Peck made his film debut in "Snow Day" (2000), and appeared regularly on "The Amanda Show" until the end of its run in 2002. He also starred opposite Alex D. Linz and Zena Grey in the theatrical film, "Max Keeble's Big Move", which was released on October 5, 2001. In 2001, he guest starred in an episode of the NBC drama "ER" called "Thy Will Be Done". During this period, Peck appeared in several independent films, including "Spun" and 2004's "Mean Creek", for which he received critical praise. He was cast as Josh Nichols, opposite Drake Bell's Drake Parker, in another Nickelodeon sitcom, "Drake & Josh", which began airing in 2004 and gained Peck recognition among young audiences. Peck's character, Josh Nichols, was smart, funny, and organized, but was always being tormented along with Drake by Megan Parker (Miranda Cosgrove), Drake's younger sister. Both characters sing in a remake of the song "Soul Man" by Sam and Dave. In 2006, Bell and Peck starred in their own TV movie called "Drake & Josh Go Hollywood", and in 2007, they starred in a sequel called "Drake & Josh: Really Big Shrimp". Josh was nominated for Favorite Television Actor at the 2008 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for his work on "Drake & Josh". Peck also made his debut as a director in the "Drake & Josh" episode, "Battle of Panthatar". He also directed his co-star Drake Bell's music video for the theme song to "Drake & Josh", "Found a Way". He has also appeared in the series finale of "What's New, Scooby-Doo?", an episode of "Codename: Kids Next Door" called "Operation: C.A.K.E.D.-F.I.V.E.", and the direct-to-video New Line Cinema film "Havoc". Peck returned to the character of Josh Nichols in 2008 for the television film "Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh".