CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP (CHARO, JILL WHELAN) (TV)
Summary
One in this reality television series wherein celebrities exchange wives for a period of a few weeks.
This episode features an exchange between musician and singer Charo and former child actress Jill Whelan. Charo lives with her husband and manager Kjell in Beverly Hills, along with her sister Carmencita, who also works as Charo’s stylist and costumer; her grown son Shel Raten Jr. often comes to visit as well. Whelan, most known for her role on “The Love Boat,” lives in the San Fernando Valley with her children Harrison and Grant. Her sister Nancy is often present to help her raise her children; Nancy describes herself as the children’s “dad.” Jill is currently single after having been married twice already, although she states that she would like to start dating, hampered by her lack of free time. The swap occurs; Charo and Whelan have already met due to Charo’s appearance on an episode of “The Love Boat.” Neither of them are aware of whom they will be swapping with; Charo is disappointed that her accommodations are not as upscale as her own home, while Whelan recognizes Charo’s house from a visit many years ago. Whelan is overwhelmed by the size of Charo’s house, while Charo quickly finds herself bored. Charo eventually finds pictures of Jill and realizes she is in her house. Likewise, Jill deduces that she is in Charo’s house when she discovers Charo’s closet. They also discover manuals that each one has written to the other, instructing them on how to behave for their respective families.
The Whelan family meets Charo, and the children find it awkward to be around her, particularly since Harrison has difficulty understanding her heavily-accented speech. Charo’s family meets Jill, although she is already familiar with Kjell. Harrison’s girlfriend Megan stops by the Whelan house, and Charo proves to be distracting when she and the children attempt to do their homework together. Nancy attempts to keep her in line, and Charo describes her as “politely bossy.” Meawhile, Jill goes out on a date with Kjell; Charo balks when she learns about Jill’s early bedtime, as she is a self-described highly active “night person.” Jill and Kjell go out to a fancy Beverly Hills night spot, and Jill rather enjoys being out with a “gentleman” for the first time in a long time. On the second day of the swap, Charo struggles to wake up early in order to get Grant to school on time; Charo does not have a driver’s license, and so is forced to call a town car for him. Charo makes various attempts to endear herself to Grant, who is somewhat overwhelmed by Charo’s energetic personality.
Meanwhile, Jill surprises Charo’s family by waking up much earlier than her, and Kjell serves her breakfast in bed as he often does for Charo. Jill is set to learn flamenco dancing in order to fill in for Charo at a show in Las Vegas. Charo helps Nancy clean up the house and run errands, much to her displeasure. Nancy takes Charo out to lunch, where she is recognized by a number of passers-by. Charo learns about Jill’s romantic issues and, she becomes determined to find a “dream man” for Jill. Kjell and Carmencita attempt to prepare Jill for Charo’s stage show, although Jill’s attempts to learn flamenco dancing prove to be highly strenuous. Meanwhile, Charo attempts to spend more time with Grant, but must wait for his piano lessons to conclude. Jill, still stressed from her flamenco lesson, struggles to help Carmencita make paella, a recipe with which she is not familiar. She is frustrated that Shel Jr. is not being more helpful. Charo eats a shabu-shabu style dinner with the Whelan family, and chafes under their comparatively more regimented lifestyle. Carmencita helps dress Jill for dinner, and Jill is uncomfortable wearing one of Charo’s flamboyant outfits. She also demonstrates her newly-acquired flamenco routine for the family, and laments that everyone is so focused on Charo’s career that there does not seem to be enough “family time.”
Charo and Jill are able to implement their own rules for each others’ households: Charo tells the Whelan family that they should focus on finding a man for Jill, while Jill attempts to get Charo’s family to separate their work and home lives to a greater degree, advising that they “relax” more often. Charo advocates to give Grant and Harrison more freedom, and they approve of this idea, although Harrison worries that Nancy will react unfavorably. Jill calls for Shel Jr. to do his own laundry as a means of gaining more independence. Charo insists on taking Nancy out and giving her a makeover; this prospect makes her uncomfortable. Jill declares that the Rasten family is a “team” and even makes shirts for them featuring a family photograph. Soon Harrison and Grant revel in their newfound lack of rules, much to Nancy’s disapproval. In order to distract the Rasten family from work, Jill brings over a group of non-celebrity friends for a game night. The Rasten family are all rather disinterested in Jill’s attempt. Charo takes Nancy out club-hopping, and she finds some enjoyment despite feeling like a “fish out of water;” part of her motivation is to show Nancy how she can be a “wing-woman” and help find potential dates for Jill. Nancy decides that Charo’s advice could be useful.
