi received an email from Handy.

"I didn't see any harm in it," MJ says.

That changed when Brandi received a lewd photo of Handy naked and masturbating, MJ says.

MJ says she went back and forth about reporting it but decided not to, afraid the police would think she was a "bad parent," instead resolving to keep her away from Handy. Her daughter never returned to show business.

Law enforcement searched Handy's home in 2003 and found sexually exploitative images of children. They also found a journal in which Handy describes himself as a "pedophile, full-blown," per the documentary.

Handy was sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 after pleading no contest to two felony counts involving two girls, one of whom was Brandi.

The documentary also spotlights Peck, an actor and dialogue coach who was a constant presence on set. “Everybody loved Brian,” Sullivan says. “He was charming, he was clever, and he was around all the time.’”

He starred in every episode of the show as Pickle Boy, a recurring bit that saw him carrying around a towering plate of pickles. He also was a regular behind-the-scenes as a dialogue coach.

Sullivan's opinion of Peck changed during a party at his house, when he discovered Peck had a self portrait by convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy on his walls.

Sullivan and his "All That" co-stars later learned Peck had been accused on 11 counts of sexually abusing a minor.

Peck pleaded no contest to two charges and was found guilty to both. He spent 16 months in prison. Drake Bell, in the documentary, reveals for the first time he was Peck’s unnamed victim.

TODAY.com reached out to Peck's attorney for comment and has not heard back at time of publication.

In its statement on March 15, Nickelodeon said, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”

Elena Nicolaou

Elena Nicolaou is a senior entertainment editor at Today.com, where she covers the latest in TV, pop culture, movies and all things streaming. Previously, she covered culture at Refinery29 and Oprah Daily. Her superpower is matching people up with the perfect book, which she does on her podcast, Blind Date With a Book.