Arrr! Take my matey, will ye?

In olden times, you didn't go out looking for pirates. They — if you were extremely unlucky — found you.

But with pirates enjoying a lofty spot in popular culture, thanks in part to the likes of Johnny Depp, producers of ABC's "Wife Swap" sought out some modern-day pirate types, including one Seattle native, to spice up tonight's season premiere.

"There's a part of everybody that wants not to have to play by the rules," said the show's executive producer, Wendy Roth. "It's totally fun, and it takes you away from everyday life."

For the uninitiated, "Wife Swap" finds two families with opposite approaches to life, then switches wives for a couple of weeks to watch the fireworks.

Roth said the show sought out people who live a carefree, pirate-influenced life to pair with "an appearance-obsessed professional organizer" in the second of two episodes airing tonight.

"Wife Swap" casting directors, cruising the Internet rather than the Caribbean, ran headlong into two Albany, Ore., guys, John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, at their Web site, www.talklikeapirate.com.

Baur and Summers, the latter a Beacon Hill product who grew up simultaneously terrified and fascinated by the Seafair Pirates, trace their pirate credentials to a 1995 decision to declare, for no great cosmic purpose, that every Sept. 19 should be "Talk Like A Pirate Day."

Their decree might have died a merciful death had it not been prominently discussed by columnist Dave Barry. Since then, the "Pirate Guys" have been interviewed by news outlets around the globe; starred in their own You Tube videos; and are in the sixth printing of their book, "Pirattitude! So you Wanna Be a Pirate? Here's How!"

Summers, as it turns out, is divorced and fresh out of wives at the moment, but Baur and his wife, Tori, aka "Mad Sally," were deemed a fine fit for the show. And Summers does appear, thanks to a rule allowing a wife to bring in an ally for support.

Baur acknowledges his household's laid-back style led to a painful amount of friction with the rule-loving California family paired with them on the show. "I think it's safe to say there will be no Christmas cards going back and forth."

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com