COULD YOUR FAMILY SURVIVE A TWO WEEK VACATION WITH
A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FAMILY YOU'VE NEVER MET?
See What Happens When a Millionaire Family Accustomed to a Luxurious Lifestyle,
Complete with a Butler and Chef, Goes on Holiday with a Blue-Collar Family Whose
Idea of a Vacation Is Roughing it in a Trailer Park, on ABC'S "Vacation Swap"
This week a millionaire family from Georgia goes on vacation with a blue collar middle class family from southern California, in "Vacation Swap: Hawn/Orlando," a variation of ABC's "Wife Swap" -- the critically acclaimed unscripted reality show that takes us into the intimate heart of the American family home, revealing the extraordinarily different ways families live their lives � MONDAY, MAY 26 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. (Rebroadcast. OAD 3/23/05)
For this special broadcast, two families who have never met both agree to take vacations together. In the first week, one family goes on vacation with the other at a location and in a style that's completely foreign to them, while in the second week, the other family vacations the way the first traditionally does. It'll be a vacation package neither will ever forget.
Chelle Hawn (44) and her four sons, Mark (21), Brian (20), Joe (17) and Ben (13), live in the lap of luxury in their mansion in Georgia. Used to getting whatever they desire at home, family vacations tend to be over the top. Wherever they go, the Hawns travel in full style because money is no object. Their traditional vacation includes skiing in ritzy Aspen, Colorado, where they rent a house for 10K a night -- including a private chef and butler. But once there, the Hawns spend so much time doing their own things that their vacations aren't the bonding experience they should be.
On the other side of the country, Jackie Orlando (50), also nicknamed "Big Mama," her husband, Joe (51), and their three children, Joe (20), Stephanie (20) and Matthew (14), are a close knit family from southern California. This down-to-earth family is so animated that neighbors call the clan "the loud Orlandos." Their traditional vacation includes fitting the family of five into their tiny trailer and traveling to a low-budget RV park outside a dairy farm in Southern California. But the Orlandos go camping every single vacation, and wonder if they shouldn't broaden their horizons.
In the first week of the swap, the Orlandos have to extinguish the campfire and join the Hawns in Aspen to spend a week contending with snow skiing, fine dining, dressing for dinner -- and being subjected to condescending remarks by the Hawns, particularly regarding their scruffy appearance and lack of sophistication.
But in the second week, it's the Hawns who go into culture shock when the Orlandos present them with a trailer of their own for the week. The campsite smells of cows and disgusts clean freak Chelle who, along with her four boys, all fail to pull their weight with the communal camping chores � much to Big Mama's fury. Things reach a boiling point when Chelle, offended by some of the Orlandos' off-color campfire stories, confronts Big Mama about her family's manners. Then, to make matters worse, the sewage line for the Hawn trailer breaks and the fastidious Chelle is forced to deal with it herself�
By the end of the two week vacation swap, will the families have learned that, as far as family vacations go, hell is other people? Or will they this year bring home something more valuable from vacation than just a souvenir?
"Vacation Swap" is an RDF Media production. It's executive-produced by Shauna Minoprio, Joe Houlihan, Grant Mansfield and Michael Davies. Sara Mast is supervising producer.
This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.
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