ON THE NEXT "PRIMETIME: WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"
What if an obviously confused elderly man was about to get behind the wheel of a car? Would you give your friend your blessing to marry a man half her age? Using hidden cameras, "Primetime: What Would You Do?" sets up everyday scenarios and then captures people's reactions. Whether people are compelled to act or mind their own business, John Qui�ones reports on their split-second and often surprising decision-making process, on "Primetime: What Would You Do?," FRIDAY,
JULY 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (OAD: 2/20/09)
Often people speculate on how they might act in a difficult situation, but this series shows what they actually do in the face of everyday dilemmas that test their character and values. Friday's scenarios include:
· GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER: Your best girlfriend invites you to dinner to meet a man she's been seeing for the last month. The only problem is the man is half her age and she says she wants to marry him. And what if he has a secret reason for wanting to marry her in a hurry? What would you do?
· ELDERLY DRIVER: Drivers over 70 have the second-highest fatality rate per mile, only after people under age 25. When confronted by an obviously confused man who wants to get behind the wheel, will strangers try to stop him and take away his keys or help him drive away? And will more people intervene if two 10-year-old granddaughters are also getting in the car?
· REAL ESTATE RACISM: Visitors to an open house in a predominantly white upscale New Jersey neighborhood come face to face with racism when the realtor showing the $1.4 million home ignores, and then speaks in an increasingly racist way to an African American couple. Will other visitors to the open house come to the couples' defense or just walk away? Will they respond any differently if the racist comments are directed at a Muslim couple instead?
· LOST PUPPY: A stranger approaches a little girl who is alone in a park and attempts to lure the child away with tales of a lost puppy. How will people respond? In one variation, the "stranger" is a neighbor of the young girl.
This week's interactive scenario: You're at your local pharmacy and you see your best friend's daughter buying a pregnancy test and condoms. "What Would You Do?"
"Primetime: 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 bringing the message of domestic violence to the mainstream." The Columbia Journalism Review has called the program "a Candid Camera of Ethics."
David Sloan and Chris Whipple are the executive producers and Danielle Baum is the senior producer of "Primetime: What Would You Do?"
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