“What Would You Do?” host John Quiñones thinks the world would be a better place if cameras were rolling 24/7.
His hidden-camera show captures ordinary people’s reactions to (producer-created) ethical or moral challenges and asks: Would you do the right thing if you thought that nobody was watching?
“One of the greatest compliments I’ve heard, as the show has become more and more popular, is the world would be a better place if they thought the ‘What Would You Do?’ team was in the next room watching our behavior,” Quiñones told TheWrap. “I think the message is that we would all behave better.”
The scenarios in Friday’s season premiere include a supermarket employee with Down Syndrome being bullied and a pharmacist disclosing a customer’s personal information. After these scenarios are taped, Quiñones confronts the customers, regardless of how their reaction.
“I’m really proud of the fact that the show is being used in schools throughout the country as kids study ethics and morals. Young folks are a huge part of our audience,” Quiñones said. “Parents tell me they watch the show with their kids in living rooms discussing these issues. I think the show provides an opening for discussion on topics that parents may not want to have with their kids. And that’s a good thing.”
“What Would You Do?” has won awards from the Chicago International Television Festival and the Avon Foundation’s 2006 Voice of Change award for exposing “injustice and wrongdoing against women and bring the issue of domestic violence to the mainstream.”
“What Would You Do” premieres Friday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.