What Would You Do? (TV Series 2009– ) Poster

(2009– )

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7/10
Always Something to Chew On
view_and_review3 November 2021
They don't hit a home run every time but WWYD is always intriguing. I'm amazed at those who decide to act appropriately as well as those who don't act at all. Not every scenario can be compelling, and how could they. The point is that they set up controversial scenarios that give you an insight to us as social creatures while also creating topics for discussion.
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Just more know-it-all journalism taking the easy way out...
rixrex12 July 2013
There once was a certain type of pride in being an investigative reporter in that one would dig up the news in all manner of methods and from all sorts of sources, and it was real news. What passes for investigative journalism now on both national and local newscasts, and news specials like this show, is setting up and making the news, and doing it in a way that shows the ultimate superiority of journalists to know what's best.

This show is only one example of the phony setup or sting operation to create a feel-good moment for the viewer. I put into this same category such programs as the NBC Dateline To Catch a Predator, and all other setup situational news programs of this type. With this I also include the myriad of local newscasts that promote themselves as "looking out for you" when they do a setup sting on some business.

This is not investigative journalism, but this is taking the easy way out to get ratings and to feel like they've really done something, and to show all of us that newcasters are experts on any subject that comes up, and by insinuation they know best how we should run our lives, and what way we should vote. While these people are creating something, and I mean creating not reporting, they are failing their duty to tackle the tough subjects of the real world.

They don't investigate where the WMDs of Iraq went, or how the Patriot Act ended up a bad idea, or why we have so many people without work STILL, or why we need two people to support one household now, or why and who sent weapons to Mexico that killed hundreds, or why and who allowed our citizens to be killed in Libya, or any coverups of these, or why China is allowed to pollute the world and steal our secrets, or where our right to privacy went in the last decade.

But instead, they either just propagate government pronouncements or tell us how we should act in setup situations that could only possibly have one right answer, theirs. Or that it is okay to create unethical and criminal acts with false situations. This is the EASY WAY OUT of saying you are doing investigative journalism, when you really are not. It is as bad as the local police doing things easily by making every single driver pull over for an inspection just to catch a few, rather than do the hard police work of watching and observing those drivers who are problematic, or shooting someone (or even a dog) before determining that they are actually a threat.

