Reality TV: The Turn On

The other day my friend Dora came over to cut my hair and made me tune into “Wife Swap.” (She had the scissors, so who was I to argue?) In case you are, as I was, unfamiliar with this groundbreaking example of cinema verite, “Wife Swap” takes the female heads-of-households from two polar-opposite families and makes them switch places – husband, kids, house, job, the works – and then shows the audience at home what happens.

The night we watched, the two families were on the opposite extremes of the discipline spectrum: one ran their household like a combination boot camp/juvenile detention center, the other like a wet T-shirt-filled spring break fling in Cancun. You can just imagine the fun shenanigans that ensued. It was like a car wreck – I just couldn’t stop myself from watching – and tsk tsk’ing about each family’s behavior: this one was too lenient, the other one was too strict, with the implication, of course, that mine was just right.

And that’s when it hit me – why we can’t get enough of shows like “Wife Swap,” “Nanny 911,” and the like. With just a few clicks of the remote, chances are good that we’ll be able to eavesdrop on a family even more dysfunctional than our own. That’s something I’m going to try to keep in mind as I prepare to spend 13 days on vacation with six other people sharing my DNA and/or address.

So stay tuned. My Fussy Family on Vacation should be good for several new reality series – or, at the very least, blog posts.

Comments

Does this 13 days mean "away on vacation" or just "at home on vacation" because there would be a difference. If you take the family on a trip to some island, for example, they will be too occupied to torture you, or eachother. That's what I'm hoping anyway :)

Love reality shows so I'm looking forward to watching Fussy Family! Hope 13 (days) is a lucky number and you all have fun!!