Current:Home > MarketsNickelodeon 'Double Dare' host Marc Summers says 'Quiet on Set' producers blindsided him -Secure Horizon Growth
Nickelodeon 'Double Dare' host Marc Summers says 'Quiet on Set' producers blindsided him
View
Date:2025-04-15 12:35:26
Nickelodeon's "Double Dare" host Marc Summers says his appearance on the bombshell "Quiet on Set" documentary detailing the abuse of child stars was the result of a "bait and switch."
The game show host, during an appearance on the "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show" this week, described his interview for the documentary as an ambush.
After telling the radio show hosts they were going to get "an exclusive," the "What Would You Do?" host said he was called and asked to be part of a documentary about Nickelodeon. Summers, 72, said he didn't know at the time that the documentary was set to be about toxic behavior on the sets of Nickelodeon shows occurring after his stint on "Double Dare."
"They asked me what I thought of Nick, and the first 10 to 12 seconds, from what I understand, in this documentary is me saying all these wonderful things. But they did a bait-and-switch on me," he said. "They ambushed me. They never told me what this documentary was really about."
USA TODAY has reached out to the documentary's directors and production companies — Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television nonfiction and Business Insider — for comment.
Summers appears in the series briefly, including during a part of the conversation where he is shown a video of a Dan Schneider-produced show. The host asked, "Did that air on Nickelodeon?" and before continuing, he said he stopped the interview and asked, "What are we doing?"
Summers hosted "Double Dare" from 1986 to 1993, before Schneider's first Nick show "All That" debuted in 1994.
Why 'Quiet on Set' documentaryon Nickelodeon scandal exposes the high price of kids TV
He said when producers told him what the documentary was about — toxic behavior on the set of Schneider's shows and abuse experienced by the network's child stars — he walked out. He goes on to say he was told several weeks ago that he would not appear in the show, but a couple of weeks after that, he was told he was in it, but only the first part, when talking about positive things about Nickelodeon.
"What they didn’t tell me, and they lied to me about, was the fact that they put in that other thing where they had the camera on me when they ambushed me," he said. "And so, now we get into a whole situation about who's unethical."
Surprise 5th episode of 'Quiet on Set'to feature Drake Bell and other stars: How to watch
'Quiet on Set': Former child stars, producers, writers speak up about toxic Nickelodeon sets
Drake Bell of "Drake & Josh" and "The Amanda Show" detailed in the documentary the abuse he suffered from former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck when he was 15. Peck was arrested in 2003 and convicted in 2004 for lewd acts with a child from the 2001 incident.
Other actors, including Alexa Nikolas of "Zoey 101" and "All That" stars Giovonnie Samuels, Kyle Sullivan, Bryan Hearne and Katrina Johnson, discuss "traumatizing" behavior and racism they experienced on the Nick set.
Producers, writers and other behind-the-scenes workers from "All That," "The Amanda Show," "Zoey 101," "Sam & Cat, "Drake & Josh" and "Victorious" also spoke during the doc.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Naledi Ushe and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Natasha Lyonne on the real reason she got kicked out of boarding school
- A silly 'Shotgun Wedding' sends J.Lo on an adventure
- In bluegrass, as in life, Molly Tuttle would rather be a 'Crooked Tree'
- The FBI should have done more to collect intelligence before the Capitol riot, watchdog finds
- The Missouri House tightens its dress code for women, to the dismay of Democrats
- 'Perry Mason' returns for Season 2, but the reboot is less fun than the original
- The 2022 Oscars' best original song nominees, cruelly ranked
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Sundance returns in-person to Park City — with more submissions than ever
Ranking
- Skins Game to make return to Thanksgiving week with a modern look
- Winning an Oscar almost cost F. Murray Abraham his career — but he bounced back
- 'Missing' is the latest thriller to unfold on phones and laptops
- The New Black Film Canon is your starting point for great Black filmmaking
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- Rescue crews start a new search for actor Julian Sands after recovering another hiker
- Changes to new editions of Roald Dahl books have readers up in arms
- Anime broadens its reach — at conventions, at theaters, and streaming at home
Recommendation
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
10 pieces of well-worn life advice you may need to hear right now
How to watch the Oscars on Sunday night
2022 Books We Love: Nonfiction
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
Newly released footage of a 1986 Titanic dive reveals the ship's haunting interior
Actress Annie Wersching passes away from cancer at 45
Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in 'Rust' shooting death