ABC’s venerable hidden-camera morality play, What Would You Do?, returns to poke and prod at our collective conscience. This week, host John Quiñones and his crew have cooked up a fresh batch of ethically dubious scenarios designed to make viewers squirm — and perhaps question their own likely responses.
First up: package theft. It’s the modern-day porch pirate plague, and WWYD? will be observing how people react to a blatant box bandit. Will they intervene? Call the cops? Or simply avert their gaze and mutter something about not wanting to get involved? The results, I suspect, will be a mix of admirable intervention and disheartening apathy.
Next, the show tackles a more nuanced situation: a deaf cheerleader being unjustly cut from her squad. This scenario raises questions not just about fairness and inclusion, but also about how we respond to discrimination when it targets someone with a disability. Will witnesses stand up for the sidelined student, or will they remain silent in the face of blatant prejudice?
Finally, the episode addresses the ever-growing problem of ocean pollution. Cameras will capture reactions as beachgoers witness someone carelessly discarding trash into the sea. Will they confront the litterbug, or simply sigh and accept it as another depressing sign of the times? Given the current state of our oceans, one hopes for at least a few righteous interventions.
And because no episode of WWYD? is complete without a dose of youthful idealism, the popular segment “What Would Kids Do?” will also be making a comeback, offering a refreshing counterpoint to the often-disappointing behavior of their adult counterparts.
Tune in to What Would You Do? on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 10 PM on ABC to see how your fellow citizens measure up (or fall short) in these moral tests.