What Would You Do? (2008-present)
What would you do? (abbreviated WWYD) is an American situational hidden camera television series that has aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) since February 26, 2008. The show, created by Chris Whipple, follows the reactions of passing strangers as they encounter conflict or illegal activity in a public setting, unaware that it is all staged and being recorded with hidden cameras. The show has been hosted by news correspondent John Quinones for all sixteen seasons.
What Would You Do?, which aired on ABC's Primetime from 2005 to 2007, was an instant hit for the network. ABC ordered the first season of the show after the writers' strike in 2007. The series was renewed for a second, third, fourth, and fifth season each year. Beginning with the sixth season, the show began to include guest stars such as Barbara Corcoran, Howie Mandel, and Meredith Vieira. In the eighth season, What Would You Do? aired its first Christmas special, following the seventh season. This was followed by guest appearances by Daymond John and Pnina Tornai in the ninth season, Winnie Harlow in the tenth season, and an absence of guests in the eleventh and twelfth seasons.
In 2017, as the season finale of the thirteenth season, a 10-year anniversary special titled "What Would You Do?: Then and Now" aired, featuring scenarios originally aired on Primetime and in season one being remade with the same actors in the same locations. Following the fourteenth and fifteenth seasons of the show, ABC announced that the sixteenth season would include episodes filmed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a special hosted by Gio Benitez as part of the season finale. The sixteenth season of What Would You Do? had aired 147 episodes, including ten specials, as of September 8, 2020.
Genre: Hidden camera
Running time: 60 minutes
Production companies: ABC News Productions, Lincoln Square Productions
Original release: February 26, 2008 –September 8, 2020
IMDb rating: 7.1/10
