The first two episodes go into the abusive and inappropriate environment on set of Dan Schneider's shows. I had heard about that already of course, and if you rewatch any of the shows as an adult you can see how inappropriate many of the "jokes" and scenes were. I wasn't aware of the extent, like 2 female writers on All That were forced to share one salary, which obviously no male writers had to do. The amount they then humiliated these poor women working for a children's show is insane.
But my focus of this review is Episodes 3 & 4. They center around Drake Bell and the abuse he faced from an actor / dialogue coach who worked for All That for many seasons.
I had to take some breaks because those two episodes were really hard to watch. It made me sick to my stomach hearing his testimony, and seeing the actual charges against his abuser.
I think my number one issue with this doc was the fact that when Drake was talking about his experiences they had so many different images of abuser on screen in the background and would even zoom into his abusers face. Which felt really unnecessary and pretty gross. It seemed like they tried to handle that section of the series with some compassion but it still felt sensationalized in a way that was uncomfortable.
I wouldn't say that this documentary is entertaining, or fun but the fact that I even felt compelled to write this review illustrates to me that it did have some important things to say. It's obvious the sets of these shows were toxic and unsafe allowing predators to go unnoticed.
But my focus of this review is Episodes 3 & 4. They center around Drake Bell and the abuse he faced from an actor / dialogue coach who worked for All That for many seasons.
I had to take some breaks because those two episodes were really hard to watch. It made me sick to my stomach hearing his testimony, and seeing the actual charges against his abuser.
I think my number one issue with this doc was the fact that when Drake was talking about his experiences they had so many different images of abuser on screen in the background and would even zoom into his abusers face. Which felt really unnecessary and pretty gross. It seemed like they tried to handle that section of the series with some compassion but it still felt sensationalized in a way that was uncomfortable.
I wouldn't say that this documentary is entertaining, or fun but the fact that I even felt compelled to write this review illustrates to me that it did have some important things to say. It's obvious the sets of these shows were toxic and unsafe allowing predators to go unnoticed.