A New Season of "Wife Swap" Premieres Tonight on ABC  1/2/08

A MOM WHO CATERS TO HER BEAUTY PAGEANT TEENAGE DAUGHTER'S EVERY WHIM AND EVEN DOES HER HOMEWORK SWAPS LIVES WITH A SUPERFEMINIST MOM WITH HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN WHO CAN CHANGE A FLAT TIRE, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

This week in "Boss/Gustaferro," a former pageant queen Mom whose daughter is following in her footsteps swaps lives with a feminist Mom who homeschools her kids and disapproves of makeup and beauty, on the season premiere of "Wife Swap," WEDNESDAY JANUARY 2 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

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.

Upstate New York mom Karen Gustaferro (54) has made her home fit for a queen -- a pageant queen that is. A former pageant contestant herself, Karen waits on her daughter Alisha (15) hand and foot. Their home is a shrine to beauty, pageant trophies and sparkle. Alisha has been winning pageants since she was 11 months old and says she "feels sorry for anyone who's not gorgeous." Anything Alisha wants, Alisha gets, including a gift every single day under the Gustaferro's year-round Christmas tree. Ralph (61) works tirelessly to keep up with Alisha'a $100,000 a year pageant lifestyle. He loves his pageant princess and wants to make her happy all the time, allowing her "choreless" schedule of pageants, social activities and cheerleading to run their lives. At school, Alisha is one of the most popular girls, and the family embraces that, playing chauffeur to her and all her friends.

Karen travels to the Indiana home of the Boss Family, where wife Angie (36), husband DuWain (41) and their daughters, Kaylyn (12), Clara (6), and Katy (2), live a modest and religious life. Angie is a feminist who teaches her girls how to live a life free from pop culture and typical female stereotypes. She homeschools her children and teaches them to be strong, academic and independent. They're told not to rely on men, and have been taught auto mechanics so they can change the oil and flat tire of a car in case of emergency. DuWain is a special education teacher whose personal hero is Mr. Rogers. He is super strict with his daughters and says, only half jokingly, that his daughters will not be able to date until they're 30. Kaylyn is very sheltered and thinks having a lot of friends would cause a lot of problems. Clara, on the other hand, is just waiting to break out from under her mom's iron fist and secretly dreams of being a pop star.

In the first week of the swap, Karen can't hide her dislike of the Boss' "boring" lifestyle and Kaylyn tries to convince her of the dangers of negative representations of women in media ads, but Karen just complains that they have no sparkle in their life. When Karen breaks the rules and paints Clara's nails and Karen calls Kaylyn a "geek," Kaylyn tattles to DuWain. Meanwhile in the Gustaferro household, Angie is appalled by Alisha's entitled and spoiled behavior at the local diner and is disgusted by Ralph's attitude to women and his belief that beauty is more important than brains.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, Karen and DuWain cross swords when Karen brings beauty pageant gowns and makeup into the house to prep Clara for her first pageant. DuWain storms out of the house with the girls, but his attitude starts to change when he sees his daughter compete in her first beauty pageant. Meanwhile, an angry Ralph kicks Angie out of the house after she rips up one of Alisha's promo shots. Eventually he allows Angie to return, and she tries to teach Alisha how to be independent by finding her a job as a waitress and teaching her how to cook a meal for her father. While she and Alisha bond over cooking, there's no love lost between Angie and Ralph when Angie confronts him about his sexist views and bullying ways.

At the end of the swap, when the couples are reunited, will Karen realize that looks aren't everything and that her daughter's lifestyle is overpowering their own? Will Angie let her girls be more girly and let a little sparkle into their lives?

"Wife Swap" is an RDF Media production. It was created by Stephen Lambert ("Faking It" and "Junkyard Wars") and is executive-produced by Stef Wagstaffe and Michael Davies ("Who Wants to be a Millionaire"). Mike Gamson, Stephanie Schwam Adams and Mitchell Rosenbaum are the co-executive producers.

"Wife Swap" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

 

Source: ABC Press Release

 

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