Did ABC get more than they bargained for with the Fowler/Stephens Swap?

Our thanks to guest blogger Elizabeth Prata:

Stephen Fowler will live in Wife Swap infamy as the most boorish and abusive of husbands ever to host a swapped wife. The day after this infamous episode the internet is howling. Why? Let me count the ways.

 Liberal, upper crust, environmentally conscious, highly educated, weight appropriate San Franciscans were to swap wives with the Missouri small town ATV riding, paintball playing, overweight Middle Americans in the January 30th episode. The show in and of itself pairs couples that hold diametrically opposing views on just about everything from religion to politics to fish sticks; a recipe for conflict and emotional challenge in any situation. Nothing new there. However, the pairing on January 30^th for the first time, added abuse to the mix. And that crossed line has gotten the audience into a stark raving tizzy.

 Regular watchers know that most husbands on the show hold dearly to their viewpoints. Occasionally they are bombastic about it, but usually the audience member by the show’s conclusion is treated to a release, in that each pair learned something and all’s well that ends well.

 In the case of the Fowler-Long swap, husband Stephen Fowler, a Briton, immediately trumpeted his education and intelligence as a license to demean all others he estimates as below him. “I never answer a question that has been asked of me twice.” And to him, just about everyone is below him. He bragged about his wealth, his degrees, his position in the world, his maid, his trophy children. And that was just the intro.

When Gayla Long arrived she was respectful and eager, at least as far as one could tell from the editing. However almost immediately Mr Fowler called her obese and uneducated, which shortly devolved into just calling her fat and stupid and mercilessly mocked her vocabulary. “Oh, you used the word agenda, that’s a big word for you,” Mr Fowler said at one point in front of his children. In another moment, he pointed to Mrs. Long and said to his children, “This is what happens if you don’t get your education.” Humiliated, Mrs. Long cried in the back yard, yet Mr. Fowler continued his attacks. Worse, he looked like he enjoyed them. The verbal abuse continued throughout the show, but Mrs. Long was restrained and to her credit kept trying to reach him, mostly for his children’s sakes.

 When it came time for Mrs. Long to lay down her rules, Mr.  Fowler reared up and exhibited even more deliberate cruelty than ever before seen on the five year history of the show. But wait, there’s more.

 Mr Fowler stopped the taping. He insisted on a meeting with the producers because he deemed Mrs. Long’s rules unnecessary and as a result refused to go along with them. The show had never seen participant out and out renege on their show obligations, but there you have it. Subsequently, Mr Fowler then ordered his children not to talk with Mrs Long, and to ignore her completely. They would pass her in the hall and never look back as she tried to covnerse with them. Mr Fowler did the same, at one point ordering her out of his room and slamming the door in her face as she was talking. Crushed, she packed and went to a hotel. It must have been a long, lonely night for her.

 Mr Fowler’s derision of our military, of small-town America, of those with a different educational path, of overweight people, were all grating in the extreme and were enough in themselves to galvanize an audience to ire. Mr Fowler’s intentionally negative and cruel focus on Mrs Long’s weight is an ultimate irony: Mr Fowler’s own wife is a weight coach for obese people and is associated with Weight Watchers.

 There has not been a person so cruel, so pompous, so arrogant, so infuriating on Wife Swap in its five-year history. Still, why the severe outrage?

 A moral line has been crossed. A show participant was needlessly and constantly cruel. There was no intervention from show producers. Other show participants have had their displays of temper but there is an enormous difference between being challenged to stretch your worldview and becoming irritated because of it, and what happened on the Fowler-Long episode. Mrs Long was purposely debased, Mr Fowler reneged on his obligations, and yet ABC continued with the pairing. Allowing cruelty for the sake of ratings is unconscionable, and the ABC audience viewing the mess that was last night’s episode is heartbroken and outraged over it.

Elizabeth Prata is a writer living in Georgia. She is the author of  “The Quiet Life” blog.

