BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — The season premiere of the ABC network’s “What Would You Do” last week featured the borough’s own “What’s the Scoop.”
The episode, which aired on Jan. 26, presented a woman needing help with a flat tire with a twist.
“You’re out for a walk and you notice a Muslim woman dressed in traditional attire (wearing a hijab, a veil that covers the head and chest) having trouble fixing her flat; do you stop to help or do you keep on walking and would your reaction be different if she was dressed differently (in street clothes)? What would you do?” asked the show’s host John Quiñones.
Ultimately, the 6-minute, 50-second clip showed people of all races, including a man with his wife and baby and an 80-year-old man using a walker, stopping to help the woman.
Michael Patterson, owner of “What’s the Scoop,” an ice cream parlor and restaurant, said the network initially contacted him two years ago.
“The first episode did not air due to legal reasons,” he said. “That one was filmed in August, 2014.”
Patterson said the network representatives told him they were looking for a small-town independent ice cream parlor, and through an Internet search, “What’s the Scoop,” popped up.
“The response from the show has been extensive for us from social media and people coming in,” he said. “We’re a small town where everyone knows each other.”
Patterson said the ABC network, which filmed the segment last September, did run the scenario by them for approval.
“I was interested to see the response, and Metuchen made us proud,” he said.
Patterson said this was the first time their establishment has been featured on a national level.
“What Would You Do” first aired on ABC in 2008. It uses hidden cameras while host John Quiñones observes and comments on how ordinary people behave when they are confronted with dilemmas that require them either to take action or to walk by and mind their own business.
