I think the title of this new show sounds a lot more seedy than the actual premise. This will be an "alternative" show on ABC this fall, and the description given from the Up Front press release is:



Here is a link to the original British show's site, on Channel 4. There's a note at the bottom of that page that "Wife Swap is going international" -- so I guess there's the potential that someone here in the US could end up swapping with someone in the UK.

Ooooh- I'm sooo there- front and center. But, not until Fall? This would be perfect for summer. . . Alas, ABC will screw this up just like they did with The Family. Oh, wait, I forget I was the only one who watched that show. . .

I TOTALLY watched The Family. I read an article (EW, maybe?) that said The Family and The Mole were examples of how ABC had screwed up reality TV, and I screamed at the magazine. Those were AWESOME shows.

I think this has the potential to be very interesting - elements of Frontier/1900/Colonial House (what with the out-of-their-element moments) and maybe Faking It?

Oh, Texas-Gal, allow me to hand you my necklace so that you may room with me for the week!

I did the exact same thing with my issue of EW (scream, stomp, and finally, acceptance that they're not always right). Usually EW is spot-on, but the Mole is like a cerebral Survivor (no hate e-mail pls- any show that Boston Rob can nearly win and be called "All Stars" can kiss my patootie), and The Family was The Sopranos meets reality (OK, no one got whacked*, but I thought the cheesy parts of the Sopranos was worked with beautifully). It was so wonderful- but this isn't the Family thread.

At any rate, I'll so be there when this show airs. It's an interesting premise, and the lab coat in me can't wait to see how the families react to the mothers. Do you know if the mothers are cast with Type A personalities ala Burnett? I hope so, I don't think I can handle passive aggressive. It'll remind me too much of my childhood. . .

*PS- Although many of us would've like to see Cuz Dawn get whacked. . .

I just saw a piece about this show on ET. Apparently, one of the women is a bus driver, from a modest-income family, and the other is from an obviously wealthy family, spending about $4,000 per week on clothes for herself. They show the lower-income wife stunned by a closet filled completely with shoes. This show looks promising to me.

The show premieres September 29 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. There's already lots of speculation that it won't do as well in the ratings as Fox's "Trading Spouses."

The speculation may be right, but I don't know. I read an article in the Times last month and the Park Avenue-esque family they described make the most evil of the Trading Spaces spaces people seem like the Ozzie and Harriet types. I'd link the story, but it's been archived already.

I think it's funny how ABC's commercials for this show tout it as "the original". Yes, ABC may have originated the concept first, but as far as I'm concerned, whatever makes it to tv and the public first is considered THE original. By now, this is a tired concept.

RE: Ratings predicitons for this show. ABC hasn't been doing as well in the ratings for its reality shows, compared to Fox. There's been almost no buzz for the American "Wife Swap" since since it's being overshadowded by "Trading Spouses." So I think "Wife Swap" is going to have lower ratings than "Trading Spouses."

ABC just generally sucks nowadays...no one I know even watches it. I stopped watching it after they got rid of TGIF. And sorry ABC, I won't be watching the new TGIF!

It's called The New Mom over here, and it ranked nr.1 in the ratings this week. We had this what's the word? really really scary lady (Think Hyacint Bouquet, without the constant need for social status) trade places with a widow and take care of her two teenage daughters.

Best thing ever, especially since the two daughters acted so arrogant around their new mom it almost made people cheer.

The widow however tried to have fun, but I think scary lady's husband and daughter had never learnt or forgot what that meant.

I've seen the original, guys. It's cringe-making! How it won a BAFTA award is totally beyond me. But it is a huge hit over there.

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly (September 10, 2004) says "Wife Swap" is better than "Trading Spouses."

According to the EW article, upcoming "Wife Swap" episodes will include:

*a rich, spoiled wife who trades places with a working-class, hard-working wife.(Predictable idea that's been done before.)

*a conservative African-American woman who trades places with one-half of a lesbian couple. (That should be interesting.)

* a neat-freak wife who moves into a home with 25 pets. (That could get old really fast.)

* a laid-back mother who moves into a home where the kids get regular spankings. (That should also be interesting, and I wonder if she'd go as far to call the authorities and say the kids are being abused.)

I have seen ads for this show. It will begin on Wednesday, September 30. So, it probably won't be on Sunday night.

As I prepare to watch the special episode tonight I find myself confused. Didn't Fox steal the idea from the people in England who sold the idea to ABC? ABC bought it , but had they not bought it then the UK company couldn't have been pissed because it's different markets, right? Nevermind.