Wife Swap’s Stephen Fowler Threatens to Sue Reality Roll Call

First of all, I have to say that I didn’t see Wife Swap last night, but I wish I had. Apparently, this guy is real tool because we have never gotten so many hits in such a short time on one post. EVER.

Anyway, Stephen Fowler sent me an email sometime this morning, threatening to sue us if we don’t remove his address from the site. Here’s what he wrote:

Your website lists my home address.  We have already received threats as a result of this.  If you do not remove this immediately, I will sue forthwith.

Please confirm by return or you will hear from attorney.

***********************

Stephen Fowler

I don’t know where you all got his home address, but clearly it is public record. So you’re gonna have to get that information somewhere else, because we can’t let you post it. Not because of his threat, but because it is just not the policy of Reality Roll Call to divulge personal addresses of anyone.  Besides, you all know where to get it if you want it.

Don’t stoop down to his level by going to his house, and being the ass that you all think he is. You are always free to comment on any person on any show. That’s one of the reason’s RealityRollCall.com is here. But I don’t want you guys to get in trouble for taking it too far.

Your email:

 

The Long Family meets the Stephens-Fowler clan on Wife Swap

“Long/Stephens-Fowler” A mid-western family whose lives revolve around the “American Way” of fast food, 4X4s and paintball, swaps lives with a big city family focused on education, the environment and keeping their bodies healthy and trim, on “Wife Swap,” TONIGHT (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on  ABC .

The Longs from Missouri are a patriotic, all-American family who live for paint ball. Wife Gayla (37) is just one of the boys on the paint ball field, but at home she is happy to take care of all the household chores, which husband Alan has deemed “skirt work.” When Alan (38) is not wreaking havoc with his four wild and crazy boys — Cody (15), Coltan (10), Clayton (8) and Cameron (4) — he serves as the mayor of their 55-person town. The Longs are proud of their Midwestern roots and consider their lifestyle the “American way.” Corn dogs and fast food are staples in their home, and their exercise comes from riding ATVs. Alan and Gayla want their kids to have fun; education and the environment can take a backseat.

Meanwhile, the Stephens-Fowler family from Northern California consider themselves “citizens of the world.” They strive for excellence in both mind and body. Life coach and certified weight-loss hypnotherapist Rene (43) and British-born environmental entrepreneur Stephen (49) raise their children, Juliette (11) and James (8), to be both health and environmentally conscious. With a diet of strictly organic food and weekends spent doing “family fitness activities,” the kids admit they can’t remember the last time they had a French fry. Domestics are taken care of by a housekeeper, as that is regarded as a necessity in the Stephens-Fowler set. In order to ensure acceptance to an Ivy League school, they push their kids to excel in highbrow activities such as music, fencing and speaking foreign languages. Both children attend a bilingual school and have already visited over 12 countries.

In the first week, Gayla Long leaves the heartland behind for life in the city. As a mom who works nights to spend her days with her boys, she is surprised Rene would spend her time on the treadmill while Stephen gets the kids off to school. With so much focus on education and hours of homework every night, she questions whether Juliette and James have any time for fun. Meanwhile, in the Long home, Rene attempts to use the washing machine, but fails to live up to Alan’s expectations of “skirt work.” She grows worried that the family’s lack of exercise, combined with their “meat and potatoes” diet, are having a negative effect on the family’s health.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, Gayla attempts to bring some family-friendly excitement into the Stephens-Fowler home by introducing them to paintball and go-karts. Gayla’s rule changes lead to a dramatic standoff between her and Stephen. In the meantime, Rene strives to teach the Longs about cutting down on fossil fuels and calories. She locks up the ATVs and exposes the family to hiking and healthier food options. After two weeks in another home, can Gayla Long convince the Stephens-Fowlers that there is more to life than school and work and help them bond as a family? And can Rene Stephens-Fowler show the Longs the importance of taking care of their bodies and expanding their horizons?