Jill makes an unannounced visit to Shel Jr.’s home in order to help him do his laundry. Charo makes some calls and along with Nancy interviews some prospective dates for Jill. Jill takes the Rasten family out on a yacht and has Shel Jr. help her serve lunch. They are more receptive to Jill’s suggestions that they spend more time together as a family doing non-work-related activities. On the final day of the swap, Charo takes the opportunity to give Grant a cooking lesson; she remarks that the family is “well put-together” and that all she can add to it is the ability to have fun. Nancy decides that she should be less strict with the children after seeing them enjoy themselves with Charo. The swap ends and Charo and Jill return to their respective families. Before that, however, Kjell and Nancy organize a meeting between Jill and Charo to discuss their experiences. Jill is somewhat distressed to learn about Charo’s “no rules” approach to her children, and Jill criticizes Charo for babying Shel Jr. (Charo admits that she is “overprotective”). Each one remarks on their extremely different lifestyles, and Kjell agrees with Jill’s assertion that Charo and her family should “slow down” once in a while. Charo talks about her clubbing experience with Nancy and their attempts to find a date for Jill. Jill has some trepidation about meeting her prospective dates, but agrees to give it a try. Charo and Jill finally return to their homes. Six weeks later, Jill takes Charo’s advice and starts dating again, although not with any of the men selected by her and Nancy, while Charo prepares for a large-scale South American tour. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:59:56
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 123371
- GENRE: Reality
- SUBJECT HEADING: TV - Reality
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2012-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials – Eternity perfume
- TV – Commercials – Acuvue contact lenses
- TV – Commercials – Aleve PM sleep aid
- TV – Commercials – Alive! multivitamin supplements
- TV – Commercials – Bayer Pro omega-3 supplement
- TV – Commercials – Dr. Scholl’s foot care products
- TV – Commercials – Huggies diapers
- TV – Commercials – IHOP restaurants
- TV – Commercials – JCPenney department stores
- TV – Commercials – Jeep automobiles
- TV – Commercials – Kohl’s department stores
- TV – Commercials – LG phones
- TV – Commercials – Listerine mouthwash
- TV – Commercials – Macy’s department stores
- TV – Commercials – Neutrogena skin cream
- TV – Commercials – Olive Garden restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Outback steakhouse
- TV – Commercials – Pantene Pro-V conditioner
- TV – Commercials – Payless shoe stores
- TV – Commercials – Purina dog food
- TV – Commercials – Red Lobster restaurants
- TV – Commercials – Silk almond milk
- TV – Commercials – Splenda artificial sweetener
- TV – Commercials – Tylenol PM sleep aid
- TV – Commercials – Wal-Mart department stores
- TV – Commercials – “Inside Out” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Magic Mike XXL” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Max” motion picture
- TV – Commercials – “Minions” motion picture
- TV – Promos – “BattleBots”
- TV – Promos – “Celebrity Family Feud”
- TV – Promos – “Celebrity Wife Swap”
- TV – Promos – “Extreme Weight Loss: Love Can’t Weight”
- TV – Promos – “Jimmy Kimmel Live”
- TV – Promos – “Mistresses”
- TV – Promos – “The Astronaut Wives Club”
- TV – Promos – “The Bachelorette”
- TV – Promos – “The Whispers”
CREDITS
- Bruce Toms … Executive Producer
- Alex Cross … Executive Producer
- Tony Yates … Executive Producer
- Dave Shikiar … Executive Producer
- Joel Karsberg … Executive Producer
- Cem Yeter … Executive Producer
- Michael Davies … Executive Producer
- Steve Longo … Co-Executive Producer
- Ken Snow … Co-Executive Producer
- Brent Benedetti … Producer
- Tim McCall … Producer
- Nicole Sanchez … Line Producer
- iSpy Music … Music by
- Charo … Guest
- Jill Whelan … Guest
- Kjell Rasten … Guest
- Shel Rasten Jr. … Guest
- Grant Whelan … Guest
- Harrison Whelan … Guest
- Nancy Whelan … Guest