"Swingtown" on CBS?

[AustinandStacy]

From an article previewing CBS's fall TV schedule:

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Most years, a Joel Silver-produced drama about a private eye who also happens to be a vampire would easily qualify as the Eye's "out there" pilot. But this spring, "Twilight" is just one of several shows that might make Tassler's traditional-leaning boss Leslie Moonves go "hmmmmm" when he screens them.

On the fantasy/sci-fi side, "Babylon Fields" is an hour Tassler describes as " 'Ordinary People' meets 'Day of the Living Dead.' " In other words, yes, there are zombies -- but the show's also about personal relationships, and what happens when the ex-wife you thought was dead suddenly is back in your life.

Then there's "Demons," the Joe Roth-produced drama from "Joan of Arcadia" creator Barbara Hall. It's about a priest waging war with Satan on more than one front.

More grounded (well, sort of) contenders include "Swingtown," a drama set in the 1970s that explores what happens to families when couples swap partners.

There's also "Viva Laughlin," a new take on a Blighty series about a Nevada casino owner who's flying by the seat of his pants. The upshot: Every once in a while, the characters break out in song.

As far-out as some of the drama concepts might seem, Tassler cautions that there's not as much difference as there might seem between these new ideas and, say, "CSI."

"Within even our more outrageous choices, there is at the core a relatability," she says. "That's a significant part of all our shows. They need to have characters that are flawed, that are identifiable. Audiences have to be able to look at a character or circumstances and say, 'That could be me, or that is someone I know.' "
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http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1

The article refers to the new lineup as "sexy", and frames it as CBS launching a battle to win Fox's younger viewers.

Discuss.

[sexyshelby]

I doubt a primetime show about swingers would actually make it on the air...and even if it did, I'm sure it wouldn't be an accurate portrayal. But who knows... It'll be interesting to see what happens.

~SS

[Tybee Swing]

Swinging in the 70's - I'd watch it! If we could time travel, what a trip that would be, back to the good old days when the only reason to use a condom was to not get pregnant. Groovy and Far Out!

[warkman]

At least they use the term "partner swapping" instead of "wife swappng." I still prefer "sharing." I wonder why they chose to time stamp it in the 70's rather than the present? Will the vanilla world accept what's depicted more if it happens 30 years in the past? It'll probably be fun for the costuming department.

[Chicup]

"
More grounded (well, sort of) contenders include "Swingtown," a drama set in the 1970s that explores what happens to families when couples swap partners."

What happens to families is the dead give away its going to be negative.

[Mr TybeeSwing]

Check out the show "Swinging" on the Sundance Channel. It is hilarious.

[Thrax]

Originally Posted by Chicup

"
More grounded (well, sort of) contenders include "Swingtown," a drama set in the 1970s that explores what happens to families when couples swap partners."

What happens to families is the dead give away its going to be negative.

Why should we be surprised?

If you watch the 1997 movie "The Ice Storm" (and I encourage you to do so, but don't expect a happy ending) it appears that only negative things happen because of swinging (in this case, a "key party", and some unrelated cheating, lead to tragedy).

Even "liberal Hollywood", whether kowtowing to current conservative trends or not, presents swinging in a negative light. Hey, they have to sell theater seats! (Although a few Hollywood folks might engage in swinging, or polyamory, or...heaven forfend...CHEATING! NO! Really!) Swinging can't be portrayed as practical, right? Regardless of that, there was excellent acting in that film.

Hypocrites to the LEFT of us, hypocrites to the RIGHT.

Whatever.

Thrax

[ratpatch]

I'll watch it... just to see.

I have been struck by 2 sidelong glances towards swinging in the TV world just this past week.

In this week's "House" episode, when he presents a girl with the information that her guy is "cheating" on her she tells him well you are accomplished and funny and is obviously rationalizing /considering it, until Dr. House tells her that no, he's cheating on your vegan diet with a cheeseburger. (at which point you infer she dumps him, cause later she's seen on a date with House)

And in the last episode of Grey's Anatomy, George poses the question, "Can you love 2 people?" (he's trying to get over the guilt of sleeping with Izie when he's married to the orthapedist)

I realize that swinging / poly relationships would ruin most of the "conflict" that shows up in prime time TV, but it doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to see it showcased at least occasionally.