Since this was posted,  Stephen Fowler has threatened to sue Reality Roll Call. Click here to read what he wrote:

Stephen Fowler Threatens to Sue

Super Bowl winner Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer to host Pros vs Joes

from Spike TV:

Michael Strahan, a future NFL hall-of-famer and current television personality, joins well-respected veteran NFL journalist Jay Glazer as hosts of Spike TV’s fourth season of its hit series, “Pros vs. Joes.” The new season, entitled “Pros vs. Joes 4: All Stars,” goes into production in sports venues around Los Angeles in February 2009 and launches in the spring.

The new twist this season is there will only be one sport showcased in each episode instead of the variety of sports in previous seasons. Each episode features three skills competitions and a three-on-three scrimmage pitting the Pros against the Joes. The sports featured this season will be football (4 episodes) and basketball (4 episodes).

Dawn Richard is shattered by Danity Kane break up

Remaining Danity Kane member Dawn Richard is devastated by the disbanding of the group last fall. The group, which was put together by music mogul Diddy, on a season of MTV’s Making the Band, lost members Aubrey O’Day and D. Woods after they were fired. Not soon after, singer Shannon Bex quit, making Danity Kane a duo, with Richard and Aundrea Fimbres remaining.

Now that the band is history, the two young women will attempt to pull it all together and launch a new chapter in their musical careers on the next season of Making the Band, on MTV.

She told MTV.com: “You’ll see me and Drea (Fimbres) try and pick up the pieces on our own – pieces that we didn’t even make. We didn’t even break it and we’re trying to sweep it up ourselves. It changes (our situation) completely. We’re sitting here trying to make sense of it now. It’s hard. We’re put in this position that we didn’t ask to be in and we’re being told to fix it.”

The next season of Making the Band starts February 12th on MTV.

Does ABC mistakenly reveal the winner of The Bachelor?

Every now and again a spoiler leaks out onto the internet, and some loosed-lipped contestant on a reality show spills the beans on the winner of the show. Sometimes they’re right; sometimes they’re talking out of their Fruit of the Looms.

This time, it may be ABC themselves who mess up and reveal Jason Mesnick’s choice on this season of  The Bachelor. Look at the video, and tune in for the season finale to see if this anal-retentive viewer is right.

By the way, the only show on ABC that warrants this much video scrutiny is LOST.

Corey Feldman talks about his Pink Floyd-inspired album

Former teen idol  turned reality star Corey Feldman has been busy in the recording studio since the filming of his reality show, The Two Coreys. The actor and musician, who starred in a reality show with fellow actor and friend, Corey Haim, has been working on a Pink Floyd-inspired album with his band.

Recently he talked candidly about what it was like having members of Pink Floyd working with him on the album, and how he felt about the recent passing of Pink Floyd member, Richard Wright:

How much of a influence have they been on you?

Corey: “Tremendous. Specifically with this style of music. To me they are individually and collectively the most generous group of musicians ever gathered together. Granted The Beatles are still the greatest rock band of all time, but for different reasons. Floyd explored regions of the mind and soul the Beatles wouldn’t dare consider. I know people who are afraid to listen to Pink Floyd. It strikes a nerve like a raw emotion that you don’t expect.”

With the recent death of Rick Wright many Pink Floyd fans across the world were impacted in different ways. I know I was depressed for a solid weak after the loss. How did it impact you and how did you hear about it?

Corey: “Well I think I heard about it the same as everyone else, on the news. I of course called the people I knew that were close to him, and wished my condolences. As far as the impact I was conflicted with true grief for the loss of a man and the effect it had on the people around him, and the selfish sorrow of facing the realisation that there would truly never be a final Pink Floyd reunion. I then decided to tribute the new album to him, and added a dedication a day before final press.”

The full interview can be read on the site at www.outsidethewall.net

Shay “Buckeey” Johnson is making big moves

After doing VH1 reality show  Flavor of Love, and then Flavor of Love Charm School Girls, we haven’t seen much of Shay “Buckeey” Johnson. Sure, there was the  sex tape circulating, but it’s not like she made an appearance on I Love Money or anything.

