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On mySimon: Joovy Caboose Ultralight Sunset
Show Overview

Show Score

 
7.1 Good
570 votes

Your Score

Status

Returning Series

Premiered

September 26, 2004

Genre

Reality , Drama

Theme

Family

Previous Episode

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Schults/Smith
Episode Score
 
N/A Never Rated

Schults/Smith

A family that operates a haunted house swaps mothers with a old-fashioned family that doesn't let their children watch television.

Aired: 05/01/09

Show Summary

Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families - but not bedrooms - for two weeks on the new reality show Wife Swap, already a critically-acclaimedMore smash hit in its third season in the U.K. Wife Swap is not a competition or a contest. It is a reality show unlike any other, where the battlegrounds are the kitchens and living rooms, child-rearing is a subject of intense and heated debate, and the outcome isn't a cash prize, but a couple's opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to marry in the first place. 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. 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 everywhere from France to Australia and Germany to New Zealand. Source: ABC.com

From the Forums

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  • Family Ideas

    Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families - but not bedrooms - for two weeks on the new reality show Wife Swap, already a critically-acclaimedMore smash hit in its third season in the U.K. Wife Swap is not a competition or a contest. It is a reality show unlike any other, where the battlegrounds are the kitchens and living rooms, child-rearing is a subject of intense and heated debate, and the outcome isn't a cash prize, but a couple's opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to marry in the first place. 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. 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 everywhere from France to Australia and Germany to New Zealand. Source: ABC.com

    10 comments, last one Oct 16, 2009
  • Chastity (the girl)

    Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families - but not bedrooms - for two weeks on the new reality show Wife Swap, already a critically-acclaimedMore smash hit in its third season in the U.K. Wife Swap is not a competition or a contest. It is a reality show unlike any other, where the battlegrounds are the kitchens and living rooms, child-rearing is a subject of intense and heated debate, and the outcome isn't a cash prize, but a couple's opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to marry in the first place. 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. 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 everywhere from France to Australia and Germany to New Zealand. Source: ABC.com

    6 comments, last one Aug 11, 2009
  • I feel sorry for those kids...

    Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families - but not bedrooms - for two weeks on the new reality show Wife Swap, already a critically-acclaimedMore smash hit in its third season in the U.K. Wife Swap is not a competition or a contest. It is a reality show unlike any other, where the battlegrounds are the kitchens and living rooms, child-rearing is a subject of intense and heated debate, and the outcome isn't a cash prize, but a couple's opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to marry in the first place. 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. 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 everywhere from France to Australia and Germany to New Zealand. Source: ABC.com

    17 comments, last one Jul 9, 2009
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  •  
    8 Great

    Women trade families for a week. hide show

    This show is the biggest guilty pleasure for me, anything that repeats on Lifetime is. This show is really good at creating drama by purposely pairing opposite families together week after week but it shows a really great intersection of humanity that never fails to entertain. It is amazing at showing off the hypocrisy that people fall susceptible to and shows all the different flaws of people no matter how open minded they claim to be. I find that the people who often claim to be that open are the worst of all because they are stuck int their ways. This show bring humor and because it is in the house it takes people right where the heart is and you get to really see people in a way that you don't on other reality shows. I also love to watch a good fight.

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      0 0
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  •  
    4.5 Poor

    Engineering human dysfunctionality. hide show

    It's friday, December 19th, and all it took was the preview of this episode's comming attractions to get me to turn off the T.V. and head straight to the computer to write this review. The wife of a tornado chaser switching places with the wife of a safety freak. My, my. This show is only a hop, skip and a jump from the Jerry Springer Show in my opinion. The whole idea behind this show and shows like it is to exploit and at times, I think, engineer human dysfunctionality. You don't have to be Dr. Phil to guess how these two mismatched couples are going to fare. If you get off on watching people tear each other down, this is a good show I guess, but you get more for your money on the Springer show. Lotsa good fist fights on that one. Ugh.

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      0 3
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  •  
    10 Perfect

    this show is so awesome hide show

    in the review i said it was a daily fix, i ment weekley (every friday at eight). the show is really cool. i like picking out my favorite family even if they both are evil. the episode with the clowns was just wierd. i have probably seen every episode except the last one (December 5, 2008) and would like to know what happened (hint-hint) i really liked the pirate one. did i mention that i REALLY want to know what happened on the last episode (send responses to screen name ninja422) well, now i dont know what to type any more oh WOHOO! 100 words finally!

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      2 2
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  •  
    9.5 Superb

    Two families switch moms. hide show

    This is a truly guilty pleasure. It is so much fun watching the madness ensue.

    Typically I see one family that is somewhat normal with a few problems, and they switch with a family that is extremely bizarre and way outside the norm. One episode featured a poor family that hunts to lessen their grocery bill and put food on the table. They switched with a family who are raw food vegans and the mom thinks you can get all the food you want by looking at the sun. Also I noticed that typically one family will refuse to comply with the new rules. As in the Vegan/meat eater family. The vegan mom refused to see the other side and then expected the family to follow her rules.

    But the insanity is always there. Right now there is an episode on where a mom who is more or less a slave to her husband and son switched places with a Wicca goddess whose family worships her. The Wicca kids talk to elves and fairies.

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      1 1
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  •  
    9.5 Superb

    In the abc series "Wife Swap", two different families trade wives for two weeks. This show is very similar to the FOX series "Trading Spouses" except the mothers stay for two weeks, they do not recieve money in the end, and this is more heavily narrated. hide show

    Like "Trading Spouses", "Wife Swap" is usually a great television series, and one of my favorite things about shows like "Wife Swap" and "Trading Spouses" is that every episode is so different. Some are comical, some are insprirational, some have you at the edge of your seat, and some make you cry tears of joy. Of course, there is always the occasional episode that makes you angry or makes you cry tears of sorrow. Something that make me like "Wife Swap" more than "Trading Spouses" is the fact that "Wife Swap" is so heavily narrated, and whoever narrates it is so talented. He turns what would be an otherwise boring episode into a comedy. However, "Trading Spouses" has the twist that each family recieves $50,000, but that the new mom (or dad) will spend the money. Overall, I think that "Wife Swap" is a great show to watch when one is in the mood for some comedy.

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      2 4
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