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Disney Channel fans might list shows like The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and Hannah Montana as favorites, but many Disney Channel fans also enjoyed a decent amount of content from Disney’s competitor Nickelodeon!
Shows like Drake & Josh and Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide were all the rage in their heyday, and the star of Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide just exposed some of Nickelodeon’s inner workings during a recent interview.
After shedding some light on why Disney Channel child actors were more traumatized than Nickelodeon child actors, and explaining why his own experience with childhood fame was such a positive one, Devon Werkheiser went on to explain one crucial point that many viewers might wonder about while rewatching their favorite childhood shows: actors’ wages.
$3,000 Per Episode?
In a podcast interview with the Iced Coffee Hour, Devon Werkheiser (who played the main character Ned Bixby) confirmed some recent news about Drake & Josh star Josh Peck.
Drake and Josh was a popular Nickelodeon show, and star Josh Peck has entered the Disney family recently as well. Credit: Nickelodeon
Josh Peck starred alongside Drake Bell on Drake & Josh (and has since joined the Disney family, as well) and reportedly made the meager sums of $1,500 or $3,000 per episode, but the actor is no longer being paid for his work even though the Nickelodeon show can still be watched by viewers.
This lack of pay is, according to Werkheiser, “because [Peck] was a lead.”
“They didn’t pay their leads residuals,” the Ned’s Declassified star explained. “but, like, guest stars and recurring got residuals.”
“Shrewd Business”
It was “just some shrewd business from Nickelodeon,” Devon Werkheiser said laughingly. When the topic of contracts and signing legal documents came up, the actor openly admitted that the child actors were aware of the unfair situation that they were getting themselves into.
“We knew. It’s not like I didn’t have lawyers and parents. We knew exactly what we were signing,” the child actor affirmed.
Why did they sign, then? Judging by the Nickelodeon star’s next statement, they signed because Nickelodeon was holding all the cards!
Devon Werkheiser as Ned Bixby on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, a popular Nickelodeon show and sitcom about middle school. Credit: Nickelodeon
“They’re Savages”
Werkheiser went on to say that his family and their lawyers often tried to improve the situation on a legal basis, renegotiating “in between seasons” of the show.
But every time, Werkheiser said, Nickelodeon’s response was this: “We’ll recast Ned right now. There are thousands of kids across the country who would want to do this”.
“They’re savages,” he declared in the podcast interview.
@theicedcoffeehour Why @Josh Peck Isn’t Getting Paid For Drake and Josh Anymore #drakeandjosh #jasonnash #nickelodeon
Unsurprisingly, it does seem plausible that industry titans like Disney and Nickelodeon could afford to recast their actors and accept the cost that would come in the form of unhappy viewers. Judging by the comments on this TikTok video, it looks like some viewers would definitely have stopped watching the show!
“I’m sorry but if they actually recasted Ned the show would’ve tanked,” one fan wrote. “def a bluff on their end.” Many other fans agreed!
Do you ever wonder about the compensation of child actors, and the legal battles that go on behind the scenes in between the seasons of a show?