That’s because she’s been busy, working on her career. In a magazine for Flavour Magazine in the U.K., Shay talks about the film she has in the works, and a self-development book coming out this spring. Check out this interview, then read the full article at Flavour.

Season 8 Of The Biggest Loser Now Casting!

Everyone’s favorite weight loss reality show is casting for its eighth season (sorry Celebrity Fit Club). This year they are searching for both teams and individuals to take part in the competition. So if you’re a person with WANT, DESIRE, COMPETITIVE EDGE, and a great personality, this is the show for you. Take this once in a life time opportunity to change your life forever and have the chance at a $250,000 prize.

-DID YOU GAIN THE WEIGHT AFTER PREGNANCY AND HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO TAKE IT OFF?
-WERE YOU AN ATHLETE WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER AND THEN LIFE GOT IN THE WAY?
-DO YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT FOR YOUR WEDDING DAY OR TO START DATING AGAIN?
-ARE YOU A GRANDPARENT WHO WANTS TO BE AROUND TO SEE YOUR GRANDKIDS GROW UP?
-ARE YOU FINALLY READY TO LOSE THE WEIGHT ONCE AND FOR ALL?

WHATEVER YOUR REASON IS, WE ARE SEEKING BOTH INDIVIDUALS AND PARTNERS!

How to Apply:
Step 1: DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION – CLICK HERE
Step 2: MAKE AVIDEOTAPE (only DVD or MINI DV will be accepted). PLEASE TAKE A PHOTO OF YOURSELF AND INCLUDE IT WITH YOUR APPLICATION.
Step 3: MAIL THE APPLICATION, PHOTO AND TAPE TO US ASAP (photo and tape will not be returned)

What to include in your 10 MINUTE videotape:

Show us why you should be on The Biggest Loser. Make your video as personal as possible. Start with your name, age, hometown, height and weight. Take us on a tour of your typical day at work and home. Let us know (and see) why losing the weight is so important to you! Show us, don’t just tell us, why you need to lose the weight. And, Remember, we want to see your personality shine. Have fun and good luck!

SEND YOUR VIDEO, ALONG WITH THE APPLICATION AND A NON-RETURNABLE PHOTO ASAP TO:
The Biggest Loser Casting
c/o Central Park West Productions
P.O Box 578
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267-0578

> Check back with NBC.com for an open call in your area
> You must be at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the U.S.
> You can audition with a partner or on your own!

Meet the new cast of America’s Next Top Model

The CWs hit series AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL returns for cycle 12 with 13 finalists from across the country fighting to make their dreams of becoming a top model a reality on Wednesday, February 25 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET) with encore performances on Fridays (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET).

“AMERICAS NEXT TOP MODEL” CYCLE 12 PARTICIPANTS:

Name: ALLISON

Age: 20

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana

Occupation: Artist

Name: AMINAT

Age: 21

Hometown: Union, New Jersey

Occupation: Student

Name: CELIA

Age: 25

Hometown: Cynthiana, Kentucky

Occupation: Designer Fashion Sales

Name: FO

Age: 19

Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Occupation: Student

Name: ISABELLA

Age: 19

Hometown: Barboursville, Virginia

Occupation: Aspiring Model

Name: JESSICA

Age: 18

Hometown: Bradenton, Florida

Occupation: Student

Name: KORTNIE

Age: 24

Hometown: Houston, Texas

Occupation: Non-Profit Organizer

Name: LONDON

Age: 18

Hometown: Arlington, Texas

Occupation: Student

Name: NATALIE

Age: 19

Hometown: Palos Verdes, California

Occupation: Student

Name: NIJAH

Age: 18

Hometown: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Occupation: Aspiring Model

Name: SANDRA

Age: 19

Hometown: Rockville, Maryland

Occupation: Student

Name: TAHLIA

Age: 18

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Occupation: Student

Name: TEYONA

Age: 20

Hometown: Woodstown, New Jersey

Occupation: Loss Prevention Representative

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