Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Investigation Discovery’s docuseries that focuses on toxic environment claims around popular Nickelodeon shows created and run by prolific producer Dan Schneider, has received two Emmy nominations.
The hit docuseries is competing in the best documentary or nonfiction series category against Beckham, a series following David Beckham’s life and career; The Jinx – Part Two, which looked further into Robert Durst’s apparent murder confession from part one; STAX: Soulsville U.S.A., a deep dive into the storied Tennessee soul label; and Telemarketers, which follows two employees who stumble on the murky truth behind their work at a call center and seek to expose the telemarketing industry.
Quiet on Set was additionally nominated for best picture editing for a nonfiction program, also facing off against Beckham and The Jinx – Part Two, as well as Jim Henson Idea Man, Escaping Twin Flames, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life and Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces.
The docuseries premiered in March, with record-breaking views on Max. One of the most shocking reveals identified Drake Bell as the previously-anonymous child actor who was allegedly sexually abused by fellow All That and The Amanda Show alum Brian Peck, who was convicted of child sexual abuse in 2004.
Former Nickelodeon writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen also alleged inappropriate behavior by Schneider as their boss on The Amanda Show.
Kilgen claimed that Schneider would show her pornography on his computer screen at the office and would request massages from the writers in exchange for featuring their sketches on the show. The former Nickelodeon showrunner additionally allegedly asked Stratton to mimic being sodomized while at work, which she described as “probably the wrongest thing I’ve ever seen happen to a woman in a professional environment.”
Quiet on Set’s Emmy nominations come merely two months after Schneider sued ID for allegedly falsely implying that he sexually abused child actors during his time at Nickelodeon. In the lawsuit, the producer stated that the documentary was a “hit job” on him. He noted that while two child sexual abusers worked at the network, he had “no knowledge of their abuse” during their time employed at Nickelodeon and he “was not a child sexual abuser himself.”
He also voiced his concerns over producers accusing him of sexualizing child actors by showing footage that implied “perversion” in the shows he worked on. Schneider claimed that the producers acted with “actual malice and purposeful disregard for the truth” in his portrayal on the series.
Schneider, however, issued an apology for some of his past behavior in a YouTube video. Addressing inappropriate behavior such as requesting for the women on staff to give him massages, he admitted, “It was wrong. It was wrong that I ever put anyone in that position. It was wrong to do. I’d never do it today. I’m embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation.”
