“QUIET ON THE SET” POWERFULLY SHOWS THE DARK SIDE OF CHILDREN’S TELEVISION

We’ve all heard the stories of child actors and the problems they have faced growing up. While not every child actor grows up to have financial and mental problems some have been highlighted over the years as cautionary tales. Dana Plato, Soleil Moon Frye, Adam Rich, McCauley Culkin, Drew Barrymore, and Amanda Bynes have all been in the spotlight of the dark side of kids in Hollywood. Some have persevered and come back stronger while others succumbed to their demons. The stories have had similar themes of parents causing issues while some just couldn’t handle not being sought out for roles after they weren’t the “cute kid” anymore. There has always been a bit shade over the stories of how Hollywood actually handles these kid performers and pushing them to the limit. The HBO documentary “Quiet On The Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” aims directly at the kid friendly powerhouse Nickleodeon and how they did a lot wrong while making millions.

I don’t think it’s any surprise that businesses all over the world see how far they can push the limits of how they work their labor force. Every business does it. When it comes to kids it can be a tricky juggling act of when and where a child can work. While a kid can’t work at every job, they are essential to the entertainment industry because adults can’t play them in shows. However, there are many things in place to protect them from being overworked or put in situations that are not acceptable for kids. Kids in entertainment and their parents are put in the difficult position of having their careers ruined if they act up, speak out, or cause waves when something isn’t right. “Quiet On The Set” looks at a troubling string of issues happening at Nickleodeon in the late 90 up to the mid 2000s where every show was successful and were all manned by one man, Dan Schneider. Schneider was an actor through the 80s and early 90s showing up in movies like “Better Off Dead” and the TV show “Head Of The Class”. He parlayed his connections into becoming a producer of kids shows and was quite successful. In the last 12 years or so stories came out about his demanding and rude behavior towards actors and other employees. He was fired for his conduct, but many never knew how bad it was. There also was talk of kids not being protected from sexual predators or the studios vetting their employees before it was too late. This documentary delves deep into these allegations and how being a child actor is more difficult than we know and even when everyone does what they’re supposed to do to protect them that things can go bad.

“Quiet On The Set” really does a great job of setting the scene of how Nickleodeon had something great and let it come crashing down on their own heads. They show how one person can become too powerful and made to feel untouchable in their role. Schneider did not give any interviews for the show other than some quotes, so it shows that he became quite the villain after starting out as a great producer and director and skyrocketing the careers of kids with some going on to be successful adults. But his antics caused some to feel uncomfortable on the show and overly stressed out. They also delve into the story of Drake Bell who was sexually abused by an employee with several of the shows. They handle it very delicately, but when the actor takes the screen you may be surprised by the depths that they were taken to in abuse. The emotions are very real and very raw as he tells his story and shows a ton of courage while doing so. Drake put it all out there. They answer the questions about where these kids parents were when these things took place and their frustrations with the system and themselves. It’s a powerful show that makes you think about what happens even when you do everything as right as possible and you are still failed by those that should be helping. It’s a sad look at some of these kids lives when most only saw all the good stuff. It is helpful though as you hear stories that reflect warning signs to look for when someone is trying to separate kids or even adults from their loved ones in order to manipulate them. While you should not sit down and watch this with your kids it is something to watch not for the spectacle but for educating yourself on tendencies of predators. Also, if your kid is interested in getting into acting what some of the rules already in place are and how to not let them be broken. The final thing to learn is that it’s so easy to sit on your end of the TV or the computer and judge these kids and their problems and think to all leads to one issue causing their problems. Even though he has issues, the one thing Dan Schneider did was the one thing no one else at Nickelodeon did and that’s check on Bell. Maybe it’s not all bad, but it gets hard to see past that. Get this one on your list.