History Series / QuietOnSet

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The show certainly takes this opinion with the state of Dan Schneider's when the series first aired and it's not hard to see why. The show documents how he became the TropeMaker for kid's media and {{kid com}}s in the 2000s, being the one who brought Nickelodeon into the limelight with several successful shows with successful child actors, with Dan's name attached to all of them. But by 2018, after many allegations, reports and witnesses of abuse of staff, inappropriate behavior with child actors and growing controversy, Nickelodeon cuts all ties with Dan who is left with such a toxic reputation that he's been forced into de-facto retirement.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Subverted. Brian Peck would molest Drake Bell for years until Bell finally gets fed up and called his mom, who called the police, with Peck getting arrested but gets defended by numerous figures in the entertainment industry and received only 16 months in prison. He would then land a voiceover role on ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' and the worst he gets is getting fired and redubbed, which means he is somewhere walking free.
* MeanBoss: Dan Schneider as he yells and berates his writers, cast, and crew. Everyone is scared when he arrives and it's been described as an atmosphere change when Dan leaves set.

** Beyond his domineering attitude to the writing staff, he also routinely engaged in ''petty pranks'' against everyone including the child actors, such as just sneaking up behind one and shouting. We know this because he ''filmed'' it and would post the videos online as what he believed to be humorous "behind the scenes" videos. Rewatching them, the documentary notes that everyone is clearly upset but too afraid to tell Schneider to stop so they just act along with it. Much like the age inappropriate humor used in the on-air TV shows, the guests on the documentary are again baffled and infuriated that these were ''publicly released'' online but never drew any criticism at the time.

* MoodSwinger: {{Discussed}}, as the interviewed cast and crew describe how it was difficult to know what would set Schneider off on any given day; one crew member describing an incident where he went from jovial and cheery one moment to pulling her into another room to scream at her in anger the next.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Katrina Johnson was the initial "cute little girl" on ''Series/AllThat'' that was pushed by Nickelodeon. Then the combination of her hitting puberty and Creator/AmandaBynes being hired led to her falling out of favor and eventually let go.

** After dealing with getting bullied by the cast of ''Zoey 101'', Dan Schneider and Music/BritneySpears, Alexa Nikolas decided to just quit the show and later acting in general.

* [[invoked]]WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: It's {{discussed}} in the show that looking back at some of the "funny" scenes, especially ones involving young female child actors like Creator/AmandaBynes and Ariana Grande, reveals that many of them had sexually suggestive under/over tones. Usually they involved objects that were phallic-looking in appearance such as pickles or the fingers of a glove. On shows ''meant for kids as young as six or seven''!
* WouldHurtAChild: The entire point of the series as it's about how horrible and cruel many on the production staff are to child actors, with even some going as far to molest and rape them.

The series covers the rise of Schneider at Nickelodeon, going through his career in chronological order starting from ''Series/AllThat''. Along the way, allegations of Schneider engaging in inappropriate behavior and fostering hostile work environments alongside instances of abuse and misconduct occurring on his shows are discussed. It features interviews with writers for Schneider and former cast and crew members of shows he worked on, including ''All That'', ''Series/TheAmandaShow'', ''Series/Zoey101'' (former actress Creator/AlexaNikolas) and ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' (Creator/DrakeBell). Bell is featured prominently in the series beginning in the third episode, in which he reveals he was the victim of sexual abuse by Brian Peck [[note]]No relation whatsoever to Creator/JoshPeck[[/note]], a former Nickelodeon dialogue coach.

* BlamingTheVictim: Many of Brian Peck's friends and industry colleagues refused to believe that he was as horrific as the charges against him suggested, and wrote letters of support to the court. Some of them suggested that Peck didn't initiate any sexual encounters and that the victim must've been coming onto him. However, it's said to be possible that these people who supported Peck were unaware of the true extent of his terrible deeds, and it's unclear how many of them went to Peck's trial to support him. [[note]]Following the release of the documentary, three of the people who wrote letters in support of Peck -- Creator/JoannaKerns, and Rich and Beth Cordell -- have expressed regret defending Peck, since they didn't know how bad he really was. All three have stated that had they known the full extent of Peck's horrific behavior, they would have never defended him.[[/note]]

