Nickelodeon wasn't just a kids' channel—it was a cultural behemoth, birthing iconic figures from Amanda Bynes to Ariana Grande, Kenan Thompson to Keke Palmer, and Melissa Joan Hart to Miranda Cosgrove. But despite defining several generations of TV viewers since Nick's advent in the late 1970s, the history of the network has a shockingly dark side, which a new true-crime documentary digs into on TV tonight.
Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV "pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture. Series such as All That and The Amanda Show, among others, were obsessively consumed by children across the country and defined comedy for a generation," reads a press release. "But behind the upbeat onscreen presence on these shows," this four-part docuseries reveals "an insidious environment rife with allegations of abuse, sexism, racism, and inappropriate dynamics with its underage stars and crew.”
The series combines archival footage, social media commentary and candid interviews with several Nickelodeon personalities, including Drake Bell from Drake & Josh, Alexa Nikolas from Zoey 101, Marc Summers from Double Dare and All That stars Giovonnie Samuels, Kyle Sullivan, Bryan Hearne and Katrina Johnson. Cast and crew members from series such as iCarly, Sam & Cat and Victorious will also be featured throughout the doc.
Together, their testimonies will help uncover "the toxic and dangerous culture" created by showrunner Dan Schneider, the brain behind some of the network's most popular and iconic teen TV series of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Quiet on the Set will premiere on Investigation Discovery across two nights, from 9 to 11pm Eastern on Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17. ID is available with most cable TV subscriptions. However, if you've cut the cord, you have several live TV streaming service options so that you can catch the weekly action. Some of your options include Fubo TV, Hulu with Live TV, Philo TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. Folks with a Max subscription will also be able to stream the docuseries starting March 17.
Check out the trailer for Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV before the documentary series premiere tonight on ID.
