Some reality shows ask who will find love or who can cook under pressure. Netflix’s newest unscripted series asks something far more uncomfortable: does power corrupt ordinary people? The New Stanford Prison Experiment premieres today, October 21, with six episodes of roughly 45 minutes each.
Guards, prisoners and a coin toss of fate
The setup is simple and a little chilling. Thirty volunteers walk into a real prison and are randomly split into guards and prisoners. From there, the cameras watch whether people slip into the roles they have been handed, or whether empathy and individuality can hold out once the pressure builds and the balance of power starts to shift.
The title points straight to the original 1971 study at Stanford University, led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. That experiment was meant to run for two weeks but was stopped after less than one, after participants playing guards began mistreating those playing prisoners. It has since become a textbook example of research ethics gone wrong and helped push stricter rules for protecting study participants.
Who is running the show
The series comes from Alfred Street Industries, with Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Nan Strait, Dan Volpe, Jeff Grogan and Mike Odair as executive producers. Lipsitz has described the project as one of the most intense and nail-biting productions her team has worked on, and said the original study, despite its serious flaws, still raises a question that feels very current.
Whether the show turns out to be thoughtful social commentary or simply gripping television will depend on how it treats its participants. Either way, it is likely to be one of the most talked-about binges of the week, and probably the only reality series where viewers will root for everyone to stay kind.