I am watching Wife Swap now (Tivoed). I think I just saw a kangaro bouncing around in one family's home. I had no clue you could have a kangaro for a pet.

These women are both nuts.

A control freak with no personality and a good natured pig who thinks stepping around piles of animal shit is ok.

All I can say is - YIKES.

Well, now. That was vaguely unsettling. Let's avoid such extremes from now on, ok?

Oh, who am I kidding.

Oh my, where to start? You can't help comparing to Trading Spouses and because I saw that first I kind of found this lacking. It was just so tres-anvil. What could be more obvious than a neat-freak trading with a zookeeper? Was there even one surprising moment?

Plus, making it just an hour long felt too short like there must have been lots we missed.

Things I liked comparison-wise where the loss of the "other mom spends the money" gimmick and the silly "new mom makes a party for old mom's friends" concept. While there was the structure of the "first week old mom rules, second week new mom rules" it felt less set-up and more an organic unfolding of events. Still, the pace was way too quick.

I didn't really like either family. They just seemed too way out for me to identify with. I can't believe I would survive even one day with either one. But as I pet-free homeowner, let me just say about fecal matter on the floor, nasty!

I love this show, I got addicted to it while I was living in the U.K. IMHO, the best part about WifeSwap is the husbands reactions...some of them are so completley clueless without their spouses.

They all seemed like pretty cool people except the neurotic cleaner-wife, but at the end I think she loosened up quite a bit. It was cute to see her getting along with the cat.

But she did have a couple points...letting your 25+ animals shit all over your house is one of the grossest things I've ever heard of.

I thought both moms were delusional. NeatFreak actually has to measure the placement of the cups and saucers on the tables and Slob-bi thinks nothing's wrong with leaving animal crap all over the house. Her house was so disgusting, I had to get up and vacuum my living room.

I was so enraged when I heard NeatFreak was taking most of the animals out of the house. I'm glad to learn it was temporary but it's still maddening to think the bitch would do that to family pets.

Slob-bi really irritated me by bringing in the cat. She had no way of knowing if the cat would stay in the home after the swap and that's irresponsible (like people who buy pets as Christmas presents for other people's children). NeatFreak could've kicked out the cat or sent it to the pound. I'm glad she decided to keep the kitty.

I agree funkyfeet -- they are totally nuts. Who the hell cleans their house 5 hours a day, EVERY day? That woman has some real issues. On the other end of the spectrum you have meet the other family as the parents are jumping on the beds with their kids, 25 pets and tons of clutter. When that mom said that my parenting style is that I'm friends with my children. I wanted to smack her! You are the PARENT -- your children have enough friends, they don't need you to be a friend. They need you for guidance, discipline and to set an example. Uggghh! Drives me crazy.

ETA I'm just glad that I couldn't smell the animal house through my tv screen. I kept asking Mr. Murphsully to imagine what that house must smell like. He didn't even want to go there.

While both moms were just so extreme on each end of the spectrum, the blonde mom was really bugging me at the end when she was yelling at the neat-freak. That meeting seemed to be going pretty well until the blonde mom kept interrupting neat freak. Yes, taking the pets out of the house was pretty extreme but it's not like she had them all put to sleep. Neat freak was showing that family "her ideas," of living. That's the whole point of the show isn't it? Neat freak should have flipped the fuck out on the blonde for bringing the cat in.

Wow..that was just...wow.

Neat freak was getting on my last nerve. I mean, come on! Her kids were basically saying they didn't miss her and her poor husband has to drink coffee out of a straw?
Get a life!!!
I felt so happy for those kids having a cat..cute kitty!

Slob-o...well, I think that she did a great job turning the neatfreak family around. But her house? Holy crap...crap being the word. 25 animals crapping all over the place is NOT good. That's just insane. And the husband doing everything and not being a parent? I mean, when that curly head kid told him he needed to "consult with him" I wanted to slap him. Get a backbone. Both of the men needed a spine.

Intriguing. I just may be hooked.

When that kid said that in order to move stuff out of the house they should have consulted with him and asked for his approval, it made me want to throw things at the television. You. Are. The. Son.

My neighbor has a wallaby. They are similar to kangas but smaller.

While we do have parrots, cats, dogs and assorted rodents, we DON'T have critter crap on our floors. I love having oodles of pets but I also spend several of hours a day keeping my home clean enough for my family of 6.

