Quiet on Set viewers left ‘disappointed’ by bonus episode: ‘This felt like pure exploitation’

Investigation Discovery’s bombshell docu-series dropped its latest episode on Sunday 7 April

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has left some viewers feeling short-changed with the content of its new bonus episode, “Breaking the Silence”.

The bombshell documentary – which sees former Nickelodeon stars pull back the curtain to reveal a toxic underbelly of abuse, harassment, racism and sexism on the sets of shows led by TV executive Dan Schneider – aired its fifth episode on Sunday (7 April) weeks after the first four parts arrived on Max.

Ahead of the finale’s release, TV network ID teased that it would feature previous Quiet on Set participants, “including Drake Bell, All That cast members Giovonnie Samuels and Bryan Hearne, Hearne’s mother, Tracey Brown, as well as new voices including former All That cast member Shane Lyons”.

Episode five will be “building off the revelations explored in the first four episodes” and include a conversation led by Soledad O’Brien on “where the industry can go from here”.

As promised, in the episode, Drake Bell speaks to O’Brien about the response to the documentary. In previous episodes, the Drake and Josh star, now 37, opened up about the alleged sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of actor and convicted sex offender Brian Peck when he was just 15.

Elsewhere in the episode, Samuels recalls a recent conversation she had with Schneider, who she says asked he asked for a “quote of support”.

Drake Bell in 'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’ (Investigation Discovery)

“I told him I was terrified of him… I told him ‘you had the power to make people stars, and I was intimidated by you,’” she recounts.

Meanwhile, Hearne reacts to Schneider’s 19-minute apology video, saying that “Dan was an actor before all this, and so I think he brushed off some chops and gave us a nice performance”.

Since the episode premiered, several Redditors have issued complaints about its content, arguing that the installment offered nothing new and instead reiterated the same information shared in earlier episodes.

“I’m pissed I waited so long just for this episode to have two people blabbing and repeating the same thing over and over again,” one wrote.

A second agreed: “This episode was so disappointing.. and to make matters worse, that interviewer was unbearable. the episode just looked kinda… cheap?”

Others accused the producers of trying to “milk the series with this episode”.

“Quick ratings grab. Rehashed everything we already knew,” someone said.

Another added: “This felt like pure exploitation. Really disappointing that they chose to milk the attention that was garnered by the documentation of some horrific atrocities.”

The Independent has contacted Investigation Discovery for comment.

Quiet on Set is out now on Max in the US and on Discovery+ in the UK.