What a country this has become, run by power-hungry corrupt federal institutions, over-zealous enforcement officers, and journalists who think they are the 4th branch of the government, and that their journalism degree gives them omnipotent knowledge of all subjects.
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10/10
Great Show
calhayashi10 January 2018
I love seeing these reactions about real life situations. I don't know why some of these other comments are bashing it. Yes, the later seasons are a little lackluster compared to the earlier seasons, but I don't think it's that bad.
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10/10
Absolutely Heart Warming
betsyballerina21 September 2018
This is one of my favorite shows. It really makes you really think about what you would actually do in these situations.
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10/10
So much bigotry in the reviews
ravenclaw_girlrules24 August 2019
It is no surprise to anyone that people are complaining about "agendas" in the review of this show. I'm happy to hear that it is still on the air, and topical as ever.
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10/10
Great Show!
calhayashi10 January 2018
This show is great! Love seeing the reactions to real life situations. I don't know why people are dogging on this show so much in the reviews. Yes, the later season episodes are a bit lackluster when compared to the earlier seasons, but I don't think it's that bad!
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4/10
This show needs to go
icyharris-539-1699043 November 2014
It has overstayed it's welcome. They're starting to recycle the same actors and even the same scenarios. They're doing it so much so that some of the participants are even starting to catch saying things like, "This is like that show, 'What Would You Do?'" or "I knew something was off." That's how you know you should go! There's no longer the element of surprise. The scenarios are so over the top as well as the actors/actresses. And I've asked since I started watching the show off and on with my family whether people are really that nosy. I'm sure there have been many situations similar to this where I've heard a parent in the store being too stern or their kids being too wild, or where I should have stopped to help or I overheard a disturbing conversation. But I mind my own business! Everyone doesn't always like or appreciate your intervention. I don't think that makes me uncaring or oblivious just because I don't jump into everyone's conversation and confront someone who obviously has issues. Finally, I feel like they have an agenda as they address a certain issue every episode. I understand bringing things to light, but every episode?
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9/10
What would I do? Depends on the situation
This is one of the few reality shows that I would watch faithfully every week. I don't think you can get any more real than having actors portraying different types of negative interactions in public places, thus shocking or in some cases even outraging unsuspecting bystanders. It's a social experiment, pretty much. It wasn't just done for entertainment purposes - they really wanted the audience at home to think. To literally ask themselves 'what would I do?' If you were out in a shopping mall, and overheard/saw a woman berating her daughter for not being able to fit the clothes because she isn't thin enough; a kid getting bullied in an ice cream shop by other kids for stuttering when they're placing their order; a man being verbally aggressive towards a woman who appears to be his romantic partner in a grocery store. Would you intervene in any of those situations, or all three? Or do you take the route of minding your business, no matter what you observe? Honestly, back when I was watching the show, I was a teenager at the time, and I found myself thinking I would speak up in pretty much all of their scenarios. Fast forward a little over a decade later - with the crazy times we're living in, I would feel uneasy becoming involved in a disagreement or awkward exchange between strangers. People are so easily offended nowadays. You really don't know how someone is going to react to your unsolicited two cents. I work as a counselor on a crisis line, so I'm totally comfortable with people telling me about their personal life. But unless they come to me for help, I don't think it's my place to put myself in the middle of their family or relationship problems. Now I will say, it takes a lot of courage to stand up for people in situations that involve discrimination, such as racism or homophobia. Also if vulnerable groups are being tormented, like the homeless, disabled, and children. If I saw a child getting bullied, either by an adult or another child, I would say something. On the other hand, say for example, I was in a restaurant. A man and woman are chatting. Their table is within earshot of mine. I watch him look at his phone and type a message. I hear him tell her he's going out to the car to check on something and would be back. I get up to leave ten minutes since the time he got up, and once I'm outside, I see him sitting in the passenger side of another woman's car, smiling and laughing with her - there's no way I would go back into the restaurant and ask the first woman "was that your husband or boyfriend?" (she answers), and then I'm like "oh, okay, well, just wanted to tell you that he's being unfaithful. He's outside in a car with the other female now." Nahhhhh, I would leave that one alone. If the woman was my friend I might consider telling her (even then, that can be really hard news to break to someone). In some cases, it is best to mind your business. With everything considered, this show really wasn't that bad. It looks like it's still coming on, since there's a dash after 2009, but I haven't seen it. If you do manage to catch it, it's worth giving a look.
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3/10
Extremely manipulative
DarknessVisible2026 February 2024
People have enough to deal with. They do not need to be thrust into situations where they are manipulated into getting involved into things that are not their business. If I realized I was being linked like this - on camera no less, John Goofball Quihones would be wearing a drink on his head. It's not ok. Leave people alone and stop encouraging them to stick their noses into other people's business. There's more than enough of that in the world already.

Ay em Dee bee, drop your stupid six hundred character requirement. Ay em Dee bee, drop your stupid six hundred character requirement. Ay em Dee bee, drop your stupid six hundred character requirement.
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1/10
Answer: I'd mind my own business
galensaysyes19 December 2010
One time when I was living in Indiana and engaging in a dispute with a dry cleaner who had failed to clean a shirt as promised, another customer stepped in and informed me I didn't need the shirt cleaned, anyway. Probably everyone has dealt with a presumptuous idiot who considers it her right to meddle in other people's business. Remember Mrs. Norris in Mansfield Park? Remember Maude?

