Wife Swap (British TV series)

During the first week, the new wife must adhere to exactly the same rules and lifestyle of the wife she is replacing. Each wife leaves behind a house manual which explains her role in the family and the duties she holds. This almost always determines what rules the wives will apply at the "rules change ceremony". During the second week, the new wives are allowed to establish their own rules, and their new families must adhere to these new household rules. It usually takes a while for the families to adjust to this policy, meanwhile the wives disburse a sum of money to the family they have become involved with, to do what the wives see fit to spend it on. At the end of the two weeks, the two couples all meet together for the first time, and the wives, along with their husbands, discuss how they felt about the two weeks. This often descends into personal insults and has degenerated into violence at least twice. More often than not, however, both families reach toward a middle ground and express that they have learned from the experience. Sometimes, the table meeting is a very heartfelt and emotional time for the two families who sometimes have complete and mutual respect for each other. A few weeks later, the cameras return to record what changes have occurred since the wife swap. ==Transmissions==

Wife Swap had 11 total seasons, as well as a celebrity version. This table is approximate as exact dates are not known for all seasons. Series Specials Celebrity Wife Swap There were nine celebrity episodes, airing between 11 November 2003 and 16 August 2009. == International versions ==

Boss Swap A spin-off, Boss Swap, was broadcast as a series in the UK. A pilot for an American series was shown on ABC but was not commissioned. Husband Swap and Vacation Swap pilots were also broadcast in America, but were not picked up for series production. In the Netherlands and Belgium Vacation Swap episodes, are produced as "Jouw vakantie, mijn vakantie". At least once a husband and a live-in boyfriend swapped while the women stayed with their families. X-Change There is an ongoing series on China's Hunan Television in which the people being swapped are mostly the eldest children (or in rare cases, youngest or all children) of between 9–16 years old. One of these comes from an affluent family, but with behavioural and legal issues, in which they must surrender all technological gadgets and money (except for the allowances left by the opposite family, or any money they earned or collected). The other is from a poorer agricultural village, often orphaned or with single parents. This show also has celebrity mentors making videos of support for the participants. In the Netherlands the same format is being used in KRO's Puberruil, broadcast on NPO3. The children are 15–18 years old. Most of the time Dutch children are swapped, but there are also episodes named "Puberruil buitenland" where Dutch children are swapped with children in countries like India, Brazil and Sierra Leone. Longer episodes are called "Puberruil Xtra". == In popular culture ==

• In 2007, Richard Thomas's BBC Two series Kombat Opera Presents included a musical parody of the USA version of Wife Swap, under the title Spouse Change. • In The Vicar of Dibley, Alice Tinker mentions going on the programme. • In 2009 during a week of EastEnders, Max Branning and Tanya Branning swapped lifestyles with Ian Beale and Jane Beale for a week. • The programme was parodied in the children's programme Horrible Histories, where it was called Historical Wife Swap. In the sketch, wives from different positions, such as a Viking and a thrall, or a Pharaoh and a peasant would swap, showing how these people lived. There were seven sketches in total, appearing in series 1–5. == References ==