'Quiet on Set' explores allegations of abuse, toxic behavior at Nickelodeon

For those with fond memories of watching kid-centered Nickelodeon television series like “All That, The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh,” the Investigation Discovery series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” may come as a jarring shock.

Already, the four-part docuseries has generated headlines by featuring former star Drake Bell recounting publicly for the first time his stories of being abused about two decades ago by Brian Peck, a dialogue coach and actor employed by Nickelodeon. Peck pleaded no contest to two charges and was sentenced to 16 months in jail back in 2004, but the identity of the performer he was convicted of abusing was not revealed in court.

But the program also spends lots of time digging into the work of show creator, showrunner, executive producer and performer Dan Schneider, who built a kids TV empire in the late 1990s and early 2000s at Nickelodeon. Schneider, who helped create, write or produce shows like “All That, The Amanda Show, Kenan & Kell” and “iCarly,” is credited with discovering young stars like Amanda Bynes, while defining the shape of kid-oriented television during that time.