Steve Burns, who became an icon of children’s television as the host of Nickelodeon‘s “Blue’s Clues” from 1996 to 2002, recently spoke to “Today”and said he watched the viral documentary series “Quiet on Set” in “horror and heartbreak.” The ID Discovery series explores the alleged harassment and abuse that took place at Nickelodeon before and after the turn of the century, which is the same time Burns was the face of “Blue’s Clues.”
“I don’t have any particular insight into any of that,” Burns said about the allegations made in the documentary series. “I’m coming to it much the same as anyone else, with horror and heartbreak. It’s just terrible to watch it unfold. I don’t know what else to say, other than that it’s heartbreaking.”
An abundance of the allegations made in “Quiet on Set” revolve around Nickelodeon mega-producer Dan Scnheinder and acting coach Brian Peck. Burns was not associated with either men and told “Today” that he didn’t even work at the network’s Los Angeles studio, where the bulk of the alleged misconduct reportedly took place.
“Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon [programming] were so different,” Burns explained. “We’re in New York, they’re in LA. There’s no overlap whatsoever between any of those shows and what we were doing.”
Burns added that his thoughts are with the victims of the alleged abuse, noting: “It’s got to be so unfathomably painful. The fact that this is now what everyone’s talking about at the watercooler, it just breaks my heart.”
“Quiet on Set” recently aired a bonus episode in which cast members from “All That” criticized Dan Schneider for an apology video he made after the series started airing.
“The thing about his interview as a whole, I thought it was funny. If I could be candid, Dan was an actor before all of this,” said Bryan Hearne, who appeared on Seasons 7 and 8 of “All That.” “I think that he brushed off some chops and gave us a nice performance. Where was all of this apologizing when Jennette McCurdy’s book came out?”
Hearne continued, “I just feel that, what’s an apology without accountability? Realistically, if you take the inappropriate jokes away, do you have a show anymore? If you take all the foot jokes, take all the face shots, all that inappropriateness [away], is it just commercials then?”
All five episodes of “Quiet on Set” are available to stream on Max.