Well, those are the people this show is aimed at, and probably the kind of people who made it. It's a glorification of hubris. Underneath that, of course, it's a trouble-making exercise: it starts fights and then sits back and watches. Here's the set-up: Someone is rude to someone else in a public place--rude, that's all; not violent or threatening. The show rewards the bystander who interferes, knowing nothing of the circumstances, and thereby risks endangering both himself and the person he's supposedly defending; risks escalating a mere discourtesy into a physical confrontation. At the same time the show punishes the people who do the wise thing: sit and mind their own business, rather than make a situation worse by ignorant intervention. The punishment they receive is nagging by the announcer: "AND SHE JUST SITS THERE AND PRETENDS NOT TO NOTICE!!!!!!" Damn right.

A show like this could only have been imagined and carried through by protected idiots: people with the security--i.e. money, job, house--to feel smug and superior and entitled to boss other people; eternally protected from recognizing either their own stupidity or the possible consequences of it. So let me point out the simplest of the facts this show doesn't grasp: A person so far out of control or so oblivious to ordinary standards of conduct as to lash out in a public setting will only be provoked further by a stranger butting in: the meddler could in fact be starting a fight. Police and other professionals who deal with such situations know this. If everyday folks are going to take it on themselves to police their neighbors' conduct they had better learn the same. In the meantime, this show should be kicked off the air. It's a public menace.
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1/10
The WWYD show and John Quinones are always stale since 2009. Same old, same old. Not amusing. 😒 😒 😒
abalpn-9947215 July 2017
I agree that John Quinones' hidden camera show keeps doing the same scenarios over and over again. ♻ The same basic concept like Candid Camera but very dramatic. The show keeps using that same actress, Traci, every time. I know because I would usually see her online or on television. They always do the same scenarios in a public place like a restaurant, store, park, bar, outside the streets, etc. The same or different actors have overacting and manipulating differences. The major annoying part is John Quinones himself. 😠 His deadpan voice and coming out for a surprise. 😠

You never know that a scenario was a set up and that you were in a fake intervention with the actors or actresses. In the behind-the-scenes, Quinones controls and manipulates everything for the scenes and hidden cameras. He would tell the actors what to say in front of the bystanders. After that, John Quinones walks up to you with that smile on his face. He says, "Hi! I'm John Quinones and this is What Would You Do?" The same thing he says over and over again. I mean he says that a hundred times more. To me, John's deadpan voice is annoying when he narrates and greets. His camera crew follows him and he always asks the person why he or she did or did not intervene. He's like hiding in the shadows waiting to come out and greet you. The only catchphrases that I hear from him when he's not on camera are "He/she has heard enough" and "We roll one last time". He's like a talking doll with those catchphrases. My expression says, "You have just been manipulated by John Quinones." I'll probably say, "I have been played by John Quinones." The same manipulation that he does over and over again. That's the annoying part with this show. 😠

What I noticed in some episodes is that a few bystanders who would not show their face on camera they would leave quickly before Quinones could talk to them. There was this one guy that I remember about; he was followed by Quinones and his crew but then the man attacked the cameraman. 💥 OUCH! There was another one that I saw and it was the underage drinking segment; two teenagers asked two bystanders to get a drink at a liquor store. Of course, the bystanders didn't know that the teenagers were actors. The first bystander went inside the liquor store but Quinones and his crew were there and then the person just left without saying a word. The second bystander was approached by Quinones but that bystander didn't want to talk Quinones so he and his crew turned around and left. I remember one female bystander during the dropped money experiment; she picked up the money and did not return it to the nearby bank. That was when Quinones asked her a question but the lady angrily confronted him and called him a b****. I just said, "Did she really say that to him?" The look on John's face said it all when the lady said that to him. I was hysterically laughing at John Quinones. 🤣 Another one is when I saw the e-cigarette experiment when this lady got into her car and Quinones came by to greet her but she drove away before he could speak a word. She said to him, "Ok. I have to go." The lady almost ran over one of John's crew. He said, "Watch out! Holy cow!" Those events I watched online made Quinones feel bad and sad. I would imagine him saying, "Aww, they didn't want to talk to me. 😢 I'm so sad." I would be with these bystanders who didn't show their face on camera. I'm giving them credit to move on or not talk to Quinones at all.

