Wife Swap is a
reality television programme, originally produced by
UK independent television production company
RDF Media and created by
Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in
2003 on the UK's
Channel 4, however it has now been dropped by Channel 4
[www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a186592/channel-4-axes-wife-swap-how-clean.html] . Since
2004 a US version has also been broadcast on the
ABC network. On the 12th November 2009 channel 4 announced it has 'axed' wife swap meaning no new episodes of the show will be made for the channel.
Synopsis
Two families, usually from vastly different
social classes and
lifestyles, swap wives/mothers (and sometimes husbands) for two weeks. In fact, the programme will usually deliberately swap wives with extreme, polar opposite lifestyles, such as a dramatically messy wife swapping with a fastidiously neat one. Despite using a phrase from the swinging lifestyle, couples participating in the show do not share a bed with the "swapped" spouse while "swapping" homes.
During the first week, the new wife must adhere to exactly the same rules and lifestyle of the wife she is replacing. Each wife leaves a house manual which explains her role in the family and the duties she holds. This almost always determines what rules the wives will apply at the "rules change ceremony".
During the second week, the new wives are allowed to establish their own rules, and their new families must adhere to these new household rules. It usually takes a while for the families to adjust to this policy.
At the end of the two weeks, the two couples all meet together for the first time, and the wives, along with their husbands, discuss how they felt about the two weeks. This often descends into personal insults and has degenerated into violence at least twice. More often than not, however, both families reach toward a middle ground and express that they have learned from the experience. Sometimes, the table meeting is a very heartfelt and emotional time for the two families who sometimes have complete and mutual respect for each other.
USA
In 2006, in the USA version, a new twist was added whereby the wife can bring in someone (a family member or a friend) to help on one day of the swap. The twist was not quite twisted enough, and consequently only appeared in a few episodes before being discontinued early in the third series.
USA broadcast
On 28 February 2008, ABC announced that it had renewed
Wife Swap through the 2008–09 period;
[Breaking News - ABC ANNOUNCES EARLY PICK-UPS OF ALTERNATIVE SERIES FOR 2008-2009 SEASON | TheFutonCritic.com] the 100th episode aired in March 2009.
[www.tvguide.com/detail/tv-show.aspx?tvobjectid=191895&more=ucepisodelist&episodeid=10176906] The show also airs in syndication in the U.S. on
Lifetime.
Spin-offs
Other countries and versions
Localised versions of
Wife Swap were produced by
Viasat and broadcast in
Croatia,
Sweden,
Norway,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania and
Romania. Viasat was the first company in the world to adapt the format locally.
The first adaptation was broadcast in Denmark in autumn 2003. A version in
Serbia is shown on
RTV Pink, called
Menjam ženu, which premiered in July 2006. Also,
Chile premiered its own version of Wife Swap called "¿Quién cambia a quién? Intercambio de Esposas" (Who changes whom?: Wife Swap) on
14 March 2006. The series is produced by
Canal 13 and hosted by
Cecilia Bolocco. The
Croatian version is broadcast on
RTL Televizija.
There is also a Dutch and a Belgian version of Wife Swap. The version shown in the
The Netherlands is called "Jouw Vrouw Mijn Vrouw" (Your wife My wife), and in
Belgium, it is called "De Nieuwe Mama" (The New Mum/Mam/Mom). There is also a Czech Version, hosted by NOVA TV, called Výměna Manželek (Wife Swap). In Germany Wife Swap is called
Frauentausch and premiered on
14 July 2003 on
RTL II.
Celebrity Wife Swap
There have been some celebrity versions of
Wife Swap produced on the UK version of the series:
Other special editions
Wife Swap has aired several unique episodes in its history.
UK
In 2005,
Channel 4 had broadcast two international versions of
Wife Swap, one where a
British family had changed lifestyles with a
German family, and then one where a British family changed lifestyles with an
Australian family.
In 2008
Channel 4 broadcast a version where two British families who happened to be living in
Spain at the time swapped with one another.
USA
For their hundredth episode on 13 March 2009, the USA version selected 24 families to participate in a contest to reswap. Viewers voting in October 2008 picked the artistic/psychic Silver family of Florida and the storm-chasing/UFO hunting Heenes of Colorado.
[abc.go.com/primetime/wifeswap/index?pn=pressrelease] The Heenes later gained notability in the national media when their son was involved in the
Colorado balloon hoax. According to Denver Blogger Bill Husted, "It sounds like a good match."
[blogs.denverpost.com/husted/2009/03/06/ft-collins-couple-play-wife-swap-again/] But, "distressingly," LA Times writer Jon Caramancia wrote, "it's clear they haven't learned a thing."
[www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-monitor8-2009mar08,0,4841840.story]
Boss Swap
A spin-off,
Boss Swap, was broadcast as a series in the UK.
[www.realitytvworld.com/news/abc-greenlights-two-wife-swap-spinoffs-husband-swap-and-boss-swap-2665.php] A pilot for a US series was shown on ABC but was not commissioned.
Husband Swap and
Vacation Swap pilots were also broadcast in America, but were not picked up for series production. At least once, however, a husband and a live-in boyfriend swapped while the women stayed with their families.
Parodies
Legal issues
Trading Spouses
In early 2004
ABC in the USA announced its version of
Wife Swap, to be called
Trading Moms, having outbid the
Fox Network for the USA rights for the format.
[[1]] In June the same year Fox publicized a program with an almost identical format to
Wife Swap entitled
Trading Spouses, which it began broadcasting on 1 July.
["Spouse swap a fit for Fox: Net snipes at Alphabet with Trading Spouses" article from Variety] ABC then reverted to the original UK title for their series, which began on 29 September. In December 2004 RDF Media sued Fox for
copyright infringement for reproducing the
Wife Swap format without their permission.
["Wife Swap sues Trading Spouses" article from post-gazette.com] In 2008, FOX sold the rights to the show to
CMT, ending the run.
[www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080227cmt01]
Fraudulent activity
In her 2003 appearance on the programme
Lizzy Bardsley was shown to be living entirely on
state benefits, which she continued to do without declaring payments she subsequently received for media work. Prosecuted and found guilty in 2005, she was sentenced to 80 hours community service and ordered to repay £4,879 in overpaid benefits.
[BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Reality TV star cheated benefits] In February 2007 she was convicted of child cruelty charges, receiving an eight month
suspended sentence and a two year supervision order.
[BBC NEWS | England | Manchester | Wife Swap Lizzy escapes jail term]
Same-gender swap
In November 2005, Jeffrey Bedford, a participant in the American series, sued ABC network for trading his
wife for a
gay man. He accused ABC of being dishonest, not allowing him contact with his wife, and making him miss his lessons at college. He claims that when he ceased participating with the production of the episode ABC threatened that it would not tell him his wife's whereabouts and would not pay for his wife's return home. He is suing for over
USD$10,000,000, although a spokesman revealed that the contract stated the spouse could be of either gender.
[www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176244,00.html] In 2007, the UK version began a search for more same-sex swaps.
[www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-3699.html]
See also