The series covers the rise of Schneider at Nickelodeon, going through his career in chronological order starting from ''Series/AllThat''. Along the way, allegations of Schneider engaging in inappropriate behavior and fostering hostile work environments alongside instances of abuse and misconduct occurring on his shows are discussed. It features interviews with writers for Schneider and former cast and crew members of shows he worked on, including ''All That'', ''Series/TheAmandaShow'', ''Series/Zoey101'' (former actress Creator/AlexaNikolas) and ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' (Creator/DrakeBell). Bell is featured prominently in the series beginning in the third episode, in which he reveals he was the victim of sexual abuse by Brian Peck, a former Nickelodeon dialogue coach.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Subverted. Brian Peck would molest Drake Bell for years until Bell finally gets fed up and called his mom, who called the police, with Peck getting arrested but gets defended by numerous figures in the entertainment industry and received only 16 months in prison. He would then become a dialogue coach for ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' and the worst he gets is getting fired, which means he is somewhere walking free.

** His alleged treatment of Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, full stop. Not only does he make the two (who happened to be the only female writers at the time) split a salary, they were constantly made the butt of the staffroom's jokes and made to do humiliating things that bordered the line of sexual harassment (calling themselves sluts, making Christy play out a sodomy scenario just to pitch a sketch, accusing Jenny of "doing phone stuff", etc.). This also includes intimidation when Christy once (jokingly) called out Dan for not honoring a bet and when Jenny reported the split salary.

* EveryoneHasStandards: For all of Dan Schneider's MeanBoss behavior, even he was appalled by Brian Peck sexually abusing Drake Bell, and gave Bell his full support during the legal proceedings and aftermath. Even at the time of the documentary's release, Bell still defends Schenider because of this.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Subverted. Dan Schneider tried to deflect criticisms of his pervasive toxic behavior by claiming to be a creative but eccentric genius. Many former cast and crew state that Schneider really wasn't the brilliant programming creator he built himself up to be in his public persona, and [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate the cast actually got a lot more work done when he was gone]].

* DoubleMeaningTitle: "Quiet on set" is a phrase used to call for silence while a scene is being filmed. Here it is also used to describe how many people kept silent about the abuse suffered on and off the set.
* DramaticIrony: When Drake Bell called his father Joe and said that Brian Peck had been arrested for sexually assaulting a child, Joe was relieved and said how happy he was that Brian had been caught before he could do something to Drake. Trouble is, Drake Bell ''was'' that child.
* EveryoneHasStandards: For all of Dan Schneider's MeanBoss behavior, even he was appalled by Brian Peck sexually abusing Drake Bell and gave Bell his full support during the legal proceedings and aftermath.
* HarsherInHindsight: Discussed and invoked. Much of the DemographicallyInappropriateHumor that Schneider oversaw didn't make sense to the kids who were filming them at the time. But when they went back and watched those same bits as adults, they realized exactly why Schenider was having them film those things, which just makes the former cast members feel sick.[[invoked]]

* NothingIsScarier: Drake Bell does not know how to articulate in detail the ways Brian Peck violated him, and settles on telling the interviewer to imagine the worst thing they can think of, and that it probably happened to him. Context is, however, revealed when the charges from the case are briefly flashed across the screen.

* RageBreakingPoint: After Brian Peck offers to play the dad on ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Drake finally decides enough is enough and decides to finally confess all the abuse he faced from Brian Peck to his mom who promptly calls the police.

** In the fifth and final episode, produced to comment on the reaction to the main four episodes, former child actor Bryan Hearne has a succinct and particularly scathing summation of Dan Schneider's tenure at Nickelodeon: even ignoring all the behind the scenes toxic boss behavior, if you took out all of the age-inappropriate sex jokes (that the target audience wasn't supposed to understand anyway) Schneider basically did ''nothing'' - those were his main "contribution" to all the shows he ran. Otherwise he was largely just taking credit for stories and scripts written by other people, who he then bullied relentlessly in the writers' room so they'd never catch on that he wasn't responsible for most of the work on the shows.

