**from above article***
Almost nine million people watched the Hoover family of Missouri participate in ABC’s Wife Swap last Monday, February 12, 2007. (No, the show isn’t as loathsome as its title. Its concept is simple: a wife switches with another for two weeks, with each “adopted wife” living by the house rules during the first week before the family has to live by the adopted wife’s rules the second week.)
Talk about some crazy/wild contradictions:
* An Apostolic family without a television in their home helped create the highest rated episode in Wife Swap history. Indeed, they hadn’t even seen an episode of the show until they had been approved to be participants.
* A former Old Order Mennonite stood firm in his religious standards without forcing them upon the adopted wife.
* The Mainstream Media proved that it will not always portray Christians in a negative manner.
Because ABC rushed this episode to air (in about four weeks), the Hoovers were unable to preview it. Last Monday, they viewed it for the first time with relatives at another person’s home. (The next day Kristin informed me they had watched it four times and still felt good about the portrayal.)
A majority of Apostolic viewers felt the producers were even-handed in their presentation, showing the emptiness of family life for the punk rockers and the regimentation within the Apostolic family, as well as the positives in both families.
Despite the pressures, Kristin was able to share her genuine love for God and a godly compassion in many scenes, though Steve was often portrayed as an inflexible patriarch protecting his children. (More on that below.)
Plus, while the televised Christian witness was obvious, the private witness is more difficult to quantify. For instance:
* After the final televised confrontation between the couples, the Hoovers went out to dinner with the Meeks. A producer said that was the first time any of the couples met together afterwards.
* After the show, Kristin received a note from a pastor’s wife of another faith who said God has been dealing with her on the “modesty” issue. Kristin’s televised actions had encouraged her when the pastor’s wife watched the episode.
Who knows how God will use this effort in others?
Thanks to this response, the Hoovers have created a web site reflecting their lifestyle (Kristin is receiving multiple requests for her recipes, so they will soon be posted) and experiences at
www.thehooverhouse.net.
Due to the show’s contractual obligations, neither was able to discuss the entire process in last week’s interview (before the show aired), so ninetyandnine had to wait until now to get the entire story. And what a story it is—though the final thoughts, with advice on not participating in reality TV, weren’t what I expected.
Linear Mode
