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Next wave: bad kids, brave wives
"Brat Camp" heads to U.S. By MICHAEL GIL TZ
THlNK reality shows
have gone as far as
they can? Think again.
Wife swapping and boot
camp for back-talking
teens are just lhe latest
outrageous reality shows
from overseas that are
coming soon to America.
Because Britain is the
home of smashes like
"American Idol" and
"Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire," most British
hits are instantly snapped
up by the major networks
looking for a new reality
genre. Up first? "Wife Swap."
In this hit show -re
named simply "The
Swap" by a prudish ABC
for its a seven-part series
in spring or summer -
two women exchange fam
ilies (but not bedrooms)
for 10 days.
The debut episode in
England caused a stir by
pairing a white woman
who is opposed to interra-.
cial marriages with a sexist
black man and his family.
The less incendiary US
version has a California
New Age-y vegetarian
swapping lives with a sub-urban Italian family from
the Northeast. ABC's real
ity guru Andrea Wong told
Variety: "We made the
pilot and just loved it. It's
funny; it's dramatic."
And back in the UK,
they've come up with a
spin-off: "Celebrity Wife
Swap" is the No.1 show on
Britain's top commercial
channel right now.
Another big UK hit? The
deliciously titled .. Brat
Camp," which takes six
misbehaving teenagers and
sends them on an Outward
Bound-type journey for 50
days in Utah where they
face subzero temperatures and no-nonsense instruc
tors.
The kids are genuinely
troubled: Dan, Tom and
James are all drug addicts,
Charlie and Fran (the
show's breakout brat) have
destructive rages and Ra
chaeI is a binge drinker.,
Watching these kids who
used to get away with mur
der paying their dues is
terrific fun -with counse
lors devising punishments
like making every kid who
swears pick up a stone and
put it'in their backpack.
The finale airs tomorrow
night in Britain, with view
ers tuning in to see which kids "graduate" and which
have more growing up to
do.
According to the show's
producers, they've held off
until the final ratings are in
before deciding which
overseas offer they'll take.
Another batch of epi
sodes is already in the
works and Jameli :-:;-, the
16-year-old drug ~ser -
says the show has ,helped
him. and even his friends.
Sort of.
"One of my mates isiike,
'You're my idol; I'm pnly
smoking [pot] once a week
now;" James told a British
magazine. I
I
I
I
I
I I
I
"Brat Camp" heads to U.S. By MICHAEL GIL TZ
THlNK reality shows
have gone as far as
they can? Think again.
Wife swapping and boot
camp for back-talking
teens are just lhe latest
outrageous reality shows
from overseas that are
coming soon to America.
Because Britain is the
home of smashes like
"American Idol" and
"Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire," most British
hits are instantly snapped
up by the major networks
looking for a new reality
genre. Up first? "Wife Swap."
In this hit show -re
named simply "The
Swap" by a prudish ABC
for its a seven-part series
in spring or summer -
two women exchange fam
ilies (but not bedrooms)
for 10 days.
The debut episode in
England caused a stir by
pairing a white woman
who is opposed to interra-.
cial marriages with a sexist
black man and his family.
The less incendiary US
version has a California
New Age-y vegetarian
swapping lives with a sub-urban Italian family from
the Northeast. ABC's real
ity guru Andrea Wong told
Variety: "We made the
pilot and just loved it. It's
funny; it's dramatic."
And back in the UK,
they've come up with a
spin-off: "Celebrity Wife
Swap" is the No.1 show on
Britain's top commercial
channel right now.
Another big UK hit? The
deliciously titled .. Brat
Camp," which takes six
misbehaving teenagers and
sends them on an Outward
Bound-type journey for 50
days in Utah where they
face subzero temperatures and no-nonsense instruc
tors.
The kids are genuinely
troubled: Dan, Tom and
James are all drug addicts,
Charlie and Fran (the
show's breakout brat) have
destructive rages and Ra
chaeI is a binge drinker.,
Watching these kids who
used to get away with mur
der paying their dues is
terrific fun -with counse
lors devising punishments
like making every kid who
swears pick up a stone and
put it'in their backpack.
The finale airs tomorrow
night in Britain, with view
ers tuning in to see which kids "graduate" and which
have more growing up to
do.
According to the show's
producers, they've held off
until the final ratings are in
before deciding which
overseas offer they'll take.
Another batch of epi
sodes is already in the
works and Jameli :-:;-, the
16-year-old drug ~ser -
says the show has ,helped
him. and even his friends.
Sort of.
"One of my mates isiike,
'You're my idol; I'm pnly
smoking [pot] once a week
now;" James told a British
magazine. I
I
I
I
I
I I
I