* BlamingTheVictim: Many of Brian Peck's friends and industry colleagues refused to believe that he was as horrific as the charges against him suggested, and wrote letters of support to the court. Some of them suggested that Peck didn't initiate any sexual encounters and that the victim must've been coming onto him. However, it's said to be possible that these people who supported Peck were unaware of the true extent of his terrible deeds, and it's unclear how many of them went to Peck's trial to support him. [[note]] ollowing the release of the documentary, three of the people who wrote letters in support of Peck -- Creator/JoannaKerns, and Rich and Beth Cordell -- have expressed regret defending Peck, since they didn't know how bad he really was. All three have stated that had they known the full extent of Peck's horrific behavior, they would have never defended him.[[/note]]

* ContractualPurity: [[invoked]] {{Discussed}}. Drake Bell notes the irony of being told to "be a good role model" for the kids watching his shows, given the horrible things that were happening to him behind the scenes.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Subverted. Brian Peck would molest Drake Bell for years until Bell finally gets fed up and calls his mom who calls the police with Peck getting arrested but gets defended by numerous figures in the entertainment industry and received only 16 months in prison. He would then become a dialogue coach for ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' and the worst he gets is getting fired which means he is somewhere walking free.

* WhamShot: TheStinger of the second episode has this when the interviewees reveal that the victim of Brian Peck was an actor on one of Schneider's shows, so someone they themselves knew. Cut to someone walking in and taking a seat: Drake Bell.

* WouldHurtAChild: The entire point of the series as it's about how horrible and cruel many on the production staff are to child actors with even some going as far to molest and rape them.

* BlamingTheVictim: Many of Brian Peck's friends and industry colleagues refused to believe that he was as horrific as the charges against him suggested and wrote letters of support to the court. Some of them suggested that Brian didn't initiate any sexual encounters and that the victim must've been coming onto him. However, it's made clear that it is entirely possible that the people in the industry who supported Brian Peck were left unaware of the true extent, if any, of what Brian Peck did or how many went to his trial to support him. [[note]] Following the release of the documentary, three of the people who wrote letters in support of Brian Peck, Creator/JoannaKerns, Rich Cordell and his wife, Beth, have expressed regret defending Peck, stating that had they known the full extent of the case at the time, they would have never supported him.[[/note]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dan Schneider tried to deflect criticisms of his pervasive toxic behavior by claiming to be a creative but eccentric genius, but many former cast and crew state he really wasn't the brilliant programming creator he built himself up to be in his public persona, and they actually got a lot more work done when he was gone. See "Removing the Crucial Teammate".

* DramaticIrony: When Drake Bell called his father Joe and said that Brian Peck had been arrested for sexually assaulting a child, Joe was relieved and said how happy he was that Brian had been caught before he could do something to Drake... who ''was'' that child.

%%* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Drake Bell calling out all of the big named actors that wrote letters of support for Brian Peck and even sat in the gallery for him.
* RemovingTheCrucialTeammate: Discussed and largely averted.

-->'''Bryan Hearne:''' "Realistically, if you take the inappropriate jokes away, do you have a show anymore? If you take all the foot jokes and the face shots and all that inappropriateness, is it just commercials then?"

** His alleged treatment of Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, full stop. Not only does he make the two (who happened to be the only female writers at the time) split a salary, they were constantly made the butt of the staffroom's jokes and made to do humiliating things that bordered the line of sexual harassment (calling themselves sluts, making Christy play out a sodomy scenario just to pitch a sketch, accusing Jenny of "doing phone stuff", etc.). This also includes intimidation when Christy once (jokingly) called out Dan for not honoring a bet and when Christy reported the split salary.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dan Schneider tried to deflect criticisms of his pervasive toxic behavior by claiming to be a creative but eccentric genius, but many former cast and crew state he really wasn't the genius programming creator he built himself up to be in his public persona, and they actually got a lot more work done when he was gone. See "Removing the Crucial Teammate".

* BlamingTheVictim: Many of Brian Peck's friends and industry colleagues refused to believe that he was as horrific as the charges against him suggested and wrote letters of support to the court. Some of them suggested that Brian didn't initiate any sexual encounters and that the victim must've been coming onto him. However, it's made clear that it is entirely possible that the people in the industry who supported Brain Peck were left unaware of the true extent, if any, of what Brian Peck did or how many went to his trial to support him.

