A Laid Back Mom and a Controlling Mom Next Week on "Wife Swap"  6/12/07

A FREE-WHEELIN' MOTORCYCLE-RIDIN' MOM OF THREE TEENAGE GIRLS SWAPS WITH A WIFE WHO SPIES ON HER KIDS LIKE A COVERT C.I.A. AGENT, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

"Rowland/Rivera" -- This week in "Rowland/Rivera," a laid-back mother who can barely keep tabs on her three wild daughters swaps with a mother who acts like a jail warden and controls every aspect of her daughters' lives, on "Wife Swap," MONDAY, JUNE 18 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD 11/27/06)

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.

The Rowland family from Illinois live their lives in a war zone of their own making. Robin (36) and Doug (39) would rather be cruising on their motorcycle than parenting their three daughters, Kristin (17), Devin (15) and Sarah (13). To them the girls are all grown up, and now it's their turn as a couple to have fun. They believe that the only way for their girls to learn anything is by letting them make mistakes and learn from the experience. And any experience goes! Their foul-mouthed, wild and provocatively dressed daughters come and go as they please and show little respect for their parents - not that their parents even notice.

Robin travels to New Jersey where the Rivera family lives according to the motto "all work and no play." Grace (47) and Luis (45) treat their daughters, Melinda (17) and Marisa (11), like prison inmates, installing cameras throughout the house, checking their emails and even reading through their diaries. The girls are forbidden to hang out with friends and can't date boys until they're 21. The family dog is more spoiled than they are. Grace has trained her family to obey her every command, and everyone knows, "if Grace isn't happy, then nobody's happy!"

In the first week of the swap, in Illinois, Grace is mortified by the loosey-goosey lifestyle that the Rowlands live by, which includes older boys, smoking, foul language and no rules for the girls. She goes head to head with wild child Devin about her bad attitude. Devin responds by trying to intimidate Grace with her tough girl persona, which doesn't work the way it does with her own mom. Meanwhile in New Jersey, Robin is sickened by the way Luis and Grace watch over the girls with 24-hour surveillance, and tries to break through to Luis who, she suspects, is as afraid of Grace as his girls are.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, all hell breaks loose at the Rowland house when Grace and Devin finally come to blows in the most dramatic rule change ceremony in "Wife Swap" history. Grace forces Doug to open his eyes to the painful reality of his broken family and helps the Rowland girls to come together as a band of sisters. Meanwhile at the Rivera house, Robin empowers Grace's girls to take a stand against their parents' punishing ways by making a declaration of independence that is met with disappointing ambivalence.

At the end of the swap, when the families are reunited, will Robin learn that her daughters are crying out for parents who are present and make boundaries for them? Will Grace unlock the prison she has created and give her daughters the freedom for which they yearn?

"Wife Swap" is an RDF USA 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.

"Wife Swap" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG,L parental guideline.

Source: ABC Press Release