From the early 90s to the late 2000s, children and pre-teen television was at its peak. Although cliche at times, iconic shows from these years influenced pop culture for years beyond its time. However, in recent years, claims of production teams on specific Nickelodeon shows have been exposed for treating their set workers and actors horribly, even to the point of abuse.
In early March, MAX premiered its documentary show “Quiet on Set,” starting with episode one, “Rising Stars, Rising Questions,” which detailed Dan Schneider and his odd behaviors with his young castmates.
Dan Schneider was known as Nickelodeon’s golden boy, a “cash cow” of sorts for their program. He was responsible for the hit shows that made our childhood, but first started as a writer with a 90s children’s show called “All That.” “All That,” similar to “SNL”, was a children’s sketch comedy show and had recurring actors and actresses. After writing the first episode, he immediately was promoted to a producer and then to an executive producer role. He had the job of finding talent in a world filled with wannabe child actors, and with this came his discovery of child actress and comedian Amanda Bynes.
From the minute Dan laid his eyes on Amanda he knew he had found someone special. Unlike most kids her age, Amanda was well-versed in comedy and extremely witty. Her personality was infectious, and she quickly rose to fame headlining “All That” and gaining enough popularity to get her own show, “The Amanda Show.”
Amanda was like a new deviation of an actress in Hollywood. “The Amanda Show” showcased her as a very personality-driven and funny young actress, where other female leads were either oversexualized or portrayed as an innocent child. But with the success of her show and the popularity she gained, only led to her advancement with Dan and his obscure behavior.
As Amanda grew up, many felt as though Dan was sexualizing her. From his past behavior of putting inappropriate jokes and mannerisms in the script or the scenes, things started to change with him the longer he was at Nickelodeon. At the time, audiences watching Nickelodeon may not have suspected or even noticed the weird behavior behind the scenes. However, in today’s world, nothing has gone unnoticed.
Recent 2024 claims from the docu-series suggest that Amanda and Dan are always seen hugging each other and giving each other massages. As Amanda got older and her independence was questioned, she turned to Dan to help her get emancipated, something that everyone in the public eye was suspicious of. Suggestions of sexual abuse between both Dan and Amanda have made their way into the public eye, and the claim even brings to light the alleged rape and abortion Amanda went through, only at the age of 13.
As Amanda’s popularity grew, so did her addiction to opioids along with her mental health, and for the past decade, she has been in and out of mental hospitals and the public eye. Her appearance has changed several times, and not for the better. With only the first episode of MAX’s “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” complete, the next episodes continue to expose Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider, sharing stories of their horrors.
