Wife Swap ("reality" TV)

Reality TV is the bane of civilization, and Wife Swap is one of the dregs.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it.

Two families, usually from vastly different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers (and sometimes husbands) for two weeks. In fact, the programme will usually deliberately swap wives with extreme, polar opposite lifestyles, such as a dramatically messy wife swapping with a fastidiously neat one. Despite using a phrase from the swinging lifestyle, couples participating in the show do not share a bed with the "swapped" spouse while "swapping" homes.

During the first week, the new wife must adhere to exactly the same rules and lifestyle of the wife she is replacing. Each wife leaves a house manual which explains her role in the family and the duties she holds. This almost always determines what rules the wives will apply at the "rules change ceremony".

During the second week, the new wives are allowed to establish their own rules, and their new families must adhere to these new household rules. It usually takes a while for the families to adjust to this policy, meanwhile the wives disperse a sum of money to the family they have become immersed in, to do what the wives see fit to spend it on.

At the end of the two weeks, the two couples all meet together for the first time, and the wives, along with their husbands, discuss how they felt about the two weeks. This often descends into personal insults and has degenerated into violence at least twice. More often than not, however, both families reach toward a middle ground and express that they have learned from the experience. Sometimes, the table meeting is a very heartfelt and emotional time for the two families who sometimes have complete and mutual respect for each other. A few weeks later the cameras return to record what changes have occurred since the wife swap.

If a couple is having a problem with their relationship or their children, they need to see a professional, not broadcast their lives on public TV for all to see (which I daresay would scar the kids even more, as their peers will relentlessly tease them now until they get out of school, and maybe even on to college, kids being what they are.)

The show debuted in England in 2003, and proved to be so popular that an American version debuted in 2004... and is apparently still going strong.

Sad, sad, sad.