3/29/2005: ABC's "Wife Swap" in trouble
The ABC version of the show where moms from two families trade places for two weeks has scrapped production of an upcoming episode because one of the dads slugged his 13-year-old daughter in the face during taping. Considering the caricature lifestyles they select for the swap families, it's only surprising that something like this - or worse - hasn't happened sooner.
Fox has a similar show "Trading Spouses" which is virtually identical. Both were ripped off from the UK original, and all of them seem to be suing each other. I haven't seen the British version, but both US shows are utterly predictable from the opening minutes of each ep: they've swapped moms from an atheist family with a born-again Christian family, alligator farmers with vegans, hippies with yuppies.. you get the idea. No surprises. But it does make for volatility and some heated discussions & high blood pressure in each household. "Wife Swap" has also been in the news lately for over-editing and over-coaching the participants (i.e. scripting) to help make episodes more of a magnet for ratings.
This latest problem (read the full story) is disturbing in more ways than I can count. You have to wonder why a family in which the dad slugs his daughter applies to go on a show like this in the first place. (It's beyond unlikely that he'd do so for the first time when a network camera crew is around..) ABC says they won't air the episode now - I suppose that's to protect the daughter, although none of the networks seem to care about humiliating kids in other reality shows. In fact, many of the kids in both wife swap shows look like they've got some healthy lawsuits brewing for when they're old enough to sue the shows, the producers, the networks, their parents, etc. ABC certainly isn't out to protect the privacy of the punching dad either: his identity - Yanni Panagiotakis, Nashville restaurant owner - was included in the announcement of the incident.
The news reports describe how the ABC filming crew heroically took the girl to a hospital for x-rays and then put her and her 9-year-old brother in a hotel with a rep from Children's Services until their swapped-out mom returned home. It sounds to me like ABC is trying to appear noble in this, with quotes like "The well-being of all participants in 'Wife Swap' is a top priority" but if you've seen the show, you know that's a lie.. unless they don't consider emotional and psychological damage part of "well-being". The kids in these shows didn't sign any contracts to allow their worst behavior to be shown on tv, and they have to grow up with these tapes floating around describing what awful parenting they had (one of the producers' favorite themes for each episode.)
The outcome of this latest fiasco so far: Daddy Panagiotakis was charged with domestic assault, but released on $1,000 bail. Mom's comment upon her return: "Please leave us alone so we can get our lives back together." Hmmm maybe she should have thought of that before signing up for a tv show.
Still not worried about airing your family's dirty laundry for us to snicker at?
ABC Wife Swap application
Fox Trading Spouses application