* MoodSwinger: {{Discussed}}, as the interviewed cast and crew describe how it was difficult to know what would set Schneider off on any given day; one crew member describing an incident where he went from jovial and cheery one moment to pulling her into another room to scream at her in anger the next.
* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Katrina Johnson was the initial "cute little girl" on ''Series/AllThat'' that was pushed by Nickelodeon. Then the combination of her hitting puberty and Creator/AmandaBynes being hired led to her falling out of favor and eventually let go.
* OnlySaneMan: Drake Bell's father Joe realized that Brian Peck's behavior towards Drake was inappropriate and tried to voice his concerns to anyone who would listen. Unfortunately, everyone else brushed him off and Peck eventually manipulated Drake into turning against Joe.

* WhamShot: TheStinger of the second episode has this when the interviewees reveal that the victim of Brian Peck was an actor on one of Schneider's shows, so someone they themselves knew. Cut to someone walking in and taking a seat: Drake Bell.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dan Schneider tried to deflect criticisms of his pervasive toxic behavior by claiming this trope, but many former cast and crew state he really wasn't the genius programming creator he built himself up to be in his public persona, and they actually got a lot more work done when he was gone. See "Removing the Crucial Teammate".

* DemographicallyInappropriateHumor: {{Discussed}}. One of the major talking points of the series was the abundance of adult humor present in Schneider's kids' TV shows, such as Jamie Lynn Spears getting a gooey substance squirted on her face, Music/ArianaGrande ''very'' suggestively fondling a potato asking for its "juice," and a fascination with foot closeup shots. It's no wonder both the actors and audiences look back on some episodes with raised eyebrows. To further drive it home, Jamie Lynn Spears discussed how frequently she and her costars didn't even realize what they were filming until they rewatched the episodes as adults and the memories came back.

-->'''BryanHearne:''' ''"Realistically, if you take the inappropriate jokes away, do you have a show anymore? If you take all the foot jokes and the face shots and all that inappropriateness, is it just commercials then?"''

* RemovingTheCrucialTeammate: Discussed and largely averted. In the fifth and final episode, produced to comment on the reaction to the main four episodes, former child actor Bryan Hearne has a succinct and particularly scathing summation of Dan Schneider's tenure at Nickelodeon: even ignoring all the behind the scenes toxic boss behavior, if you took out all of the age-inappropriate sex jokes (that the target audience wasn't supposed to understand anyway) Schneider basically did ''nothing'' - those were his main "contribution" to all the shows he ran. Otherwise he was largely just taking credit for stories and scripts written by other people, who he then bullied relentlessly in the writers' room so they'd never catch on that he wasn't responsible for most of the work on the shows. Other commentators throughout the documentary point out that Schneider tried to lean into the cliched defense often used by toxic bosses in the TV industry, of the "tormented genius" who's [[BunnyEarsLawyer hard to work with but who has amazing creative ideas]] - but this is contradicted by everyone who worked with him, who claim that other than bullying pranks and adding inappropriate sex jokes to scripts, other people were more responsible for the core content than he was. Notably, ''everyone'' remarks on how the work environment at Nickelodeon has drastically improved in the years since he's been gone.

** His alleged treatment of Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, full stop. Not only does he make the two (who happened to be the only female writers at the time) split a salary, they were constantly made the butt of the staffroom's jokes and made to do humiliating things that bordered the line of sexual harassment (calling themselves sluts, making Christy play out a sodomy scenario just to pitch a sketch, accusing Jenny of "doing phone stuff", etc.).
** This also includes intimidation when Christy once (jokingly) called out Dan for not honoring a bet and when Christy reported the split salary.

** His alleged treatment of Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, full stop. Not only does he make the two (who happened to be the only female writers at the time) split a salary, they were constantly made the butt of the staffroom's jokes and made to do humiliating things that bordered the line of sexual harassment (calling themselves sluts, making Christy play out a sodomy scenario just to pitch a sketch, accusing Jenny of "doing phone stuff", etc.). This also includes intimidation when Christy once (jokingly) called out Dan for not honoring a bet and when Christy reported the split salary.

* * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The decisions of quite a few people who worked on Dan Schneider's shows.