Viral New HBO Max Documentary Described as “Gut-wrenching

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If you’ve been on social media these past few weeks, you’ve like seen everyone talking about Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz’s searing new docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. And, if you’re like me, you’ve likely assessed whether it was something you really needed to watch or not. I tried, though it was regularly too upsetting for me to stomach.

Yet, while Quiet on Set does regularly regress into the worst impulses of the modern true crime boon, there is an urgent interrogation of power and abuse at its core. If you’re interested in knowing more, you can catch it on both Max and Discovery+ where it has topped the charts ahead of its fifth and final episode, set to release April 7.

Per Max: Witness the untold story of the toxic world behind 90s and 2000s kids’ TV.

At its best, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV gives abuse survivors a necessary platform to spotlight the kinds of systems and people that made that abuse possible. At its worst, it encourages salacious gossip, the interest shifting less toward an investigation and justice, more toward speculation about what isn’t being said.

It’s a weird phenomenon in true crime television, really, in that for as much as it does well, it encourages the inverse in our worst collective impulses. Abuse of this nature shouldn’t conceivably be treated as spicy nuggets to share online, though that’s regularly what’s been going on. That’s a Max docuseries for you, though.

Not all perspectives have been terrible, and broadly, viewers are still reacting to the shocking series weeks after its mid-March premiere where Quiet on Set has remained in the Top 10. Check out some social media reactions from the Max series below:

With all this talk about Quiet On Set, that tells me folks have Max. I really hope you all will watch Off the Record, the doc about the Russell Simmons allegations. It came out the day George Floyd was murdered and that’s why a lot of people missed it.

— Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) March 28, 2024

I’m watching Quiet On the Set and I’m just gonna say this: ANYONE who works directly with children, especially if their parents aren’t always present, should be a mandated reporter. If you get paid to work with kids, you should be legally required to protect them.

— Ms. McLovin, MEd (@TiredElementary) March 25, 2024

Literally the most gut wrenching documentary I have ever watched. It’s like an extreme amount of guilt you feel knowing what they endured so we could laugh for 30 minutes every week. Their childhood was taken from them ? #QuietOnSet pic.twitter.com/v07IhSf2ln

— Lusey (@itsslusey) March 21, 2024

The conversation that’s happening around the Quiet on Set documentary is very rapidly turning in the direction that many true crime cases which is where people become obsessed with speculation and conspiracy vs. actively advocating for some sort of real justice.

— bobbi hosts ✨The Afternoon Special✨ (@hiimbobbi) March 22, 2024

16 million people officially watched Quiet On Set! I’m speechless. ? thank you all for listening to all of us and caring enough to want to change the future for all children within the entertainment industry! We have a lot more work ahead. This is just the beginning! ✊?

— Alexa Nikolas (@alexanikolas__) March 27, 2024

Recently, several high-profile former Nickelodeon stars, including Melissa Joan Hart and Kenan Thompson, have addressed the allegations from the docuseries. Whether Quiet on Set becomes nothing but a blip in the broader cultural zeitgeist or an urgent catalyst for change remains to be seen, though for the time being, count on it being the topic on everyone’s minds.

What do you think? Do you plan to check out Quiet on Set? If you have, how did it land for you? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.

Tags: Max True Crime

Categorized:News