If I would see that same actress, Traci, in the public, then I would say, "I've seen you on What Would You Do!!! Nice try, Quinones!!!" Because I know for sure it's Traci. If I was at a restaurant in New York or New Jersey while overhearing people talking out so loud and making a scene, then I know for sure that it's definitely one of John's WWYD actors in a scenario. I would get up and leave the restaurant right away. I would imagine Quinones watching me in the camera saying, "Why he is walking out? Does he know that the scenario is a fake and that I'm here?" Anyway, this show has always been stale since 2009 and Quinones is going to do the same scenario in a public place. He'll also do the same thing by coming out and saying to the person that the scenario was just a manipulating social experiment. He does this over and over again. The more Quinones keeps doing it, the more it's going to get stale. I don't think he gets tired from working this stuff.

Here are my two opinions and review about Quinones and the show. (1) I really don't like John Quinones. (2) I don't care about him, his annoying voice or that smile either. My review is that I give his show a one star rating and 🅱 for boring. 👎👎 TWO THUMBS DOWN❗❗

When will John Quinones ever stop? The answer is...never. He'll keep doing what he does with the hidden cameras and social experiments. I don't think this anchorman's not going to retire soon. He'll probably get tired for sure. New seasons and episodes...but still very stale. His own "Big Brother" routine is keeping an eye on the bystanders. He's out there somewhere...and you'll never know when or where if he's going to appear from behind...or in front of you. 😟😟😟 I've seen YouTube videos of Tik Tok memes mocking John Quinones. This is my opinion and that's what I have to say about Quinones and the show. Period.
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1/10
Fake, politically motivated, and must have never finished high school science
bigredfishdad29 September 2017
This is the stupidest show I have seen. It's premise is social "Experiments" but always changes multiple facets of the scenario but then say "All we changed was the color of skin", "... the way she dresses", or "...race of xyz". This is false and they change multiple facets sometimes even changing who is seated in the restaurant first or who instigates the confrontation and it is all based on the outcome they want. That way they can narrate the scenario to pull at the emotions of the audience. Like check out the abusive boyfriend in the restaurant video the first scenario is a timid conservative dressed lady scared she will get his order wrong before he gets there. The second scene they say "We are now only going to change the way she is dressed and see if her sexy clothes make a difference" but they place the boyfriend in the restaurant first the girl comes in late and confident loud not timid not scared. The boyfriend is even dressed differently. Such a fake show that just tries to continue adding fuel to the fire by narrating the outcome they wish to portray. It like the old song lyrics "Tin roof rusted" no one knew what the heck she was saying until they read the lyrics and then it was like OHHHHH I hear it now. Or saying "dog says "hello" now the mind will hear "hello" when the dog whines.
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5/10
More times than not probably nothing. (Review #500)
ThunderKing625 September 2020
It's an interesting show.

Just feel like they want and only want to show people sucking up to be the hero on few segments which isn't realistic in the real world. People are nasty.

Verdict: They just found another way to use people as pawns for entertainment.
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4/10
Viewers want John Quinones to come out after EVERY SCENARIO!
celtics-5483823 April 2024
WWYD is definitely not the same as it use to be. Unfortunately We're use to see John Quinones come out after each scenario & now it's been Sara Haines & Kamau Bell that comes out occasionally. Viewers want to see John come out ALL the time, not them. Its just not as fun of a reaction as it is when John approaches everyone. You here people say all the time..."Is John Quinones going to come out" as they're looking around" We stopped watching it due to that reason and I'm hoping one day it will go back the way it use to be. John Only. If the show went back to doing that we would for sure start watching again.
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