Drake Bell to Join New ‘Quiet on Set’ Episode With Other Child Actors

Investigation Discovery is set to debut a fifth episode of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, featuring interviews with Drake Bell and other former child TV actors.

Quiet on Set: Breaking the Silence, to premiere April 7, will be moderated by Soledad O’Brien and follows the four-part Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV premiering on ID and Max. The fifth episode of the docuseries promises to go deeper into the toxic and dangerous culture behind the late 1990s and early 2000s kids’ TV series, including allegations of abuse, sexism and racism.

The original four-part docuseries included claims about toxic workplaces for child actors and crews on Nickelodeon series that were created and run by prolific TV producer Dan Schneider. ID said over 16 million viewers tuned in to the series on its own channel and Max/discovery+, which represented the largest audience for an unscripted series since Max launched.

“With Breaking the Silence, we’re digging deeper into the crucial conversations the docuseries ignited and exploring the lingering questions left in their wake to provide further insight from the brave voices who’ve spoken out previously and those who are coming forward again,” Jason Sarlanis, president, TNT, TBS, TruTV, ID & HLN, Linear and Streaming, said in a statement Tuesday.

The original Quiet on Set series featured former Nickelodeon series castmembers like Bell and All That castmembers Shane Lyons, Giovonnie Samuels, Bryan Hearne and his mother, Tracey Brown, all of whom will return for the fifth episode.

Bell was featured in the third episode, as the former Nickelodeon child star publicly described for the first time the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach who was convicted in 2004 for crimes against Bell and ordered to register as a sex offender.  

Schneider followed up the ID and Max premiere of Quiet on Set with an apology video. “Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” Schneider told BooG!E, who played T-Bo on iCarly, in the 19-minute video.

The allegations leveled at Schneider included that he tolerated toxic workplace conditions and that he allegedly tormented and humiliated the cast and crew on his TV sets.

Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz directed the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV series, which was produced by Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television — Nonfiction, in association with Business Insider. The co-directors, in a conversation with THR ahead of their docuseries bowing earlier this month, hinted at more episodes of Quiet on Set possibly to come as they continue their investigations into the kids’ TV industry.