Looks like you may want to tune in to ABC’s What Would You Do? on Friday night.
That’s when the hidden-camera, ethical-dilemma series airs an episode about gay parenting shot at Norma’s Cafe in Farmers Branch:
An actress hired by What Would You Do? is waiting tables at a local family style diner, Norma’s Café in Farmers Branch, Texas. It’s a typical busy morning for her until our actors portraying the role of a gay couple — first females, then males — dining with their children are seated in her section. As she begins to express her discomfort and probe their parenting skills, other diners begin to take notice. Will these patrons take the side of our waitress or will they defend the unconventional family?
According to ABC, the actress playing the waitress tells the gay parents, “I mean it’s bad enough you’re lesbians but you’re also parents and they don’t have a father. I think that’s kind of bad. I think this is terrible. I think they need a Dad!”
ABC hasn’t posted any footage from the episode but does provide us with a sneak preview of bystanders’ responses to the waitress, which are surprisingly supportive of the gay parents for a city led by Timothy O’Hare:
“I’ve never felt so uncomfortable and so beside myself with anger. You are a horrible person and a horrible waitress, and you need to leave.”
“You’re the hate monster.”
“This is not the place for a political debate. This is a place for you to do your job.”
“You are not king. You are not God. You have no choice. You have no place to put anybody in their place.”
“It’s about the quality of the parents and the love that there is in the home more than it’s having a mom and a dad.”
What Would You Do? airs at 8 p.m. Central on Friday.
I saw one like this they filmed in NY. Will be interested to see how they handle this down here. I hope decently.
I can’t believe Norma’s — Oak Cliff’s oldest gay hangout — would have gone right wing when they opened in We-Hate-Hispanics-Farmers-Branch.
I would not do a thing. What a waste of time.
David, it doesn’t say that Norma’s has gone “rightwing” or not. The sneak preview merely suggests that they allowed a major network to use their facilities to film an episode of a popular television show, which tries to draw bystanders into simulated ethical situations, and get a sense of how some of the local people react to the situations which have been purposefully staged.
Kevin – I guess so. I just can’t imagine them having filmed it in Norma’s in Oak Cliff. That scene would just be an everyday thing. And I can’t imagine Norma’s anywhere not being open and welcoming.
I was at Norma’s that day. I was there when the waitress riled me up at the next tables of the ‘two dads’ and their kids. I didn’t get mad or involved, until the waitress engaged the kids asking where the mommy was.
Norma’s is a down-home cafe. My liberal librarian friends frequented this place and loved it. (before Farmer’s Branch sold out the library) I think perhaps Norma’s allowing the episodeto be filmed there shows them to be more open-minded than not. And not everyone in Farmer’s Branch hates Hispanics…especially the Hispanics who live there. It’s that damn city council that needs replacing.
I find the whole series that ABC does to be incredibly offensive and in poor taste. Holding people up for public ridicule in order to boost ratings and sell soap is simply appalling. I, for one, will NOT be watching this crap.