Is Popular Hidden Camera, Social Experiment Show ‘What Would You Do?’ Staged?

It's no secret that "reality TV" is oftentimes anything but. Just ask the cast of Laguna Beach and The Hills about the amount of producing and manufacturing of storylines that went into the creation of these popular shows. Remember the show Cheaters that allegedly faked a stabbing in order to get ratings?

So it's hard to blame anyone who questions the veracity of reality TV shows in light of these controversies. Even ones that present themselves as well-intended assessments of social humanity, such as What Would You Do?

If you're unfamiliar with the premise of What Would You Do? it's a massively popular program that began on ABC back in 2008.

Over the course of a 60-minute episode (with space for commercial breaks, of course), hidden camera setups are placed in public locations.

Usually, spots where there are large gatherings of people are selected, where throngs of individuals are purportedly unaware that they're being filmed. However, this just applies to the general public — as there is a dedicated production team, including hired actors who act out specific scenarios.

Often, these scenarios involve illegal or morally questionable behavior. They usually involve a perpetrator, played by an actor, and a victim, who is also in on the skit. What Would You Do? aims to discover how bystanders will react in these situations when they occur right in their face.

Will they ignore what's happening? Or call the authorities and ask for assistance if something glaringly wrong is going on? Will they try to interject and inquire as to what the source of conflict between the actors is?

The show's host, John Quiñones, provides commentary on the situation and will often come out and let strangers who get involved in the series know that they're on a hidden camera show.

Folks who act or fail to do so are questioned. But viewers seem to debate as to whether or not the "strangers" who elect to get themselves involved in these pre-planned social experiment sketches are legitimate.

One IMDB commenter who gave the series a 1/10 rating on the website, thinks it's all bogus.

They claimed the series is "fake" and "politically motivated," adding it's the "stupidest show [they] have ever seen." Furthermore, the commenter highlights that the series attempts to create political divides between its viewers, almost always painting the "bad" actors in a conservative light, whereas victims espouse liberal talking points and ideologies. Additionally, they accused the show of race-baiting in order to generate viewership.

While a portion of the series's built-in premise concedes there's an amount of staging in order to pull the social experiments off, audiences contend as to whether or not this staging extends to the "unknowing" participants of these experiments themselves.

One Redditor wondered if at some point in the show's career that production decided to stage even the "involvement" portion. There was one commenter who said that they witnessed filming in their hometown. According to them, those who interjected in the bits, 100 percent believed they were engaging in a real scenario.

I.e., the show is indeed real.

They penned: "Not scripted at all. They filmed in my hometown it was the episode where the underage soldiers were trying to get drinks at the bar. One of the patrons takes them out to a different bar to get beers. I know/knew (he’s dead now) the guy who takes them out of the bar.

"They filmed in Lynbrook on Long Island. Could even tell you the name of the bar he was taking them to as it was our regular spot!"

However, a user in this Quora forum offered up another anecdote of their own that challenged this notion. They reported that they knew someone who worked as an actor on the show and that everything in it is staged, down to the folks who end up getting involved in the staged altercations. Furthermore, they added that the public spaces themselves weren't even public.

"I had a friend who worked on the show as one of the actors," they wrote. "The whole setting where it took place had studio lights and film trucks outside the location. The people who react are also actors. The background is filled with paid background extras all who sign nondisclosure agreements."

They continued: "I didn't work on the show or sign a nondisclosure so I can tell you everything and they will never know who worked on the show and told me it's all staged like a film production with special lights on the ceiling and cameras in the corner of the rooms. All reality TV is faked."