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WIFE SWAP
Air Date: Friday, October 17, 2008
Time Slot: 8:00 PM-9:00 PM EST on ABC
Episode Title: (#503) "Kinsman/Thompson"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

A RUGGED MAINE LOBSTERWOMAN SWAPS LIVES WITH A CALIFORNIA PRINCESS, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

This week in "Kinsman/Thompson," a rugged lobsterwoman who wears clothes till they fall apart swaps lives with a fashion obsessed Cali-girl who shops every day and bought her biggest assets from a plastic surgeon, on "Wife Swap," FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Each week from across the country, two very different families take part in a two-week long challenge: The wives exchanges husbands, children, and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it's like to live in another woman's shoes. It's a mind-blowing experiment that changes lives forever.

The Kinsman family lives a simple, frugal life in Maine. Captain Bob (54), a lobsterman, and wife Barbara (49) live in a rustic log cabin with Barbara's daughter, Casey (13). Lobstering is financially insecure so the Kinsmans pinch pennies wherever they can, heating their cabin with wood from the forest, drying their old clothes on the line and picking up treasures from the local dump. Casey has to make do with her mom's hand me downs and out of date fashionsit's been a year since Barbara bought her any clothes. Life for Casey is strict, structured and full of chores. Captain Bob tries to support his step-daughter in sports, but he treats her more like a crewmate than the sensitive 13-year-old she is.

In California Michelle Thompson (35) brings new meaning to the phrase "shop til you drop" she shops in stores or online every day, filling her and her family's closets with up to date labeled fashions in the pursuit of looking great. Husband Carey (37) has spent thousands of dollars on Michelle's plastic surgeries and high-end wardrobe and loves people noticing his "hot" family. The three Thompson kids -- Brandon (9), Megan (6) and Noah (4) -- have to be bribed to behave, and even then the bribery doesn't work for long. Brandon is Carey's stepson and their relationship is difficult Carey can't decide whether to be a parent or a friend, so the two tend to ignore each other.

In the first week of the swap, Barbara scrubs up well with Michelle's hour-and-half-hair and make-up routine and is appalled at the money pouring out of Carey's wallet and the lack of structure and discipline in the house. Meanwhile, Michelle sees the fishy side of the Kinsmans as she puts on her waders and starts scooping dead fish on Captain Bob's lobster boat. At home she rebels against the number of chores Casey has to do and becomes upset about the lack of connection between Bob and his step-daughter.

In week two the wives change the rules. Barbara and Carey clash as she tries to introduce structure, discipline and a budget in the Thompson home. In Maine Michelle begins the mission of building Casey's confidence and showing Captain Bob that his rough, tough lobstering ways are ruining his relationship with his sensitive step-daughter. At the end of the week, will Captain Bob show his softer side? And can Barbara show Carey that money is not the way to a happy family?

"Wife Swap" is an RDF USA production. It was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Mike Gamson, Stef Wagstaffe and Michael Davies of Embassy Row ("Who Wants to be a Millionare"). Stephen Pettinger, Neil Regan, Julie Cooper and Will Nothacker are co-executive producers. "Wife Swap" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be posted closer to airdate.







WIFE SWAP (ABC)
BROADCAST HISTORY:
9/26/04 - ???
STATUS:
returning in 2010 (yet to premiere)
TIME SLOT:
not on the schedule
CURRENT SEASON:
6 (??? episodes)
VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
renewed through the 2009-10 season (the show's sixth) on 4/23/09
DESCRIPTION:
(from ABC's web site, March 2009) 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. 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 include a variety of spousal swaps: a wife who caters to her beauty pageant teenage daughter's every whim -- and even does her homework -- swaps lives with a super feminist wife whose children can change a flat tire; a drill sergeant wife who disciplines her children by making them do push ups in the front yard swaps lives with a prankster mom whose only rule is to have fun; the wife of a competitive truck puller who pays more attention to his vehicles than to her swaps lives with a stylish, high maintenance wife who's waited on hand and foot by her adoring husband; an artistic, open, burlesque mom swaps lives with a lumberjack mom who is very protective of her kids; a fun loving wife who performs as a clown swaps with an ultra strict wife who trains her children instead of raising them; and a laid-back magician's wife who loathes domestic duties swaps lives with a demanding wedding-planner wife who's an obsessive clean freak and micromanages her husband's and children's lives. 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 in more than twenty international territories. Wife Swap is an RDF Media production. It was created by Stephen Lambert (Faking It and Junkyard Wars) and is executive produced by Mike Gamson. Stephen Pettinger and Neil Regan are the co-executive producers.
CREW INFORMATION:
· Julie Cooper as CO-EP
· Michael Davies as EP
· Mike Gamson as EP
· Neil Regan as CO-EP
· Stef Wagstaffe as EP
· Stephen Lambert as CRTR/EP
· Stephen Pettinger as CO-EP
· Will Nothacker as CO-EP
GENRE(S):
· reality (all)
· reality (documentary)
STUDIO INFORMATION:
· Embassy Row
· RDF USA