Ugh. I am no neat-freak but Animal House disgusted me beyond words. If the first thing someone does when they enter your home is to make the wrinkly "I smell pee" face, then you gotta problem.

Poor buttoned-down Don. Even his "pissed off" is buttoned-down. I'm glad they kept the cat. I think the experience was good for them. I don't think the other Mom learned a thing.

I hated the neat freak. You just don't get rid of people's pets like that. When that happened I was like "Surely ABC wouldn't actually allow that to happen would they?" I was happy to find out is was temporary. If it had been me I would have called her a cold hearted bitch right then and there.
I'm betting she has no friends and that's why she's so cold hearted.
As for Bambi, yes she's a slob but at least she didn't get rid of anything that belonged to cold hearted neat freak.

I got the feeling he liked all that. Didn't he say something like he needed all her lists to know what to do? I kept hearing that "whip" sound in my head when he talked.

I found this show to be a lot better than Trading Spouses for a number of reasons:

1. I don't have to wait 2 weeks to get the full story
2. When they traded rules, they REALLY traded rules. When they started out they were actually attempting to run things like the real Moms.
3. The swap was more complex than rich mom, poor mom, week after week after week.
4. The tension wasn't amped up for the promos like in TS. These Moms were seriously at odds with their original families.
5. It didn't devolve into a montage of lazy kid/lazy Mom shots . . . yet.

I couldn't believe CrazyCaprice had all the animals sent away like that. Not only did that mess up the kids, it messed up the animals. I wish she could have altered her rules to fit around the animals. Anal retentively scary. Coffee with a straw?

My kitten and I loved Nugget and Ian, they were both really cute. These women were both off, way off. I hope they find a happy balance.

Man, that was a pretty lame rip-off of Trading Spouses. ;D

I doubt I'll watch it again. It lacks Fox's sensationalism, and where was the Big Cash Prize at the end?

The "confrontation" between the moms was nice, but I doubt we'll see that every week.

Sorry, ABC. Lost looks cool, but everything else on your network sucks.

Word! I prefer Trading Spouses; This show was more like a 20/20 or Dateline special.



I'm think(hope) there was more to the conversation than what we saw.

ETA:



The poop on the floor was gross but I have found that animal smells are a lot like cigarette smoke. When you are around it a lot, you get used to it and don't notice it all all. If you aren't around it a lot it is very noticeable. I don't have any pets but I know people that have several indoor animals. Their houses are very clean but definitely have a 'animals live here' smell.

OCD seemed to me to be lecturing them about how to "really" run a house and be a parent - the same way the deluded fucking freak said she wanted to sit the husband down and see if he was "aware" of his own life. Like jesus, you deluded, disordered wingnut, I understand you feel they're dirty so they must be simple-minded and just not understand how life really should be, and you're so saintly for showing them, but eat a poo sandwich.

If I found out the woman had shoved my animals in a shelter for a week for no reason? She'd have been wearing some loverly thumbprints around her neck. That said, I think the slobby woman didn't realize how bad it'd gotten.

I thought the OCD husband saying the kids - who were clearly teenagers - couldn't handle the responsibility of one small kitty? Way to parent there, geniuses. You've got two kids over the age of 12 who you don't believe capable of handing feeding and litter changing?

At least, slobby as they were, the kids in that house were independent people with responsibilities. Great for her to criticize them for not having a bedtime, but... lady, they don't have a bedtime, or a list taped to their door, or you opening their blinds for them and they manage to get to school, take care of all the animals, have friends, etc. So... perhaps a bedtime and strict rules aren't the end-all of parenting?

As for the show in general, I thought it was way too... reliant on the obvious and less in-depth than TS, silly as that sounds, as TS is one week and on FOX and all.

Incidentally, neat freak bitch lived in Wexford, home of Christina Aguilera. I think she should have traded places with Christina for the day and had to get piercings.

Say what you want about Bambi being a slob - but sending children's pets away, even for a week, is one of the most awful things I've ever heard of. You can't have a heart when you do things like that.

Caprice made me want to cry. At first I thought she was hilariously crazy, especially with the coffee straws and exercising to a tape with no volume. Then I thought she was incredibly insensitive by getting rid of the pets. But when she came home and started planning to get rid of Nugget despite the fact that everyone else in her house was happy with the cat, I was furious. Caprice, you're not the only person who lives in your house, you don't get to make all the rules. Psycho.

And I didn't catch whether Bambi worked, but if she is a stay at home mom, she has no business pawning all the cooking and "cleaning" and pet care off on her husband. What's got her so busy that she can't take care of her house?

