M-Net's brand new documentary reality show, Culture Shock, kicks off on Sunday, 18 February in Open Time.
The show is based along the lines of the highly successful UK show
Wife Swap - only in this show not just wives will swap lives, but entire families.
Each week two very different families are swapped to experience a completely different lifestyle for two weeks.
The swapped family members may only use shops, transport, money, help and modes of communication that their hosts would use.
It could change into a fun or eye-opening experience, or lead to some uncomfortable moments.
In a first for South African television, M-Net has given six production companies the opportunity to film and edit an episode each.
The first episode, produced by Pistoleros Productions, features two diverse families. A wealthy father and spoilt daughter from Port Elizabeth will walk into the home of a fishing family from Arniston, and vice versa.
Episode 1 FamiliesThe AgnewsWithin the coastal town of Arniston lies a small village called Kassiesbaai, where the close-knit Agnew family lives. Their days revolve around fishing as they sell most of their catch for income and lead simple, modest lives.
Lorna and Edwin Agnew met each other in 1977 and tied the knot one month later. They only moved to Arniston in 2002, but have slipped into the fishing lifestyle with ease.
Their son, Reagan (25), has two children of his own from a previous marriage and is engaged to be married again. The fourth member of the Agnew family is Batiswa (14), a Xhosa girl. Adopted into the family at the age of two, Batiswa is a confident teenager and proud of her very mixed culture.
The KewsBack in PE, William Kew and Trish Difford live a luxurious life with their two children, Wesley and Angie, in Walmer. Their rambling four-bedroom home comes complete with a pool, a beautiful garden ... and a jewel-encrusted toilet seat!
William, an avid Harley-Davidson fan, and his daughter Angie, who loves "boots, bags and bling", head off into an unknown household while Trish, an eccentric and unpredictable businesswoman, and her son Wesley (a rising rugby star for the Falcons) wait to receive their Culture Shock guests, Edwin and Batiswa Agnew.
Angie Kew is soon put to work washing dishes and clothes by hand and cleaning toilets, while William joins Reagan out at sea.
Back in PE, fisherman Edwin finds himself doing household chores and cooking meals – woman's work, as far as he is concerned.
Compromises must be made and tears will be shed before the participants can return home to their cultural comfort zones.
Sounds like fun.
When the show was
announced in October last year we wondered whether M-Net would be able to find 12 families willing to be uprooted for two weeks, especially considering the channel's (correct) assertion that the show "is not about winning, it's not about prize money and it's not about fame - but rather about the participants having fun."
Clearly they did find enough families, although we found the following plea on their website which gives some insight into their recruiting process:
Affluent Black Family Wanted!
M-Net and the production company GrayWhite are now looking for a very specific family to swap with a white family from a middle income who have lived a sheltered live out in the tiny farming town of Fort Beaufort.
The producers are looking for an affluent black family, with two kids, who live the rat race and enjoy city life. It would be an added bonus if the wife is a vegetarian!
Heh. Gotta love reality TV producers. Shisterrers, we mutter drunkenly...
The families may not see the other members of their family for the duration of the two-week period, and cellphones are banned.
All of which should add up to some great entertainment, not to mention a generous insight into the psyche of South Africans when faced with, literally, a major culture shock.
Culture Shock premieres on M-Net on Sunday 18 February, at 17h00.