Rebuilding Rob

I just watched episode one of “quiet on the set” and right off the bat. I have to say :

No wonder Amanda Bynes is as fucked up as she is

If you were a fan of the Nickelodeon kids shows, specifically “the Dan Schneider universe“ in the late 90s through early 2000s, prepared to get your childhood ruined.

I was in my early 20s when the Dan Schneider verse really kicked in on Nickelodeon. For that matter, I never really watched a lot of Nickelodeon growing up. I watched You Can’t Do That On Television but I think that ended when I was like 10. That was basically about it for me. So I never really paid much attention to All That, The Amanda Show, et al.

For decades, we’ve all heard the stories about “the Directors couch“ and we’ve heard about Harvey Weinstein‘s exploits and Me Too movement. But hearing about Dan Schneider doing this stuff particular on shows that were geared to children? Frankly, this is a whole new level of disgusting. And I’m having a hard time processing it all.

At the start of episode one, they were showing bits from some of the television shows; things that could be construed as an appropriate. Some of the gags are definitely double entendres; things that a child may take one thing away from it and adults may get something altogether different from it. Trying to keep an open mind, if first I was thinking myself OK, some of the stuff may be a reach. Some of it may be people grasping at straws, or looking to deeply into stuff. But as the episode goes on, you start to see more and more and more of these particular gags and the age-old expression “where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire” comes to mind.

Then you get the stories from the two women writers on The Amanda Show. I really feel that the word misogynist is one of the most overused words in our language today; but Dan Schneider is clearly a misogynist. They’re simply no other word that could be used to describe this guy.

For as much as we’ve heard about the Me Too movement, and the gender disparity in Hollywood, I still think that we’re just scraping the tip of the iceberg about the mistreatment of children in the entertainment industry. We’ve seen and heard countless examples of it. Whether it is poor labor practices, such as working extended hours, or not being paid sufficiently; or even getting into things like substance abuse or God forbid, sexual abuse. Child actors are just easy prey for Hollywood predators, unfortunately. And this is to say nothing about the parents who are their children as their proverbial meal ticket.

Look at Michael Jackson and his strange behavior. And this is putting aside the allegations of child abuse for a moment. Later in his career, specifically in the 1990s, he would talk in interviews and even seeing his songs about how he had no childhood. What do we think that kind of upbringing would do to a young person?

Part of the problem is us, as a society collectively. We put far too much importance on being famous, and or being rich. People are willing to sell their souls for it. And in some cases, grown adults are willing to sell their kids down the proverbial river for it.

And I haven’t even started episode two yet. I have a feeling this show is going to be not unlike Leah Rhemini’s series on Scientology. As bad as you think it is, keep watching: because it gets worse.

I guess I’m not watching any Head of the Class reruns anytime soon either

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:

• Teacher Armor and the Saturday Clearing
• The Extra Day: A Ten-Year Memory
• Of Training Wheels and Christmas Lights
• Charity Starts at Home (And I’m Back in My Childhood One)
• The Muscle of Empathy

The article “Rob reacts: “Quiet On The Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.