Lifetime Television has decided not to contribute to the madness surrounding Richard and Mayumi Heene and their three sons. After last week's alleged "Balloon Boy" hoax, the cable network decided to cancel a planned rerun of the family's first "Wife Swap" episode.
The Heenes' episode of the ABC reality show had been scheduled to air at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29, as part of Lifetime's regular Monday-Friday lineup of the series.
"It was on the schedule long before the incident," a Lifetime rep said.
However, after last Thursday's "runaway balloon" transfixed the nation, and after the weekend's revelations that the incident was staged to garner attention for the Heenes in their quest to return to reality television, Lifetime pulled the episode from its schedule for the foreseeable future, a Lifetime spokesman said.
"Once it was determined to be a hoax," the spokesman said, and "given the sensitivities of the matter," the rerun was axed.
