Network: CBS; Genera: Period Drama; Content Rating: TV-14 (for frequent strong sexual content, some drug use and pervasive adult content); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);
Seasons Reviewed: 1 season
In the summer of 1976, three very different married couples come together under the allure of sexual freedom, experimentation and burgeoning feminism. Susan (Molly Parker, "Deadwood") and Bruce (Jack Davenport, choking on a phony American accent) move next door to Trina (Lana Parilla) and Tom (a hilariously laid back Grant Show) who during an eye-opening 4th of July party reveal themselves to be true blue, Qualude popping swingers in an open marriage. The conservative Susan and Bruce begin a journey of experimentation pulled in one way by Trina and Steve, having problems with the lifestyle themselves, and another by old friends Janet (Miriam Shor) and Roger (Josh Hopkins, "Pepper Dennis") in the proverbial "uptight" married couple role.
"Swingtown" is a juicy piece of pulp summer fun. Blessed with a great ensemble that is better than the writing deserves and an attention to time period detail that has no rival on network TV (not since "Freaks and Geeks"), it is an alternately dry and predictable and soaking wet hot boundary-pusher for Les Moonves' geriatric-skewing network that runs from risk like it's allergic to sunlight. But the wife swapping, the 3 ways, 4 ways (no joke) and student/teacher action (I'll get to that) are just the beginning, with creator Mike Kelley dutifully exploring everyone of these characters, their inner turmoil and the desire to express themselves in an increasingly complex web of incestuous heat-swapping amongst the cast. The show lacks the wit of, say, "Nip/Tuck", but it has those Ryan Murphy guts. There is no doubt that "Swingtown" would find a happier home and draw a bigger audience on FX, Showtime or HBO where it belongs.
While the promise of sex, and the show's long playlist of well placed 70s hits just begging to delay a DVD release while producers scrounge for the copyright money, makes the show fun, it doesn't make the show good. What I like about it, what the 5 people who complained about it don't get, is that "Swingtown" is actually about something. A dissection of the very thing people think it promotes. Simply put, it's a network TV surface level look at honesty's role as paramount in a marriage and how that is defined. No better place can that idea be taken to it's extreme than in a climate of key parties and successful open marriages where cheating on a spouse has less to do with sex with another person and more to do with openness and honesty with each other. "Swingtown" explores the success and failure of that idea with it's conflicted characters - not promoting or decrying it - and no more perfect time could the show's metaphors have come than in the arch conservative contemporary American culture.
Still, all is not sunny here. Like CBS's "The Unit", Kelley's series feels pulled apart by network mandates to give it family appeal that it doesn't have. Shoe-horned into the meaty adult stories is banal "drama" involving their kids. Putting the breaks on the show fast is Susan and Bruce's son who has a crush on a neighbor girl and his friend - x and x's son - is a jerk. Worse, their teenage daughter (Shanna Collins ) begins dating - yes - her teacher if you haven't seen that story line enough. If Jack Davenport (so perfect on "Coupling", here put in the nice-guy-who-can't-do-right-enough role) awkwardly slogging through an American accenting doesn't pull you out of the show's world, the kids sure will.
A mixed recommendation for a show that itself is mixed, between dull, predictable, seen-before-drama and a truly risqué and enjoyable piece of work. Not for the sex, but for the ideas.
The cast in this case really elevates "Swingtown" beyond it's cracks. Aside from how fun it is spotting character actors like Erin Daniels and Mark Valley in 70s garb. Two performances stand out. After thankless roles on "Boomtown" and "24" Lana Parilla gives a true break-out performance, owning slinky sexpot Trina's every curve and arguably commanding the series. We also get a break-out performance from Miriam Shor who takes what could have been another Bree VanDeKamp and gives Janet and inexplicable twinkle of more. Janet grows to possibly the most interesting character on the show.
* * * / 4
Seasons Reviewed: 1 season
In the summer of 1976, three very different married couples come together under the allure of sexual freedom, experimentation and burgeoning feminism. Susan (Molly Parker, "Deadwood") and Bruce (Jack Davenport, choking on a phony American accent) move next door to Trina (Lana Parilla) and Tom (a hilariously laid back Grant Show) who during an eye-opening 4th of July party reveal themselves to be true blue, Qualude popping swingers in an open marriage. The conservative Susan and Bruce begin a journey of experimentation pulled in one way by Trina and Steve, having problems with the lifestyle themselves, and another by old friends Janet (Miriam Shor) and Roger (Josh Hopkins, "Pepper Dennis") in the proverbial "uptight" married couple role.
"Swingtown" is a juicy piece of pulp summer fun. Blessed with a great ensemble that is better than the writing deserves and an attention to time period detail that has no rival on network TV (not since "Freaks and Geeks"), it is an alternately dry and predictable and soaking wet hot boundary-pusher for Les Moonves' geriatric-skewing network that runs from risk like it's allergic to sunlight. But the wife swapping, the 3 ways, 4 ways (no joke) and student/teacher action (I'll get to that) are just the beginning, with creator Mike Kelley dutifully exploring everyone of these characters, their inner turmoil and the desire to express themselves in an increasingly complex web of incestuous heat-swapping amongst the cast. The show lacks the wit of, say, "Nip/Tuck", but it has those Ryan Murphy guts. There is no doubt that "Swingtown" would find a happier home and draw a bigger audience on FX, Showtime or HBO where it belongs.
While the promise of sex, and the show's long playlist of well placed 70s hits just begging to delay a DVD release while producers scrounge for the copyright money, makes the show fun, it doesn't make the show good. What I like about it, what the 5 people who complained about it don't get, is that "Swingtown" is actually about something. A dissection of the very thing people think it promotes. Simply put, it's a network TV surface level look at honesty's role as paramount in a marriage and how that is defined. No better place can that idea be taken to it's extreme than in a climate of key parties and successful open marriages where cheating on a spouse has less to do with sex with another person and more to do with openness and honesty with each other. "Swingtown" explores the success and failure of that idea with it's conflicted characters - not promoting or decrying it - and no more perfect time could the show's metaphors have come than in the arch conservative contemporary American culture.
Still, all is not sunny here. Like CBS's "The Unit", Kelley's series feels pulled apart by network mandates to give it family appeal that it doesn't have. Shoe-horned into the meaty adult stories is banal "drama" involving their kids. Putting the breaks on the show fast is Susan and Bruce's son who has a crush on a neighbor girl and his friend - x and x's son - is a jerk. Worse, their teenage daughter (Shanna Collins ) begins dating - yes - her teacher if you haven't seen that story line enough. If Jack Davenport (so perfect on "Coupling", here put in the nice-guy-who-can't-do-right-enough role) awkwardly slogging through an American accenting doesn't pull you out of the show's world, the kids sure will.
A mixed recommendation for a show that itself is mixed, between dull, predictable, seen-before-drama and a truly risqué and enjoyable piece of work. Not for the sex, but for the ideas.
The cast in this case really elevates "Swingtown" beyond it's cracks. Aside from how fun it is spotting character actors like Erin Daniels and Mark Valley in 70s garb. Two performances stand out. After thankless roles on "Boomtown" and "24" Lana Parilla gives a true break-out performance, owning slinky sexpot Trina's every curve and arguably commanding the series. We also get a break-out performance from Miriam Shor who takes what could have been another Bree VanDeKamp and gives Janet and inexplicable twinkle of more. Janet grows to possibly the most interesting character on the show.
* * * / 4