--april

[WesternSwing]

Originally Posted by ratpatch

I realize that swinging / poly relationships would ruin most of the "conflict" that shows up in prime time TV, but it doesn't mean that I wouldn't like to see it showcased at least occasionally.

And there's the point... Conflict. Nobody wants to watch a show with happy people. They want to watch drama. Desperate Housewives is more fun to Joe Couch Potato then Happy Swingers.

Mr. WS

[DBL D]

Mainline TV will never be able to produce anything worth watching in this regard...because they can't show what the big deal is...SEX! Too passe.

Cheating, robbing, corruption and murder...that's what get's our nations attention. Just as well that we stay in the closet and be happy about it.

Male D

[driveajeepnaked]

Here's a bit more from Media Village...


"Pasadena, CA - Network executives are supposed to love all of their children equally, but CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler is already over the moon for one of the many pilots she has in development for next season, a decidedly adult drama titled Swingtown.

Set in 1976 in a cul-de-sac in Chicago and directed by Alan Poul, whose previous credits include Six Feet Under and Rome, Swingtown is the story of three suburban couples, one of them "firmly ensconced" in swinging. Tassler practically popped out of her seat with enthusiasm when asked about this show during her appearance at the Television Critics Association tour the other day. Rather than keep her description of the project brief, as network entertainment division presidents are known to do during TCA sessions, especially when talking about projects that have yet to be filmed, Tassler with minimal prodding began to spill the details of Swingtown, right down to individual character names.

She told critics all about the three couples in the show. The "firmly ensconced" swingers are named Tom and Trina, she began. "Another couple, Bruce and Susan, are just sort of beginning to look at their marriage and explore different possibilities, as it were. The other couple, Jill and Roger, are appalled at the prospect of getting involved in that at all."

Swingtown, she continued, will be about much more than swinging and sex. "There were a lot of issues put on the table during that time period, not the least of which was the growth and evolution of the women's movement in the mid-Seventies and the emergence of the strong female who was able to distinguish herself within the context of a marriage." Indeed, during discussions that followed Tassler's session with the press, some of the younger critics and reporters in the TCA were startled to learn that as recently as the mid-Seventies women were not allowed to have their own credit cards, carry mortgages without a male co-signer or declare themselves head of household on tax forms, even if they were single.

Tassler noted that Swingtown will invite comparisons to the 1997 feature film The Ice Storm, about upscale suburban Connecticut couples who participated in key parties during the Seventies. But where The Ice Storm was a study in emotional devastation, Tassler said Swingtown wouldn't be so dark. "There's a lot of humor, a lot of irony and a lot of slightly risqué subject matter."

To which we say, bring it on!"

[havefuninsun]

Swinging was mentioned just this past week on "My Name is Earl."

Well, Kinda.

For anyone who watches the show and knows the character, this past week Joy, Earl's ex wife and all around hard-ass trailer park trash-like, but cute as hell, finds herself in jail. Her lawyer tells her she will have to have character witnesses for trial. Earl sets off to find her character witnesses, but alas, she has "dissed" most everyone she knows. He shows up at the door-step of her best friend since high school. The woman says, "Gosh, the last time I saw Joy at the house was a few years ago, right after she has a three-some with my parents."

HAHAHAHA

So, "three-some" was mentioned right on regular ol' TV.

[driveajeepnaked]

Tonight on "House" (again), there was heated discussion and a bet made between two of the doctors regarding a patient and his wife, where the wife had admitted that they had a three some a few months back with her college roommate as an Anniversary Gift to her husband.
House immediately saw that as a sign of a bad marriage, and the female doctor said that t was a stronger marriage for the trust that was involved in that type of relationship.
She bet him that they had a sound and solid, loving marriage; which was also echoed by the wife of the patient, when the female doctor questioned her about why they had a threesome...

Long story made short... the wife was arrested for slowly poisoning her husband and House won the bet...

V

[cubnamy1995]

Has anyone heard when the series is going to start? Or are they on hold because of the writer's strike?

[JustAskJulie]

Haven't heard anything about it. Do you have any more info?