THURSDAY 19 MAY
Entertainment
Wife Swap
8:00pm - 9:00pm
Channel 4
VIDEO Plus+: 2838
Subtitled
1/7
The format is the same as ours but the American version of Wife Swap has a brasher feel. The pounding music could induce heart failure and John Schwab's narration is so haranguing it could make your ears bleed. He explains what's happening at least twice. The couples in the first show are perfect Wife Swap fodder. There's Caprice Policchio, a control freak from the Pittsburgh suburbs who drinks coffee through a straw so it won't stain her teeth. She's swapping her orderly lifestyle with the fabulously named Bambi Pitts from Connecticut, who has a filthy, chaotic house crawling with pets. It's as toe-curlingly entertaining as ever, but don't expect a confrontation between the wives. They're surprisingly restrained. The worst thing Bambi says to Caprice is: "I hate you." Ooh, how mean.