After his shocking revelations in Peace on set: The dark side of children’s televisionDrake Bell hasn’t completely ruled out a return to his roots.
The actor recently revealed that he and his former on-screen brother Josh Peck have “talked” about a possible reboot of their early 2000s Nickelodeon sitcom. Drake and Joshand suggested a buddy comedy format for the duo 20 years after the show’s premiere.
“I would like that. We have talked about it,” said Bell The Patriot News. “But I also didn’t want to do it when everyone was doing reboots. It was like, ‘Okay, of course, let’s do a reboot because everyone’s doing reboots.’ If we’re going to do something, it should be special. Let’s hit them with a bang instead of being like, ‘Oh, another reboot.'”
He and Peck played the titular mismatched stepbrothers in the children’s series, which ran for four seasons from 2004 to 2007 and also starred Miranda Cosgrove as their younger sister Megan.
“I don’t think we would be playing the characters from the show or having (our sister) Meg on it,” Bell added. “I think luckily it’s our names, so we can still play Drake and Josh. But I think it would be funnier if we did more buddy comedies, you know. Something that’s kind of surprising, a little different. That would be more interesting.”
Jonathan Goldstein, Miranda Cosgrove, Drake Bell, Josh Peck and Nancy Sullivan in Drake and Josh (2004-07). (Nickelodeon/Courtesy of the Everett Collection)
The interview follows the ID documentary series Peace on setin which Bell revealed the abuse he suffered as a teenager on Nickelodeon at the hands of dialogue coach Brian Peck. Peck pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.
Bell said the fan support and response to the documentary has been “incredible” as he tours his fifth album. Nonstop flight.
“There’s been a ton of support. And when you dive into something like this, you’re very anxious. It’s an emotional rollercoaster. You don’t know how people are going to react or what’s going to happen or what the consequences are going to be,” Bell said, adding, “People come to us and tell us their stories. And it’s been really beautiful.”