I cannot express my hatred for Caprice enough. What a clueless, uncaring, heartless, anal bitch!
Who the F*CK does she think she is?
The bird we all saw that was plucked of it's feathers? That is an Alexandrine parrot and yes, I have one...thank you for asking. You cannot take a bird that has plucking issues and just "put it in storage" and expect it to not have continuing or worsened problems. They also appeared to have an African Grey and you don't futz with those guys' stability either. I would have backed out of the entire show when she messed with the animals because obviously, she doesn't know what the hell she's doing. NO amount of money is worth the damage she could have caused with those parrots.

<ok, now I will breathe and calm down>

On the other hand, the dogs didn't appear very well groomed and I agree that the house could have been better kept. That is the ONLY leeway I will give that woman.

I think Beezer hit on the real reason slobby mom went so nuts on the neat nut. I don't know how it was edited, but I really feel her tirade of "I hate you" came after the neat freak had said, "You aren't a parent." I have 11 pets, and I would maim anyone who came in and removed ANY of them (and that includes the screeching biting parrot I am truthfully not all that in love with - but it is a lifetime commitment), but telling someone they are not a parent? Attacking her in that way I believe is what REALLY put her over the edge. I did find it odd that a family that prided itself on spending so much time together only ate together 4 times a year?? Hey, those animals were not cheap. I think I might have ponied up the bucks for a table to eat at before I bought a wallaby or a parrot.

Word. I thought that was odd, too.

I was cringing when the 2-year-old was picking up poop.

Caprice Navidad ... Caprice Navidad ...

Two things I liked about Caprice: (1) bringing in the dining room table to the new family and (2) keeping the kitten (Nugget?) at the end. For the rest of the stuff, she was pretty meh. It was pretty obvious that she had sucked the life out of her own home, so I was glad to hear she'd made some changes upon her return. That poor hubby of hers -- he wanted to be a jazz musician and she was probably embarrassed by it! But as "pissed" as the guy supposedly was at having the new cat, he sure was petting it nicely in the next shot.

Bambi did bring some life into the house of the new family, but could've taken a few lessons in cleanliness from Caprice to take back home. I'm sorry, but 25 pets? Once I had them, I sure couldn't give them away, but maybe it's time to stop adding to the menagerie.

I think the eating together thing is just a personal family thing. I know plenty of families like that one, where they do eat together as in lets order a pizza, but don't do the every member of the family sit down and everyone eat at the same time thing in general.

We saw them all sitting around the kitchen and munching on stuff, it seemed more to me like they're just really busy and the kids and the husband are on the go, so they just grab stuff when they grab stuff. I think the 4x a year is of the set a table, let's all sit down as a group variety that a lot of people only do on holidays.

As was I. That woman's home was fucking disgusting, and she ought to be embarrassed to have had it showcased on television. Having all 25 of your "family members" shit all over the house when there is a two-year-old baby waddling around? Unacceptable. I'd go as far to say that it's an environment unsuitable for small children. It was absolutely disgusting.

That said, I think Slob is a loving, warm, good-hearted mother. Her house is a mess, though, and her children were frequently out of line. The son and his "you should've consulted me" bit was completely uncalled for.

NeatFreak struck me as very cold initially, but I was happy when they showed her cuddling and playing with the kitten. I, too, live by a routine and become frustrated when it gets interrupted. I'm not drinking coffee through straws, yet, but I'm not letting our beloved basset hound shit all over the rug, either.

Oprah did a "Wife Swap" show last week, and Slob Family didn't participate. On Oxygen's "O After The Show," NeatFreak Mom tried to explain that SlobMom didn't come because she thought that she had been portrayed poorly. If that truly is the case, I hope SlobMom watched "WS" tonight. The bits at the jazz club, when Don was playing his guitar without his headphones and actually smiled--those warmed my heart.

NeatFreak family made a lot of progress as a result of the swap. The only changes I saw in the Slob family is that they are using their dining room table and Slob father has cut his hair. I truly hope they are taking the animals outside a little more frequently so they don't poop where their toodler tries to play.

On a personal note, Mr. Helter Skelter is now completely appreciative of the hard housework that I do. He was also pleased to note that I allow him to play his piano whenever his little heart desires. He is making me dinner tomorrow, so obviously the Skelter household will be TiVo-ing the show every week. We'll see how many free dinners I can squeeze out of this.

