The Swan (TV series)
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''The Swan'' is an American
reality television series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
broadcast by the
Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
(Fox). The show premiered on April 7, 2004, while its eighteenth and final episode aired on December 20, 2004. Each episode of the series followed two self-proclaimed " ugly ducklings" who, over the course of a three-month period, experienced an extreme makeover from a team that included a personal trainer, therapist, dentist, and cosmetic surgeons. Whichever woman was deemed more attractive at the end of the three months would move forward to compete in a beauty pageant held at the end of the season. Following the pageant, whichever contestant received the most votes for the greatest transformation would be given the title "The Swan". The series was hosted by Irish television presenter Amanda Byram. ''The Swan'' was universally panned by critics and audiences alike. Criticism of the series often focused on the promotion of a negative body image for women. Despite the negative reception, ''The Swan'' premiered to high ratings and averaged around 9 million viewers over the course of its first season. Since its airing, several of the contestants have voiced either satisfaction or regret over their participation in the series. Additionally, several producers have defended ''The Swan'', in which they claimed its purpose was to increase the self-esteem of its contestants. In 2013, Fox announced plans to revive the series as a two-hour television special titled ''Celebrity Swan''.


Production

In 2005, Rebecca Hertz, a writer of the series, admitted that the series' staff manufactured dialogue and situations throughout the editing process. Hertz claimed that she falsely made it appear as though contestant Rachel Love-Fraser's husband was unhappily married to her, stating, "In a pre-interview, I led her husband to say Rachel looks average, but he thought she looked beautiful. I cut it down to him saying she looks average, so he sounded like a mean, horrible a–hole. He was furious when he saw the show".


Series overview


Season 1 (2004)

''The Swan'' debuted on April 7, 2004. : Through to the pageant : Wildcard : Contestant Tanya dropped out of the show (on her own accord) after being caught with a mirror (which is against the rules of appearing on the series), so Merline was automatically in the swan pageant.


Swan pageant

At the show the judges would score in every category with the swan contestants competing, eventually being whittled down to three finalists. The judges at the show were: * Susie Castillo
Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...
2003 * Valerie Trott – model management executive *
Judith Regan Judith Regan (born August 17, 1953, in Massachusetts) is an American editor, producer, book publisher, and television and radio talk show host. She is the head of Regan Arts. Early life and education Regan grew up in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and B ...
– publisher of several self-help books *
Tara Kraft Tara may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena * ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Leslie Small * ''Tara'' (2010 film), a ...
– beauty director of ''
Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
'' magazine *
Mike Ruiz Mike Ruiz is a Canadian photographer, director, television personality, former model, spokesperson, creative director, and actor. Early life Ruiz, who is of French Canadian and Spanish Filipino ancestry, was born in Montreal in 1964, but raised ...
– Fashion photographer The winner received a modeling contract, and various premiums by corporate sponsors.


Final competition scores

: Winner : First runner-up : Second runner-up : Top 6 : Top 9 :(#)  Rank in each round of competition After 9 episodes and 16 makeovers it was announced that Rachel Love-Fraser had won the swan pageant. Beth placed runner-up, with Cindy second runner-up.


Season 2 (2004)

Season two debuted on October 27, 2004. Kari and Gina B. from episode 4 were sisters. : Through to the pageant : Wildcard


Swan pageant

At the show the judges scored the swan contestants in several categories, whittling them down to three finalists. The judges at the show were: * Ken Baker – West Coast Executive Editor of ''
US Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' magazine * Krista Sides-Klayman – LA Models Management, *
Carnie Wilson Carnie Wilson (born April 29, 1968) is an American singer and television personality. She is the daughter of Brian Wilson and in 1989 co-founded the pop music trio Wilson Phillips with her younger sister Wendy. From 1995 onwards, she has also be ...
Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips is an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1989. The group consists of Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of t ...
singer, actor, author * Larry A. Thompson – Producer, Author *
Dayanara Torres Dayanara Torres Delgado (born October 28, 1974) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican actress, singer, model, writer and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1993. Torres was discovered at age 17 while walking through the Plaza de Toa Alta, Puerto Rico ...
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
1993 The winner was awarded a contract as a spokesperson, and various premiums by corporate sponsors.


Final competition scores

: Winner : First runner-up : Second runner-up : Top 5 : Top 9 :(#)  Rank in each round of competition After 9 episodes and 16 makeovers it was announced that DeLisa Styles had won the swan pageant. Gina B. placed runner-up, with Erica second runner-up.


Reception

Robert Bianco of ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' called ''The Swan'' "hurtful and repellent even by reality's constantly plummeting standards". Journalist
Jennifer Pozner Jennifer Pozner is an American author, intersectional feminist, media critic, and public speaker. In 1996, Pozner graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism, media criticism and women's studies from Hampshire College. Career Pozner is t ...
, in her book ''Reality Bites Back'', calls ''The Swan'' "the most sadistic reality series of the decade". Journalist Chris Hedges also criticized the show in his 2009 book ''
Empire of Illusion ''Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle'' is a 2009 nonfiction book by American journalist Chris Hedges. ''Empire of Illusion'' examines a claimed cultural decay in the United States as a result of a malignant con ...
'', writing "''The Swans transparent message is that once these women have been surgically 'corrected' to resemble mainstream celebrity beauty as closely as possible, their problems will be solved". Feminist scholar Susan J. Douglas criticized the show in her book ''The Rise of Enlightened Sexism'' for its continuation of a negative female body image, claiming that "it made all too explicit the narrow physical standards to which women are expected to conform, the sad degree to which women internalize these standards, the lengths needed to get there, and the impossibility for most of us to meet the bar without, well, taking a box cutter to our faces and bodies". Author Alice Marwick believes that this program is an example of "body culture media", which she describes as "a genre of popular culture which positions work on the body as a morally correct solution to personal problems". Marwick also suggests that cosmetic reality television encourages viewers to frame their family, financial, or social problems in bodily terms, and portrays surgical procedures as an everyday and normal solution. ''The Swan'' draws from cultural discourses of plastic surgery and self-improvement culture to frame cosmetic surgery as "a morally appropriate means to achieving an authentic self". ''The Swan'' portrays cosmetic surgery as an empowered, feminist practice. However the tension between the empowerment, and feminism of cosmetic surgery, and a confining, compulsory model of what that subject should look like reveals the limitations of the ‘‘you go, girl’’ notion of consumer choice. ''The Swan'' attracted further criticism internationally as British comedian and writer
Charlie Brooker Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
launched attacks on it during his Channel 4 show ''
You Have Been Watching ''You Have Been Watching'' is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre (pilot and series 2) and Riverside Studios (series 1) in London. It first aired on ...
'', where guest Josie Long suggested the show be renamed "The
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were right". In 2013, second-season contestant Lorrie Arias spoke publicly about problems she attributed to her participation in ''The Swan'', including unresolved surgery complications and mental health problems she says were exacerbated by her appearance on the program. In 2010, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' ranked the program the worst reality television show ever produced.


See also

* List of television shows notable for negative reception


References


External links


Official Website (via Internet Archive)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, The (Tv series) 2004 American television series debuts 2004 American television series endings 2000s American reality television series 2004 controversies in the United States Makeover reality television series Fashion-themed reality television series Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television controversies in the United States Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series about plastic surgery