Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

For those of you who were raised on or raised their kids on the programming on the Nickelodeon network, you might want to take a look at this jaw-dropping documentary that I watched the first three parts of last night. Some of you might remember an actor named Dan Schneider, who played Dennis Blunden on the ABC sitcom Head of the Class from 1986 to 1991. Not long after that, he and co-star Brian Robbins got involved with writing for Nickelodeon. Schneider eventually found himself running most of the network and being the creative force behind Nick shows like All that, The Amanda Show, Drake and Josh, shows I have never seen. This documentary sensitively chronicles Schneider's tyrannical and sexually charged control over everything that went on at the network, including his unhealthy obsession with actress Amanda Bynes. I sat stunned as I have never heard about any of this and having never watched anything on Nickelodeon. All I know is I saw interviews with several kids who starred on these shows and who have, for the most part, left show business and most of them are still in therapy. There were a couple of actors who somehow survived this show business storm of the early 2000's like Bynes and SNL's Kenan Thompson, but for the most part, the kids on the show were and are still severely damaged by their years working with Schneider. I've watched the first three parts, don't know how many more parts there are, but I will say it was heartbreaking watching these kids trying to talk about what happened to them.

I'm pretty sure Amanda Bynes didn't survive anything because wasn't it rumored she was on drugs a few years ago?

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When my kids were kids, I recall some of those shows and it does seem like the casualty rate is very high. The hype made it seem like those kids were "living the life" when some of them not just from that era but for many years before that were a commodity in the hands of either studio insiders, or in some cases, their own parents. It's not just the Nick era, but goes back to the early days of movies.

One of the only actors from those shows that still seems to have any noticeable presence is Keenan Thompson, a regular on SNL. Interestingly, his brother in the Keenan and Kel (Mitchell) show found a new life as a minister and as a comedian.

There are numerous lists of child actors who crashed and burned.

https://www.therichest.com/shocking/...-by-hollywood/

Having grown up with some of these shows (I was a bit too young for most of what was focused on here)---particularly Drake and Josh---this was rather shocking to watch!