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The Amanda Show

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The Amanda Show is an American sketch comedy and variety show television series created by Dan Schneider and starring Amanda Bynes that aired on Nickelodeon from October 16, 1999, to September 21, 2002. A spin-off of All That, another Nickelodeon variety show featuring Bynes, The Amanda Show's cast members include Drake Bell, Nancy Sullivan, John Kassir, Raquel Lee, and Josh Peck. Writers for the show include Christy Stratton, Jenny Kilgen, Dan Schneider, John Hoberg, Steven Molaro, and Andrew Hill Newman.

The Amanda Show
Genre
Created byDan Schneider
Presented byAmanda Bynes
Starring
Theme music composerStewart Copeland
ComposerRichard Tuttobene
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes46 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Production locations
Camera setupVideotape; Multi-camera
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseOctober 16, 1999 (1999-10-16) –
September 21, 2002 (2002-09-21)
Related

The Amanda Show was abruptly canceled after the third season, which left an unresolved plot line in the recurring sketch "Moody's Point".[1] Bynes pursued roles in Schneider's feature film Big Fat Liar and the Schneider-created television series What I Like About You for The WB.[2] Schneider would later cast series regulars Bell, Peck, and Sullivan in his follow-up Nickelodeon series, Drake & Josh.[1]

Decades after the series' end, allegations by cast and crew members have detailed salary discrimination, sexism, inappropriate behavior, and sexual abuse at Nickelodeon during the show's run that were not previously revealed publicly. The Amanda Show is one of several series highlighted in these accusations, which are summarized in the 2024 documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

Format

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The Amanda Show is a sketch comedy television program set in a universe in which it is broadcast as a popular television comedy (a show-within-a-show). Recurring sketches include "Judge Trudy", a spoof of the courtroom reality Judge Judy; "So You Want to Win Five Dollars?", a spoof of the ABC game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?; "Moody's Point", a spoof of the teen drama Dawson's Creek; and "Blockblister", a spoof of the now-defunct video rental store Blockbuster.

Episodes

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Main article: List of The Amanda Show episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113October 16, 1999 (1999-10-16)February 19, 2000 (2000-02-19)
217July 15, 2000 (2000-07-15)April 7, 2001 (2001-04-07)
310January 19, 2002 (2002-01-19)September 21, 2002 (2002-09-21)
The Best of...6March 23, 2002 (2002-03-23)May 18, 2002 (2002-05-18)

Cast

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  • Amanda Bynes – Herself, Penelope Taynt, Judge Trudy, Blini Blokey, Amber, Doreen, Cynthia Worthington, Moody Fallon, Crazy Courtney, Candy Tulips, Katie Klutz, Lula Mae, Cindy Extreme, Sharon, Melody, Mother Caboose, Babs Wrestleberg, People Place Owner, various others
  • Nancy Sullivan – Herself, Miss Yumbo, Mrs. Klutz, Marcy Stimple, Mrs. DeBoat, Mrs. Rostensan, Mrs. Extreme, Ms. Berkle, various others
  • Drake Bell – Himself, Carter Klutz, Totally Kyle, Biscotti Blokey, Jeremy Pivers, Eenis, Tony Pajamas, Toby, Thad, Curtis McPeen, Jason Fima, Calvin Stubbs, various others
  • Raquel Lee – Herself, Sheila, various others
  • John Kassir – Himself, Carl Klutz, Mr. Rostensan, Gnocchi Blokey, Doreen's Dad, Mr. Gullible, Principal Thorn, various others
  • Josh Peck – Himself, The Dancing Lobster 2, Paulie, Gerald Phillip, Gordy Moller, various others

Supporting cast

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Background and production

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At age 10, Amanda Bynes was performing stand-up comedy in Hollywood when Nickelodeon's talent scouts took notice and offered her a role on the network's live-action variety series All That.[3] Finding success on the series, Bynes appeared in an array of guest roles in film and television as well as a recurring panelist role on Nickelodeon game show Figure It Out.[3] Nickelodeon president Albie Hecht noted Bynes' "amazing star quality" and called her "a little Carol Burnett."[3]

On October 16, 1999, The Amanda Show, an All That spin-off created by series producer Dan Schneider,[4] premiered in the Saturday evening prime time slot on Nickelodeon, which released AmandaPlease.com, a tie-in website, around the same time.[3] The series was filmed in front of a live studio audience at Nickelodeon on Sunset in Hollywood, California. Beginning with the second season, John Kassir and Raquel Lee left the series, and Josh Peck was added as a series regular.

After three seasons, the series run concluded on September 21, 2002. Regarding her departure from Nickelodeon in 2002, Bynes stated, "I knew I didn't want to be a Nickelodeon kid when I was 30. I was having fun but at 15, you don't want to be doing what you did when you were 12."[2] Bynes would go on to star in Schneider's What I Like About You for The WB, and Bell and Peck would co-star in Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh, also created by Schneider.

