A Pet Funeral Home Mom and a Shock Jock Mom Tonight on "Wife Swap"

A Pet Funeral Home Mom and a Shock Jock Mom Tonight on "Wife Swap" 3/5/08

MARCH 5

A TRADITIONAL WIFE WHO RUNS THE PET FUNERAL AND CREMATORIUM FAMILY BUSINESS SWAPS LIVES WITH A WIFE WHO'S A SHOCK JOCK RADIO DJ, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

This week in "McGoldrick/Noel," a traditional wife who works non-stop at her family's pet funeral home swaps lives with a punk rock wife who works as a raunchy shock jock radio DJ, on "Wife Swap," WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5 (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.

Sue Ann (56) McGoldrick is a traditional Texan mom who handles all of the domestics and can't sit still. She works hard at the family pet funeral and crematory business and her husband, Tom, puts in 16-hour days working in the sweltering crematorium. He operates the bone crusher, the incinerator and prepares the funerals for a wide variety of animals, including orangutans, parakeets, goldfish and llamas. He works six days a week and is always on call. Sue Ann feels that the man should be strong and be the provider of the family. Both parents believe that a person's appearance is a reflection of who he/she is as a person. To give the proper impression, they dress conservatively and make sure everything is ironed and presentable. Daughter Meghann (16) is a competitive swimmer who is on two teams and practices twice a day for a total of five hours. She is extremely competitive and always strives to win 1st place. The entire family is overscheduled. Between work and school, they seldom find themselves together in the same room.

Sue Ann travels to upstate New York to swap lives with anti-soccer mom Cat (32) Noel, a raunchy shock jock DJ on a popular local morning radio show, whose outspoken comments never fail to provoke (and can offend) her listeners. While she's on the air, devoted husband Edward (43), who calls himself Cat's wife, is home taking care of the chores and walking the cat. Edward has to handle everything around the house or it just won't get done. The Noels detest structure and call themselves the "Punk Rock Cleavers." They feel schedules are overbearing and aren't healthy for kids. Cat and Edward take pride in eccentric appearances: Mom is covered in tattoos and has hot pink hair, and Dad only wears colorful Hawaiian shirts and always encourages son James (12) to express himself. James is not involved in any activities outside of school, and his parents don't push or encourage him to take part in any sports.

In the first week of the swap, Sue Ann has to take over shock jock DJ duties while new husband Edward does all the housework and takes care of her every need. She feels Edward has lost his manhood and is appalled by Cat's meager salary and the family's reliance on its income. She confronts Edward about his lack of ambition and his reluctance to pursue his graphic art design dreams. Meanwhile, Cat's sense of humor shocks the family and clashes with the very serious business of their pet funeral and crematorium. Tom criticizes Cat's inability to adhere to their work schedule. She recognizes Tom and Meghann's lack of family time together, and talks candidly with Tom about his extreme focus on work.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, Sue Ann comes down hard on Edward as she tries to convince him that he needs to be more assertive and more of a man than a doormat. She schedules a job interview for him at an ad agency to help him fulfill his potential as a professional artist. Edward sabotages the interview and says he'd rather work as a dishwasher, so Sue Ann gets him a job as a dishwasher. Meanwhile in the McGoldrick house, Cat tries to improve Meghann and Tom's communication skills by enforcing an exercise where they have to talk to a large plastic ear. She clashes with Tom when she tries to loosen up the family business by recording a funny radio ad about their pet cemetery business.

At the end of the swap, when the couples are reunited, will Sue Ann bury her old self and try to laugh more and work less at their home? Will Cat learn to be more serious and structured and let Edward do what he wants?

"Wife Swap" is an RDF USA production. It was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Stef Wagstaffe and Stephen Lambert of RDF Media ("Faking It" and "Junkyard Wars") and Michael Davies of Embassy Row ("Who Wants to be a Millionaire"). Mike Gamson and Nick McKinney 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