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| ''Wife Swap'' was spoofed in an episode of '']'' with ] guest starring. | ''Wife Swap'' was spoofed in an episode of '']'' with ] guest starring. | ||
| ==Legal issues== | |||
| In November of 2005, a participant on the show sued ABC network for trading his wife for a gay man. He accused ABC of being dishonest, not allowing him contact with his own wife, and making him miss college classes. He is suing for over $10,000,000. | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 14:10, 22 November 2005
Wife Swap is a reality television program, produced by UK independent TV production company RDF Media, and first aired in 2002 on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.
Two families, usually with vastly different social classes, swap wives for a week. The women try to fill their counterpart's role, usually not succeeding particularly well. The adopted family also try to cope with the change; the husband usually fares less well than the children.
Each wife leaves a house manual, explaining their role in the family and the duties they hold. When they swap they attempt to keep up with the demands set by their new lifestyle which usually includes a greatly increased (for one, decreased for the other) level of housework. Half way through the week the roles are somewhat reversed with the family having to abide by the rules set by the new wife.
At the end the women meet for the first time and, along with their partners, discuss how they feel the week went. This often descends into personal insults and rows.
A celebrity Wife Swap saw Charles Ingram's wife, Diana, swap with Jade Goody of Big Brother fame.
The program format is reported to have been sold to various countries around the world. In late 2004 in the US, the format was remade on ABC and copied as Trading Spouses on Fox. Some episodes of the American version of Wife Swap were shown on British television also in late 2004. Along with another "steal" was FOX's Nanny 911 from ABC's Super Nanny.
A spin-off of the show, Boss Swap, aired as a series in the U.K. A pilot for a U.S. series aired on ABC, but the show never made air. Two other U.S. pilots aired as specials but not ordered to series were Husband Swap and Vacation Swap.
Wife Swap was spoofed in an episode of Hope & Faith with Wynonna Judd guest starring.
Legal issues
In November of 2005, a participant on the show sued ABC network for trading his wife for a gay man. He accused ABC of being dishonest, not allowing him contact with his own wife, and making him miss college classes. He is suing for over $10,000,000.