Controversy and Quiet on Set documentary

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Main article: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

In 2024, Drake Bell revealed publicly that he had been sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck[a] during the production of The Amanda Show when Bell was 15 years old.[5] Peck had been arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 16 months in prison and being required to register as a sex offender in 2004, but the identity of the minor victim had not previously been made public.[5] Bell's testimony coincided with the lead-up to Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, an Investigation Discovery documentary detailing allegations of abuse from people who worked on Nickelodeon's television productions from the 1990s to the 2000s, specifically series involving Dan Schneider.[5]

Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, two writers who primarily worked during the series' first season, presented further allegations that Schneider's writers' room was rife with inappropriate language and behavior to the point that "Dan was showing pornography on his computer screen," according to Kilgen. The two were allegedly required to split a single salary during their time at Nickelodeon.[6] A gender discrimination and hostile workplace lawsuit filed in 2000 alleged that Schneider inappropriately requested massages from the crew, but it was settled out of court.[5] These allegations were reported publicly as early as 2022, following the release of iCarly star Jennette McCurdy's book I'm Glad My Mom Died.[7]

In an interview video uploaded on March 19, 2024, one day after the conclusion of Quiet on Set, Schneider responded to these claims, stating, "It was wrong. It was wrong that I ever put anyone in that position. It was wrong to do. I'd never do it today. I'm embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation".[8] Regarding Bell's experience, Schneider, who denied involvement in the network's decision to hire Peck, stated, "When Drake and I talked and he told me about what happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far", and provided support for Bell.[9]

Following the Quiet on Set revelations, Bell reported on social media that his Amanda Show and Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck had "reached out to talk with me and help me work through this. And has been really, really great."[10]

Release

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Broadcast

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The Amanda Show premiered on Nickelodeon's 8:30 PM segment of SNICK on October 16, 1999,[11] and new episodes aired until September 21, 2002. Nickelodeon carried reruns of The Amanda Show during its TEENick block until September 5, 2007. On October 13, 2007, reruns started airing as part of the "TEENick on The N" block on The N. Reruns were pulled in March 2008 before airing again from April 4, 2009, to August 3, 2009. The series' original TV rating was TV-Y7, but was changed to TV-G, like all of the other shows that aired on the former TEENick block on Nickelodeon.

On July 11, 2011, the British Nicktoons channel began airing the series; it showed weekdays at 9:00 p.m. Some episodes missing from broadcast included three episodes (episodes 3, 8, 11 and 12) from Season 1, three Season 2 episodes (episodes 3, 7 and 14), and four episodes from Season 3 (episodes 1, 2, 6 and 10). Reasons for these episodes not being shown are unknown.

Nickelodeon Canada began airing the series on September 5, 2011, with the exception of Season 1 episodes 8 and 12 (which featured musical guests), and Season 3 episode 11. The series was removed from the schedule on June 3, 2013.

Reruns of The Amanda Show started airing on TeenNick on October 11, 2011. Although it was originally announced as part of TeenNick's 1990s block The '90s Are All That,[12] the series instead aired as a standalone series during the daytime. The show would later return on September 17, 2012, and aired in two-hour blocks, until being removed again on March 17, 2013. The series later premiered on The Splat (later NickSplat and NickRewind) on June 10, 2016, and on August 27, 2017, as part of a SNICK 25th anniversary marathon, before briefly returning again in 2020.

Home media and streaming services

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Three volumes of The Amanda Show were released on VHS and DVD beginning on October 5, 2004. Four Best Of volumes released exclusively on iTunes from 2008 to 2013. Later manufacture-on-demand releases were made available through Amazon beginning on March 12, 2012. Two releases, Volume 4: Penelope's Picks and Volume 5: Trudy's Duties, were canceled after initially being scheduled to release on July 12, 2005, and September 20, 2005, respectively.[13]

As of March 2021, the show is available to stream on Paramount , without the four episodes excluded on DVD (1, 5, 8, and 12).[14]

Title Released Format Notes
Amanda, Please! October 5, 2004[15] VHS and DVD Includes episodes 214 and 217. DVD exclusives are episodes 222 and 226.
The Girls' Room October 5, 2004[15] VHS and DVD Includes episodes 216 and 219. DVD exclusives are episodes 224 and 228.
Totally Amanda February 22, 2005[13] VHS and DVD Includes episodes 215 and 220. DVD exclusives are episodes 223 and 225.
The Best of Volume 1 July 29, 2008 iTunes Includes episodes 2, 3, 10, 11 and 13.
The Best of Volume 2 June 22, 2009 iTunes Includes episodes 210, 216, 217, 219 and 220.
The Best of Volume 3 May 16, 2011 iTunes Includes episodes 222, 223, 224, 225 and 226.
The Best of Volume 4 January 8, 2013 iTunes Includes episodes 227, 228, 229, 230 and 231.
The Best of Season One March 13, 2012[16] DVD[b] Includes episodes 2–4, 6, 7, 9–11, and 13.
Season Two March 13, 2012[17]
September 15, 2020 (re-release)[18] 		DVD[b] Includes episodes 14–30 (the entire season two).
Season Three March 13, 2012[19] DVD[b] Includes episodes 31–40 (the entire season three).
The Best of The Amanda Show March 13, 2012[20] DVD[b] Includes the six best-of episodes.

