Wife Swap
(Mondays, 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET )
"Wife Swap," the critically-acclaimed unscripted reality show that takes us into the intimate heart of the American family home, revealing the extraordinarily different ways families live their lives, returns for a third season on MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
Last year, "Wife Swap" ranked No. 2 in its time period in Adults 18-34 (2.8/9), while leading its hour among Women 8-34 (3.7/10) and Women 18-49 (4.3/11). It greatly improved the time period for ABC, boosting the Net's delivery by 1.6 million viewers (8.2 million vs. 6.6 million) and by 43% in Adults 18-49 (3.3/9 vs. 2.3/6) over its performance in the hour last year. "Wife Swap" is ABC's most-watched series in the time period in four years, and its highest-rated among Adults 18-49 in eight years - since the 2001-02 and 1997-98 seasons, respectively.
Each week from across the country, two families with very different values are chosen to take part in a two-week long challenge. The wives from these two families exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it's like to live another woman's life. It's a mind-blowing experiment that often ends up changing their lives forever. This season, expect to see a new "twist" in the swap when certain families receive an unexpected visitor who shakes things up and stirs up more surprises for all.
In the first week of the swap, the wives move in with their new family and adopt their very different lifestyle. They agree to follow a manual written by the departing wife that sets out the rules of their new household - how they parent, shop, do the house work, manage their budgets and their social life. But then, in the second week, everything changes. The new wives take charge. They introduce their own set of rules and get to run the new household their way. It's a radical shock to both families. The results are explosive, enlightening and often very funny. This is a show about the things that really matter to families across America.
At the end of the show, the two couples meet for the first time. In a highly-charged exchange of views, both couples make a frank assessment of each other and talk about what they've learned from the experience.
This season expect tears, tantrums and raised voices as the wives clash with their new families. The episodes this season include a variety of spousal swaps: A former ballroom dance champion who maps out every minute of her dancing kids' days swaps with a corrections officer who enforces rules at work but won't enforce any for her three little hooligans at home; an ultra-fit professional boxer swaps with a lazy wife who's married to a competitive eater; a competitive cheerleading coach who holds her kids to the highest standard academically and athletically swaps with a laid-back mom who allows her husband and son to spend most of their day playing video games; a bohemian mother who runs her buccaneer-obsessed household like a pirate ship swaps with an appearance-obsessed professional organizer; and a wealthy, status-conscious material girl swaps with a down-home farm mother who prizes family time and old-fashioned values over material goods.
When "Wife Swap" premiered in 2003 in the United Kingdom, it was an instant television phenomenon. The program has won numerous awards, most recently the prestigious BAFTA (British Academy of Film & Television Arts) Award for best reality show and the Golden Rose for
best reality program at the International Rose D'Or Festival, Europe's top entertainment television awards. "Wife Swap" currently airs from France to Australia and Germany to New Zealand. It has been sold as an acquisition or a format to more than twenty international territories.
"Wife Swap" is an RDF Media production. It was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Wendy Roth and Stephen Lambert of RDF Media ("Faking It" and "Junkyard Wars") and Michael Davies of Embassy Row ("Who Wants to be a Millionaire"). Cristin Cricco, Stephanie Schwam Adams and Mike Gamson are the co-executive producers.