'Wife Swap' Revived at CMT
The Viacom-owned cable network has greenlit the former ABC unscripted series as it shies away from scripted.
CMT is reviving one of television's greatest social experiments.
The Viacom-owned country music-themed cable network has revived former ABC docuseries Wife Swap.
Production on 10 new hourlong episodes will begin this year. A premiere date has not yet been determined.
The docuseries, produced by Banijay Studios North America with David Goldberg and Caroline Baumgard as exec producers, originally ran on ABC from 2004 to 2010, with a celebrity edition running for four seasons on the Disney-owned broadcaster from 2012-2015.
For those who don't recall, the series showcases two families from different geographical and social backgrounds who swap spouses. CMT hopes the series will explore timely subjects including politics, classism, gender and race with the ultimate goal of finding common ground.
Wife Swap is the latest unscripted series to be revived as broadcast, cable and streaming outlets alike look for proven formats in a bid to cut through a cluttered landscape. Netflix recently revived Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, MTV has found success with Fear Factor and Jersey Shore, Fox revived Love Connection and ABC has found success with classic game show reboots including The $100,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show andMatch Game, among others.
For CMT, the decision to revive Wife Swap comes as the cable network is poised to exit the scripted space after ABC transplant Nashville wraps its run later this year.
