Lifetime pulls balloon boy's 'Wife Swap' episode from schedule
* Story Highlights
* Lifetime had scheduled a Heene "Wife Swap" episode for October 29
* It was scheduled long before the balloon boy incident, a
spokesperson says
* Now that hoax allegations have surfaced, network removes the episode
By Breeanna Hare
CNN
October 20, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/20/heene.wife.swap
(CNN) -- It's just one thing after another for Richard and Mayumi Heene.
They've caused such an uproar after last week's alleged balloon boy hoax
that Lifetime won't air a re-run of their "Wife Swap" episode.
Those who pay close attention to TV Guide would have noticed that the
Heene family's first episode for the ABC reality show was scheduled to
air on Lifetime on Thursday, October 29, at 2 p.m. ET.
"It was on the schedule long before the incident," a Lifetime
spokesperson said. The incident refers to the giant, homemade balloon
that sailed over Colorado on Thursday, purportedly carrying 6-year-old
Falcon Heene.
The bubble burst when authorities discovered Falcon had been hiding in a
box in the attic. During an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, the
Heene's asked Falcon why he didn't come out as they searched for him,
and the boy replied, "You guys said we did it for a show."
That triggered an investigation that revealed the frightful incident was
a hoax, police said. Richard and Mayumi Heene are now facing a number of
local charges, and the Federal Aviation Administration has begun its own
balloon boy investigation, officials said.
As a result, Lifetime has decided to erase the family's "Wife Swap" past
from the network.
"Once we found out" [it was allegedly a hoax], the spokesperson said,
"we decided to pull it off the air. At this time, we don't have any
plans to air it in the near future."
The episode depicted Karen Martel, whose husband runs a child-proofing
business, as being shocked "as the Heene kids jump off banisters and run
wild, and appalled by Richard's attitude to women," according to the
description on ABC's Web site. "Wife Swap" asks its participants to
switch places for two weeks.
"Meanwhile, at the Martels'," the description continued, "Mayumi Heene
sees safety gates everywhere and wonders how the family [has] fun. She
asks the kids about their anxieties and confronts Jay about the climate
of fear in his house."
Lifetime plans on filling the time slot with a "Wife Swap" episode that
features another family, but rest assured, the Heene's reality TV debut
can still be found on YouTube.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/20/heene.wife.swap
--
================================
George Antunes, Political Science Dept
University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204
Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927
Mail: antunes at uh dot edu
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