Reception

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The Amanda Show has been met with mostly positive reviews since its premiere. Within weeks of its debut, AmandaPlease.com, the series' official website, had attracted 150,000 hits and received 16,000 emails.[3] The series became the highest-rated live-action program on Nickelodeon during its run, and its primetime slot in Nickelodeon's SNICK block, which was shared with 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, further boosted its popularity.[21] Bynes commented on her stardom in a 2000 interview, stating, "It feels like it's unreal. [...] I love doing what I'm doing. And for kids to watch me and come up to me and say they want to be like me, it's a really big honor."[22]

Dan Schneider, creator and producer of the series, spoke highly of Bynes' talent on All That as it progressed to the star's spin-off series, stating, "You have to feed kids the material; you do have to invent it for them. A lot of kids can regurgitate lines -- the Olsen twins when they first started on Full House.[23] Schneider further stated, "To find a kid who can play the daughter or son on a sitcom is tough, but to find a kid who can do what Dana Carvey and Eddie Murphy do, you (have to) look at 2,000 before you find her. I've never seen anything like Amanda."[23]

In a review from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the series was described as "constant beating-up, peeing, zits, flatulenct, etc. Much of the time, it didn't even make sense."[24]

Bynes was a breakout star from working on The Amanda Show and experienced high commercial success since, starring in a variety of projects such as She's the Man, Hairspray, and Easy A, before taking a hiatus from entertainment to focus on her mental health amid struggles with drugs and alcohol.

Notes

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  1. ^ Brian Peck is not related to Bell's co-star Josh Peck.
  2. ^ a b c d Manufactured on demand (MOD) on DVD-R.

References

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  1. ^ a b Schneider, Dan (May 22, 2008). "FAQ: What Happened with Moody's Point?". DanWarp.BlogSpot.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2018. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Hochman, David (October 20, 2002). "Television/Radio; A Proud Product of the Nick Pipeline". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lucas, Michael P. (November 8, 1999). "'An Ordinary Kid'--for a Star, That Is". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  4. ^ The Amanda Show (Television production). Nickelodeon. 1999.
  5. ^ a b c d Taylor, Kate (March 5, 2024). "Former Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell Speaks Out About Being Sexually Abused As a 15-Year-Old Child Actor". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Singh, Olivia (March 17, 2024). "Two Female Writers from 'The Amanda Show' Say They Had to Split a Salary and Allege Creator Dan Schneider Played Pornography in Front of Them". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  7. ^ Truffaut-Wong, Olivia (August 31, 2022). "Nickelodeon Alums Detail New Allegations Against Dan Schneider". TheCut.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Perry, Kevin E. G. (March 20, 2024). "Two Female Nickelodeon Writers Say They Had to Split a Salary While Working for Dan Schneider". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  9. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (March 20, 2024). "Dan Schneider Addresses 'Regretful' Nickelodeon Behaviour: 'I Owe Some Pretty Strong Apologies'". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  10. ^ Shanfeld, Ethan (March 20, 2024). "Drake Bell says Josh Peck 'Reached Out' About Brian Peck Abuse Allegations to 'Help Me Work Through This,' Tells Fans to 'Take It a Little Easy' on His Co-Star". Variety. Archived from the original on March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  11. ^ "'Amanda Show' New on SNICK". Times Leader. October 14, 1999.
  12. ^ "Nickelodeon Responds to a Generation of Fans with New Programming Block--'The '90s Are All That!' Launching This Fall on TeenNick" (Press release). Paramount Global. March 10, 2011. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Lambert, David (October 17, 2004). "Amanda Show, The - Volume 3 Cover and Date; Plans for #'s 4 & 5". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2005.
  14. ^ Spencer, Samuel (March 4, 2021). "All the Shows and Movies Streaming Now on Paramount ". Newsweek. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Lambert, David (July 8, 2004). "Amanda Show, The - Amanda Bynes' Nickelodeon Show Comes to DVD". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2005.
  16. ^ The Amanda Show: The Best of Season 1, March 14, 2012, ASIN B007K01L06
  17. ^ The Amanda Show: Season 2 (3 Discs), March 14, 2012, ASIN B007K01OGW
  18. ^ "The Amanda Show - Season 2". Moviezyng.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  19. ^ The Amanda Show: Season 3 (2 Discs), March 19, 2012, ASIN B007MF6PL4
  20. ^ The Amanda Show: The Best of The Amanda Show, March 14, 2012, ASIN B007K01OZI
  21. ^ Moss, Linda (December 6, 1999). "Who Watches 'Millionaire'? CBS Says: Cable Viewers". Multichannel News. Vol. 20, no. 50.
  22. ^ Imperiale Wellons, Nancy (December 9, 2000). "14-Year-Old Comedian Is All That - And More - On Nickelodeon". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Randee, Dawn (July 18, 2000). "Just Kidding". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 363, no. 47 (International ed.).
  24. ^ Plaskonos, Aaron (November 2, 1999). "TV Show: The Amanda Show". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Further reading

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