WIFE SWAP - A shocking episode

I've moaned in the past about how sometimes on Wife Swap the families involve don't seem as if they've been transformed by the experience all that much.  Often the primary reaction is, "Man, am I glad that crazy woman is out of our house!"  However, on every show each family involved does honestly find a new appreciation for their wife/mother, and with some families that's a huge step forward.

This week I was shocked by the outcome of the Wife Swap.  I'll get to that in a second.

The families involved this week were the meticulous upper middle class Tower family and the not-meticulous drag racing Sundstrom clan.  There was the usual culture shock and snap judgments as the two wives switched places.  Joy Tower was particularly obnoxious and judgmental about the quality of human beings she was spending two weeks with, using terms like "low class" and "trailer trash" and "white trash" to describe her temporary family.  Of course we also got the usual butting-of-heads and hurt feelings that we come to expect from the show.

But this week the two families seemed like they had really been transformed by the wife exchange.  To her credit, Joy does a complete reversal and realizes that there is more to life than buffing your granite countertops twice a day and admits that she was unfairly judgmental about the Sundstroms from the start.  It dawns on drag racing Stephanie that life can be more enjoyable if your house isn't a total disaster zone and that pool tables should be used for playing pool instead of storing heaps of laundry. 

Shocking!

Plus, both families seemed really cool.  The Sundstrom and the Tower kids were awesome in their own ways, and the dads were nice guys who opened themselves up (eventually) to the lessons the experience offered.  It was like the ideal episode of Wife Swap - you had your drama and conflict, but everyone walked away from it a winner.

--Dave Campbell

Comments

[Ken]

Dave, did you know that James Remar was originally cast to play Hicks in Aliens?

[Stephanie Sundstrom!]

Hi Dave thanks for the good words.We had a great time on the show,I'm glad you liked it.