Cranky, I agree on the cost of the animals but think about it...from the looks of some of the critters, doesn't it look like they might be rescue animals? Granted, my neighbor has a wallaby but she also works at our local zoo and well...it's a long story.
OT - So you have a screechy, biting fid too? Umbrella 2 here. Little bastard is a handful but I still love him; he makes me laugh.

The thing that freaked me out more about the neat lady was not really the time spent cleaning-my mom is pretty anal about cleaning too, and some people do actually enjoy cleaning and organizing. It was the no noise thing that got me-WTF? Is this a library? We have to do everything in silence? That was weird. That said, I was appalled at how much animal crap was in the dirty house. As a vet student, I'd love to show that mother some of the diseases her children can get from parasites found in the poop of seemingly healthy animals. And she had a prairie dog, don't even get me started on that. Wild animals are wild for a reason hon.

Oh, my. I forgot about the coffee through straws bit. That made my sides hurt. Heee.

I hear what your saying beezer but I also think only eating together 4x a year is odd. They're too busy the other 361 days to eat one meal together?



Oh this is coming! Two of the swaps featured on Oprah were rich/spoiled mom swaps with hard working/working class mom. One of the families featured are dairy farmers and the 'confrontation' includes another "your house smells" "No, my house is very clean" incident. Yawn!

Might have been a space issue. It's funny timing, because I have to admit my dining room table was just relocatd to the porch. This is because the dining room is housing four greyhound-sized crates. (The room can hold three crates and table, but not four, and we're going to be fostering an extra dog until he finds a home.) Of course, anyone who allows their dogs and cats to poop on the floor as a matter of course is likely not terribly concerned with providing them a den.

Count me in as being pissed at both moms on the pet issue. Caprice Navidad (Hee, Proofwell) had no right to disrupt those animals' lives even for a week - they didn't ask to do the tv show. Word on the issue with the feather-plucker, Indy. No matter how well the show staff (I assume) took care of them, it majorly disturbs an animal to be shipped off like that. As Bambi pointed out, would they have been allowed to banish one of the children for a week?

On the other hand. Snowdog put it very well - bringing a pet into a home is something you do after careful thought and planning, not for a christmas present or as a spur-of-the-moment decision. Yes, CN should have considered the general desire for a pet in that house, but you don't introduce an animal unless every member of the family wants it there. Rehoming retired greyhounds has taught me this only too well.

(Not to mention, I can't think much of Bambi if she buys a beta and keeps it in a vase. Those fish deserve aquariums with proper filtration, same as any other breed. Just a pet peeve of mine.)

Me too. As much as I couldn't stand Caprice, at least she seemed to take this to heart and actually change stuff in her home. Bambi seemed to think that this just showed how great a job she was doing. Actually it seemed every single person on this show changed except her.

I felt really bad for Caprice's older son. He obviously was not happy and having Bambi around was a really good thing for him.

From what I got out of it both women were housewives. If that's the case Bambi should not let her house get that bad or leave all the housework for her husband who was working two jobs.

I don't think that it's they are too busy. I think it's more that it would require someone to plan a meal, cook it, and get everyone to the table at the same time. They made a big point at the beginning that family members eat whenever they want to, sleep, etc.

I can't imagine how that house must have smelled, especially with all of the hidden poop piles.

My family doesn't even sit down to eat together on Thanksgiving, we're just not that type of family. We are now and have always been foragers, everyone eats at their own time, in their own place. That's just how some families are, of course it could explain why I get grossed out watching others eat, but anyway.

I was mad that all the animals in the Pitts house lived happily together and I can't get my cat to stop swatting at the kitten.

When is CBS going to roll out a Trading Wives type of show? I have space on Mondays and Sundays for some new reality shows.

ETA:

My Beta fish lives in a glass cube. I think they're one of the few fish who can live happily in plain water . . . I hope

FIVE hours of cleaning a day? Caprice definitely has OCD. OCD suffers are also very meticulus about other things besides cleaning such as making sure the rug is lined up or flicking the light switch on and off several times. Mark Summers did the same thing with the rug.

However, that is no excuse for Caprice to have the animals removed; she should have put them all in the backyard.

Bambi certainly needs to keep her house cleaner. People who are not used to it could get sick when visiting. My mom and I visited some extended family in another town and my grandfather's cousin wanted us to see something at this guy's house, which was filthy and had uncut weeds and grass. Well, I ended up with 25 bug bites and a cold that I have had since the beginning of August. The rest of us are not immune to the germs.

Did anyone else notice the earrings on Caprice's older son? I'm surprised she let him have his ears pierced.