Baker/Donahoe (Season 1, Episode 4)

PREMISE

In Dyersburg Tennessee, Christie Baker is a southern belle who enjoys being pampered. Christie spends most of her days in the beauty parlor, while husband Richard, who works 60 hours a week, does all the household chores and regularly makes Christie breakfast in bed. The kids, 17 year old twins Mauri and Margo and 11 year old Mary Jewels spend most of their time shopping for clothes and the twins do cheerleading. Christie indulges her 3 daughters and doesn’t believe they need to work until they graduate.

Moo! In Litchfield New York, Audrey and Jeff Donahoe are hardworking 5^th generation dairy farmers in the Atrass Farm. Jeff's family have been using the same land since the 1800s. The couple and the 3 older boys Arnold (17), Tommy (14) and Rick (12) get up 4:30 in the morning to milk cows. Audrey grew up a tomboy and she and Jeff believe in instilling a work ethic in their kids. In addition, Audrey does the chores and takes care of her kids, including the 3 younger ones Alison (7), Sam (3) and Seth (2).

BACKGROUND MUSIC

Hotsy-Totsy - Heinz Kiessling

Square Dance - Guido & Maurizio De Angelis

Present Tense - Network Music Ensemble

Ten Gallon Girls - Orchestra Heinz Kiessling

La poliziotta (Deguello) - Gianni Ferro

In A Whirl - Piero Piccioni

Di Tresette ce n'è uno, tutti gli altri son nessuno

Nel Cimitero Di Tucson - Gianfranco & Gian Piero Reverberi

Starlet Express - Orchestra Heinz Kiessling

Back In My Arms Again - The Supremes

Manhattan Ice - Orchestra Heinz Kiessling

Homelands - Serge Franklin

UPDATE

Christie learned about Wife Swap when she saw an ad in a magazine while in the waiting room in the office of Dr. Robert Harrington. The ad said the reality show Wife Swap is looking for families to trade places. "I love reality shows and this one got the whole family involved, not just one or two members." Once she got home, Christie got on the Internet, learned more about the show and went online to apply, submitting a family picture taken on Christmas Eve. "I just applied, I didn't tell Richard," she said. "There was no telling how many thousands and thousands and thousands of applications they'd received." "It wasn't a week later," when she was running an errand and the phone rang. "The plumbers were here and answered it. They said they were from RDF Media and wanted to talk to Mrs. Baker," she said. "The plumber said if it was a marketing thing that I wouldn't be happy. They just said for me to call." When Christie got the message, "we thought it was a crank call," said Mary Jewels, "and she said, 'Weelll.' And we were like, 'What did you do!?" By that point, Christie had some 'xplainin' to do.

After she told her family what the call was about, "I was too shocked to think," Richard said. "I did think I was gonna kill her. I wondered what the cells were like in the Dyer County Jail." The Bakers had to prepare a 30-minute video showing their lifestyle.

For Audrey Donahoe, it was her sister in law Tammy who first learned of this new show called "Wife Swap." "She got an e-mail at work that they were looking for a family in the dairy industry to participate in a show and represent the industry."

That evening, Feb. 1, the Donahoes were having a birthday party for one of their sons when "she asked if we'd like to do it. At that time, we didn't know the details of the show. We treated it like a joke and laughed about it," Audrey said. "I told her I'd sign my autograph for her over the summer." The next day, Feb. 2, Tammy submitted their information. Within 15 minutes of Tammy's submitting the Donahoes, "she got a reply asking if we were for real because that's what they were looking for," Audrey said. "I thought Tammy had a co-worker call. I was calm, nonchalant," she said. "I thought there was no way it was Michael, he's quite high up. That was probably the funniest part."

The process began soon afterward and through the month of February, the Donahoes went through testing and Audrey "did a lot of talking" with RDF representatives on the phone and through e-mail. Audrey said she was very concerned about how her big family, especially her small children, would be affected by the show. "I felt the testing was extremely important. I wanted to be sure the family we were switching with had the same thing done," she said. In March, the family received word that they had been selected and RDF was looking for a family to swap with. As the month progressed, Audrey learned more about the show. And on April 2, "I won't forget that day; it's my birthday, we officially got the call. And that's when it began sinking in," she said.

Audrey noted that most of the rule changes emphasized Maurie and Margo because Mary Jewels had Terra Nova tests that week. "I felt she wouldn't be productive if she had to go through a lot of changes at home. I know the importance of those tests." Here is a series of 3 articles about the episode.

https://web.archive.org/web/20100818004058/https://www.stategazette.com/story/1078853.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20100417103031/https://www.stategazette.com/story/1079004.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20100417111119/https://www.stategazette.com/story/1079096.html

At the time of the show, Christie worked as the marketing director/chef at Colby's Market. Richard worked at Ford Construction. Richard was originally from Dyersburg, while Christie is from Dresden. In 1985, Richard and Christie dated for three weeks and were engaged for three months before marrying. They are still together.

Margo Litzer is married and has a family.

In case you haven’t noticed, the name Atrass is an acronym for the kids names.

Arnold

Tom

Rick

Allison

Sam

Seth

Audrey and Jeff are still together. In 2013, Eyewitness News reporter Rachel Polansky interviewed the family.

Audrey even gave interviews at the World Dairy Expo.

Arnold Donahoe is Married to Brianne Donahoe and they have two sons. He attended Mt. Markham high school and as of 2022 is working as a civil foreman at Empire Telecom.