Swaping Reality (When you think you've seen it all, ABC digs even deeper)

Ramblings' Journal | 2.9.04 | Michael King

[mhking]

Swaping Reality

When you think television has scraped the bottom of the barrel, something even more ridiculous comes along.

I got an e-mail from my editor at Project 21 today. He had been contacted by someone with ABC television, concerning an upcoming reality television show, The Swap, currently scheduled to air Summer 2004. They are looking for "conservative black families" to participate in the show.

The premise? Two families swap moms for ten days. The first five days, the moms adjust to and try to fit into their new families. The second five days, the new moms get to make any changes they see fit and get to run their new households any way they want.

The Swap delves into all the particulars in the lives of American families by having the mothers from two families switch places for ten days. Families (and viewers) will quickly discover that what is deemed 'conventional' in one family can be considered unorthodox and completely bizarre in another.

During the first five days the Moms try to fit into the routine and adopt the lifestyle of their new family, giving all a chance to become familiar with each other. For the second five days the new Moms make any changes they see fit and run the home in a way that suits them.

The Swap will document all the details: how couples share (or don't share) housework and child-rearing responsibilities, how they spend their money, how they spend their leisure time. At the end of each show, the families get a chance to take a step back and look at their own family dynamics from a slight distance – often gaining new and fascinating insights in the process.

Damn near anyone conservative that hears this (not to mention the vast majority of Christians) will immediately look at this notion as not only stupid, but immoral to boot.

Maybe they'll do better with finding someone in Utah.

If you think that you're desperate enough to participate in a reality show like this, they left an e-mail address to write: theswap@rdfmedia.com; the website is online at TheSwapTVShow.com.

[longtermmemmory]

and this is somehow different from step families how?

ABC is lame. Too bad its not a horse.

[longtermmemmory]

I think reality shows have take off because they are very inexpensive. No writing, no actors or actresses,no shelf life to worry about residuals.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Bill Clinton would probably participate, but problem is, he's too damn liberal.

[hunter112]

Good point about the fake field goals, I don't consider obviously staged entertainment as "reality TV", but I guess some do.

But what they call it doesn't really matter it is still going to be stupid anyway.

I'll admit, we've all had to lowball our expectations about what to expect from TV, but there is a remote possibility of this show exploring family values, you just can't say that about "The Bachelor".

[<1/1,000,000th%]

So when the husbands say they have sex every night, what happens?

[NYCVirago]

In "Man About the House," the UK series that inspired Three's Company, the guy (Jack) was red blooded male trying to bed the girl roommates. The sexual tension made the jokes hilarious. Of course, lust is too rich an emotion for the pabulum-rich American TV, so Jack had to be sexually toned down until he was a proto-fag, as played by Ritter. The portrayal of him trying to be sexual but laboring under Puritan guilt about the filth of it all made Jack a pathetic boy.

You must not have watched the same Three's Company episodes I saw in the 70s. Jack Tripper had to pretend to be gay in front of Mr. Roper so that the landlord wouldn't throw him out, but that didn't make him a "proto-fag". And he was constantly leering at Chrissy and Janet, not to mention every other woman who walked by. There was no "Puritan guilt about the filth of it all", but there were lots of sexual and other misunderstandings. Three's Company is still one of the best-loved TV shows ever.

[gcruse]

It was a piece of crap, and this:

Jack Tripper had to pretend to be gay

is the proto-faggotry copout I'm talking about.