Collins/Matlock (Season 2, Episode 3)

PREMISE

In Houston Texas, baseball is everything at team Collins. The family visit the baseball park 5-6 times a week and dad David coaches 10 year old Spencer's team. Mom Shannon schedules the family's life around baseball and 4 year old Tucker always accompanies the family to the baseball park. Winning is everything in team Collins. They even take their baseball obsession of the field. The legs of Spencer's bed are made out of baseball bats, and he has many trophies and model baseballs in his room. The whole family pitch in with the chores. Even though David has a full time job, he helps out because they are a team. The Collins are strict in how they raise their children. Every morning Spencer picks out his own clothes but has to bring them to his mother for approval. There are consequences for your actions and the family stay away from listening to radio stations that isn’t Christian music.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Angela and Jeff Matlock are anarchists who believe children should be allowed to make decisions for themselves. 9 year old Carson has a Mohawk, likes punk rock and uses swear words, while 11 year old Calla doesn’t always like the punk rock stuff and dresses a little more conservatively. The Matlocks view competition as harmful. Angela sleeps on the living room floor and Calla and Carson take turns sleeping on either the couch or the floor. The Matlocks only have two rules. The first rule is don’t kill your sibling and the second rule is don’t do anything that would have the police called. Angela works a full time job and is the only one who does chores with no help from her family. Jeff is a web designer who mostly spends time in his room working on his art.

BACKGROUND MUSIC

Take me out to the ballgame

Brahms lullaby

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467: Andante - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

A Voice in the Distance - Fernan Birdy

Smile – Billyclub

Boulevards 2 - Christian Girardot

40,000 Miles - GoodNight City

Carmen Suite No. 2 Habanera - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Clownin' Around - Janice Roper, Julia Roper & Matt Spitzer

Pride of Place - Graham Preskett

UPDATE

Jeff Matlock passed away from a heart attack in 2009. When the episode was uploaded to YouTube, Calla wrote in a comment that the show misrepresented her family. Her father had heart issues and it was hard for him to do a lot of stuff around the house. He did own a photography studio which you see at the end of the show. They did the show because they needed money. On the Reddit sub r/wifeswaptv, Calla says the entire show is pretty much staged.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wifeswaptv/comments/pzze7s/s2e3_collinsmatlock/

"They coach you on topics to talk about, things to do, ect. Some things that were BS was a lot surrounding my dad, he wasn’t jobless he was actually a college professor and the studio he took pictures in the end was his studio with his name on it. The guy next to him was his partner at the studio. My dad also had a quad bypass at 30 (you can see the scar on his chest in the interviews) so sure could he have helped around the house more, for sure but strenuous activities like mowing the lawn or shoveling snow he couldn’t do. He passed away in 2009 and I feel with this coming back out into the public eye that it’s not fair to have a completely untrue narrative about him out there without him able to defend himself. My mom had a rough few years but is doing good. She is living her best life in retirement and doing lots of art. Carson as well, just saw them both on Friday so they are doing good!"

"The experience was overall not very positive. I personally was going into middle school which was obviously a hard time in life which turned even harder with this. We made it out on the other side but it’s definitely something I’m embarrassed about and don’t speak about often."

"I think my dad found a post about it on Craigslist, and reached out himself. And sure! We’d watch it every so often. As the years went on, the entirety of the show because a sore spot for me so I try and avoid it at all costs." 

In 2015, Carson was 19 and homeless when he was arrested for graffiti.

https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/01/31/homeless-19-year-old-charged-in-royal-oak-graffiti-case/



Here is some more of his artwork.




Shannon Ford Collins is a substitute specialist at the Klein ISD school and a health coach at Collins Coaching. Spencer is married to Maritza Collins and they have a son together.



As of 2022, Tucker is an artist at Casi Diario art. The families are still in contact.

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