In the aftermath of Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set, writer Dan Schneider has called for some of his old jokes to be cut from his hit Nickelodeon shows including Drake & Josh, iCarly, The Amanda Show and more.
“Every one of those jokes were written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny. Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens and they’re looking at them and they’re saying, ‘Oh I don’t think that’s appropriate for a kid show,’” Dan, 58, told iCarly actor BooG!e in an interview uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday, March 19, two days after Quiet on Set dropped.
Dan continued, “I have no problem with that if that’s how anyone feels. Let’s cut those jokes out of the show, just like I would have done 20 years ago or 25 years ago.”
Saying that he wants his shows to be “popular” and for “everyone to like” them, the showrunner carried on, “The more people who like the shows, the happier I am, so if there’s anything in a show that needs to be cut because it’s upsetting somebody, let’s cut it.”
“The last thing I want to ever do is put any content in a show that’s going to upset my audience and make them want to turn off the TV,” the writer behind some of Nickelodeon’s most popular programming concluded.
Dan’s interview came in the immediate aftermath of Quiet on Set, which exposed the dark realities, alleged abuses and behavior that were normalized on multiple Nickelodeon sets during Dan’s reign at the network. Jokes written into his shows were called out for being overtly sexual, with examples consisting of a young Ariana Grande trying to “juice a potato” with a lewd hand gesture. Another example pointed to in the documentary was Nose Boy, a character as part of the All That sketch show that included a graphic facial prosthetic.
Still, more alarming allegations of sexual abuse were presented within the series, specifically Drake Bell’s experience at the hands of voice coach Brian Peck. Drake came forward as the previously unidentified minor who was abused – as for Dan, he called Drake’s experience the “darkest part” of his career.
“I did not hire Brian Peck,” Dan said in his responding interview. “When Drake and I talked and he told me what had happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened in my career thus far.”
Dan recalled Drake walking into the courtroom during Brian’s subsequent trial and witnesses “50 people sitting on the side of the courtroom supporting Peck.”
“A lot of them pretty famous. Of course Drake was devastated that that happened,” the showrunner said. “Even more disappointing, 41 of those people wrote letters for Peck. Character letters, praising him for who he was and asking for leniency. They knew that he was guilty. They knew he had confessed to some degree and they still did this. It’s baffling that adults would do that.”
Within the documentary itself, Drake said that he addressed Brian’s supporters during the sentencing hearing, turning their decision to support the voice coach against them.
“I looked at all of them and I just said, ‘How dare you?’” Drake said in part 2 of Quiet on Set. “And I said, ‘You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom and defending this person. And I will forever have the memory of the person you’re defending, violating me. And doing unspeakable acts and crimes. And that’s what I’ll remember.”
Despite his criminal activity, 16 months behind bars and registration as a sex offender, Brian returned to work, joining the set of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
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