A FAMILY OF BALLET DANCING GOTHS THAT PICNICS IN CEMETERIES SWAPS WITH
A FANATICAL HOCKEY FAMILY THAT HATES LOSERS, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"
"Schroeder/Wardle" - An artistic Goth family that encourages the kids to talk to the dead swaps with a family of hockey fanatics that doesn't hesitate to call kids losers when they play badly, on "Wife Swap," FRIDAY, JUNE 18 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. Each week two very contradictory families from across the country participate in a two-week-long challenge: The wives exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover daily life in another woman's shoes. This astonishing experiment changes lives and redefines families. (Rebroadcast: OAD: 4/30/10)
Welcome to the dark side! The Addams Family have got nothing on the Schroeders from Indiana, who embrace Goth culture, dressing in black, decorating their home with skulls and finding beauty where other people don't think to look - like graveyards, where they hold regular family picnics. Mom Sheila wears vintage funeral dresses out shopping, and is proud her daughters can talk to the dead and know five ways to kill a zombie. Former dancer Dad Eric has a taste for Goth skirts, platform boots and long black and blue hair, and encourages the kids to dress Goth too -- despite the fact they could be teased at school. Their four kids, Jordan (13), Alek (11), Ravynn (7) and Whisper (6), are encouraged to be independent, learn about the arts and practice ballet. Sheila and Eric refuse to believe that they should give in to society's ideas of what is normal, and they discourage competitive sports, even though both Jordan and Alek have expressed a desire do sports instead of ballet.
Meanwhile in New York, it's all about sports and competition for the hockey fanatical Wardle family. Mom Stacy is right next to Ed at every hockey activity, pushing her boys to win and calling them losers if they don't. Super competitive Ed and Stacy motivate their boys by singing songs about them sucking at hockey, and image conscious Stacy wants to make sure the whole family looks stylish. Their boys, Everett (10) and Ellis (6), are the hockey stars of the family; Emma (14) loves ballet, but her parents would rather be at the hockey rink than watch her perform ballet, so Emma often feels left out.
In the first week, Sheila arrives at her new prim and proper home and must transform into a hockey mom. At practice Sheila is uncomfortable telling the boys to play harder and calling them losers, and she's disturbed that Stacy and Ed never pay much attention to Emma's love of dance. Finally Sheila is overwhelmed when the whole family decide she's not up to the job and sing to her that she sucks at being a hockey mom. In Indiana Stacy is mortified at the skulls and Goth art in the Schroeder home. After meeting the family, she refuses to dress in Goth attire and can't understand why Eric and Sheila would expose their kids to ridicule. Stacy is upset when the boys complain about how they want to play sports, and when she has to go on a family picnic in a graveyard, she decides the whole family is "weird, just weird." After two weeks in another home, can Sheila Schroeder convince the Wardles to turn Goth and encourage Emma's passion for dance? And can Stacy Wardle succeed in bringing competitive sports and stylish new look to the Gothic Schroeders ?
"Wife Swap" is an RDF USA production, created by Stephen Lambert and executive-produced by Mike Gamson and Michael Davies of Embassy Row. Stephen Pettinger, Neil Regan, Julie Cooper, Will Nothacker and Ed Simpson are co-executive producers. This program carries a TV-PG,L parental guideline.
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