Drake Bell pitches “Drake & Josh” reunion with onscreen brother Josh Peck: 'Let's hit 'em with a bang'

"If we're going to do something, it should be more special," says the actor, who envisions the pair making other buddy comedies.

Drake Bell has some ideas for a reunion with Josh Peck.

The Amanda Show actor recently discussed a potential new collaboration with his Nickelodeon costar — but it wouldn't be a continuation of their beloved sitcom Drake & Josh.

"I would love to," Bell said in an interview with The Patriot-News. "We've talked about it. But I also didn't want to do it when everyone was doing the reboots."

Nickelodeon certainly has a precedent for producing direct follow-ups to the series that made Bell and Peck teen stars. It has revived several of its properties from the 1990s and 2000s with their original casts, including Good Burger, Zoey 101, and iCarly, the latter of which starred Drake & Josh's Miranda Cosgrove. However, Bell isn't interested in that model and rejects the idea of "let's do a reboot because everyone's doing reboots." He thinks a D&J reunion should take an alternative approach. "If we're going to do something, it should be more special," he said. "Let’s hit 'em with a bang instead of, 'Oh, another reboot.'"

Bell would prefer to team back up with Peck on a new project. "I don't think I would do us playing the characters from the show, or having [Cosgrove's] Meg," he said. "I think, luckily for us, it's our names, so we can still play Drake and Josh. But I think it'd be funnier if we go on to doing other buddy comedies, you know? Something that is kind of a surprise, a little different. It would be more interesting."

Related: Drake Bell praises former costar Amanda Bynes: 'She was like a rocket ship'

Bell recently re-entered the spotlight when he appeared in this year's Investigation Documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. In the doc, the actor spoke publicly for the first time about being sexually abused by Amanda Show dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh), who ultimately served time in prison after being convicted of abusing Bell as a minor.

"There's been a ton of support," Bell told The Patriot-News while discussing the series. "And when you are diving into something like that, you are very trepidatious. It's an emotional roller coaster. You don't know how people are going to react, or what's going to happen, or what the aftermath is going to be."

Related: Drake Bell, All That stars defend parents of child actors amid Quiet on Set allegations: 'They’re just learning along with us'

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After emerging as fan favorites on The Amanda Show, Bell and Josh Peck spent four seasons as the titular step-siblings on Drake & Josh, from 2004 to 2007. The show also spawned a TV movie, 2006's Drake & Josh Go Hollywood, and two one-off specials.

Following the conclusion of the Nickelodeon sitcom, Bell primarily focused on his music career and voice acting, playing Peter Parker in a number of animated Spider-Man projects during the 2010s. Meanwhile, Peck starred in TV shows like How I Met Your Father and Grandfathered (on which Bell guest-starred) and in movies like Red Dawn and Oppenheimer.

Related: Josh Peck says he got 'close' to playing Edward in Twilight: 'Like, what the f---? Impossible!'

Although some fans have speculated about bad blood between the two stars when Peck did not immediately make a public statement about Quiet on Set, Bell has reiterated that they're still on good terms. "I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it's been very sensitive," Bell said in a TikTok shortly after the documentary's release. "He has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this, and has been really, really great."

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