A Nickelodeon skit involving Drake Bell and Amanda Bynes has resurfaced in the wake of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, with viewers branding it “disgusting.”
Quiet on Set, the latest true crime obsession, has prompted a reevaluation of certain scenes from Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon hits. The latest is a skit from The Amanda Show involving young characters – two of which are portrayed by Bynes and Bell – in a fake advertisement for “Popper Pants.”
It’s one of numerous sketches that appears to contain sexually suggestive acts despite being aimed at and acted by minors. In it, Bynes and Bell’s characters eat popcorn out of their peers’ trousers and pour sauce down the front of their “Popper Pants.”
X user Deeqa shared the clip this week, writing: “I’m looking back to clips from Amanda’s show, and wow, Dan Schneider is disgusting and should go to prison.”
Hundreds of people have flocked to the comments section, with one agreeing: “It’s crazy because I remember watching this but only because I’m seeing this clip. It really IS sick. But being younger than 7-8, you wouldn’t even know it’s unusual, I didn’t. They knew what they were doing and it was approved through tens of adults and ‘executives’.”
“My dad blocked Nickelodeon on our TV when I tried to watch it and rightfully so – looking back, it’s so gross and apparent, the euphemisms and innuendos,” said another, while a third added, “Now I understand why some parents didn’t let their kids watch any of the shows on Disney/Nickelodeon.”
Others believe the name of the product relates to the drug known as Poppers, which itself has a sexual connotation. “This speaks volumes,” said one.
As said, this is just one of many moments from Schneider’s shows that have been cast in a new, unsettling light following the release of Quiet on Set, which not only delves into allegations of on-set bullying, but also examines the numerous child sex offenders who worked for Nickelodeon at the time.
One episode of the documentary series highlights an Amanda Show character named Penelope Taynt. “The taint is the part of the body that’s between the penis and the anus. It’s that skin there,” says former writer Jenny Kilgen. “Dan had said to us in the writers’ room, ‘Don’t tell what this word really means.’ He wanted us to keep that a secret.”
Elsewhere, former All That star Leon Frierson describes how uncomfortable it’s been looking back on a number of his sketches, including Captain Big Nose. As well as wearing a prosthetic nose, he had to wear a tight costume with matching noses on his shoulders. “You can’t help but notice that it looks like penises and testicles on my shoulders,” he says.
The skit ends with Captain Big Nose sneezing goo onto the face of a female character. Writer Scaachi Koul explains, “The joke in that sketch is effectively a cum shot joke. It’s a cum shot joke for children.”
Viewers were left equally outraged by these scenes, with many saying the child stars “deserved better.”
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