SwingTown Review - First Impressions of the CBS Prime Time Swingers Show

[Dan And Jennifer]

We had the opportunity to pre-screen the new CBS Prime Time Swingers series pilot - SwingTown for an interview with Extra. We'll update this thread with the show time of the interview when we have it.

Here's a link to the show page: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/swingtown/

Keep reading if you'd like the short version, or watch our short video review here. We are aware of the minor audio weirdness beginning halfway through, it's a fluke since this was shot for our live video show and should be resolved for future shows. It's all good.

Overall, we were pleasantly surprised with SwingTown. CBS did well with it.

We found it interesting that the show portrayed that 'normal' suburbanites didn't seem to be aware of the lifestyle and that it is reserved for the wealthy and 'not' normal folks. If this is how it truly was in the 70's then I would say that's the biggest difference today - the lifestyle spans all socioeconomic boundaries and ages, though most are between the ages of 30 and 50.

It was a very good mix of characters - the swinging couple, the dysfunctional family with the drug-head mom, the normal 'curious' couple, and the self righteous, judgmental friend (generally unhappy) with the curious husband.

There were some common fears - like women being very insecure of "the other" younger, maybe prettier women - but they talked about it as a couple and came to an agreement. The feelings weren't allowed to fester. Great example of how this SHOULD be done all the time.

Loved the way the swinger wife used the girl-girl thing to get the other husband on board.

Many people in the swinger lifestyle were concerned that SwingTown would dwell on the negative perceptions of swinging and push an anti-swinging bias. After watching it, we just didn't think that was the case. Yes there was a lot of drug use, but this show IS set in the 70's, and let's face it, everyone used drugs in the 70's not just swingers.

What did you think of it? What did you think was a realistic or unrealistic portrayal of the swinger lifestyle?

Be sure to leave a note below with your own review. And you don't have to agree with us! :-)

We were very curious to see how modern swingers would view the show. So we invited a group of 10 couples for a Swingtown premier party, watching the show in our theater.

1. Would they relate? (as the oldest person at the party was just a kid in the 70's, and the youngest wasn't even born yet)

2. Would it be sex-positive?

3. Would they understand the themes, clothes, music, etc that are from the era of their parents?

4. Would the show capitalize on general, incorrect stereotypes of what we call "the lifestyle"?

Good news for CBS, everyone loved the show! Many things translate very well to todays swingers; the people in the show (and in reality) are happier, great parents, more social, less repressed and frankly a heck of a lot more fun. Most are white collar professionals. The communication between couples is driven to higher levels than ever before. And the sexual chemistry within a couple is ignited like never before (referring to the "morning after" scene, which was dead-on).

Todays swingers don't use drugs like they did then, and of course the music and clothes are completely different. Otherwise the show was a realistic portrayal of the lifestyle. Heck, even the party was accurate, with the vast majority of people talking, dancing, talking, lighting fireworks, talking, listening to music, talking, drinking, and yet more talking while just a handful of people were "playing" in their basement. The secret about swinging is that it's far more about friendship and being social than just about sex.

[Greg69Sheryl]

Overall, our impression of the show was positive. As both a swinging couple and as a couple that remembers the 70's (although we weren't swinging then), it is nice to see a dramatic series that features so many familiar characters and recognizable situations. We're already anxious to see where some of the the initial storylines will go.

However, there was one thing we found rather odd about the hype surrounding the series. While most of Swingtown's detractors focused on the sex, they probably should have complained more about the drugs. This might change as the series progresses, but the pilot episode was far more drug-soaked than sexy.

We've heard some people argue that the show would be more entertaining if it were on cable, thus allowing the show to be more open in its depiction of nudity and sex, but we disagree. Frankly, we already see so much nudity and sex elsewhere that we don't feel we have to see it on prime-time television, even in the context of a show like Swingtown. When we want to see porn, we know where to find it, so we're happy with Swingtown on CBS.

As rock music trivia buffs we do have a nickpick regarding the otherwise enjoyable soundtrack: Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" and Rita Coolidge's "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher" were not released until well after July 1976. Nevertheless, we plan on giving the music another listen at Swingtown's official online radio station.

[The Nibblers]

Unfortunately, we have been unable to see the debut yet, as we had unexpected scheduling conflicts that forced us to miss it. We are looking forward to catching it with itunes or on CBS's website.

Thanks all for the great review, now are curiosity is even more peaked. We will be back with a review soon!

[Ed Christ Pro Erotic]

But my thought when I heard "the Tiffany Network" (to old schoolers out there, that's what they called CBS) putting on a show about the Lifestyle was amazing to me. I'm not sure if I could ever see Thomas Magnum, J.R. Ewing, and Murphy Brown wind up in a threesome, but to hear a series dealing with swinging is a very eye opening topic.

Let's face it, when you have the Soprano's (HBO), Real Sex (also HBO), Big Love (Showtown) taking away your viewers you have to find a way to attract younger viewers and the things they are interested in. Boy to be a fly on the wall when they tried pitching this series to network execs.

I'm happy to hear they are letting this show run the course and find it's audience, but I wish two things could have been added to make this a show my sweetie and I can enjoy in private:

1. I wish the show was set in the 21st century with modern swingers. Most of the swingers I know are not drug heads, family first folk, and are committed to each other each time they play.

2. A better time slot! It was on a 10 pm (EST) and my girls are home for the summer. How do you explain to your burgeoning teen the concept of couples sharing each other for sexual recreation? So, the most diplomatic way of doing things is to let the show pass while we entertained the girls till we sent them off to bed.

Hopefully we won't be so far gone from the show that we won't at least catch one episode before it ends its summer run.

[K. in Cleveland]

OK, I've been watching since the pilot episode and wait each week until Thursday night as I really enjoy the show. I agree with those who thought the initial drug use may have been a bigger focus than the swinging. However, even though I'm too young to remember most of the 80's I have friends, swingers and straights, who were alive and living the 70's. I've talked to them and they pretty much say "yeah, that's just kind of how it was". One of our swinger friends was a musician then and he reminisced, "Oh man, I smoked pounds of weed then, and I mean POUNDS!" So, to me, the issue of drug use isn't a big one. I feel it's more of a promise of honesty and openness from the show.
Now why I'm writing this today is because of last night's episode... the one with the cabin and the Twister game... (forgive me that I don't really know every character's name quite yet)
I liked the fact that when the "curious" lady and Trina (swinger lady) were talking and Trina said that openness and honesty is the only way swinging works.
Then later on in the show the curious hubby and the swinging pilot were talking and the swinger guy said "You wanna keep it open, keep it honest."

I was so glad that they talked about this! My fiancee and I were worried when the show first came out that people would become interested in swinging and it would probably ruin a lot of relationships.. But I really think they're doing a good job of showing that it's something for strong relationships and that openness and honesty are important.

I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone that the writers have showed this side of the lifestyle and that it's not for everyone.

[Dan And Jennifer]

Originally Posted by K. in Cleveland

I liked the fact that when the "curious" lady and Trina (swinger lady) were talking and Trina said that openness and honesty is the only way swinging works.
Then later on in the show the curious hubby and the swinging pilot were talking and the swinger guy said "You wanna keep it open, keep it honest."

I was so glad that they talked about this! My fiancee and I were worried when the show first came out that people would become interested in swinging and it would probably ruin a lot of relationships.. But I really think they're doing a good job of showing that it's something for strong relationships and that openness and honesty are important.

I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone that the writers have showed this side of the lifestyle and that it's not for everyone.

Absolutely, we finally saw that episode over the weekend (thanks to TIVO). And that's exactly what we keyed in on - the "swinger couple" is very adamant at every step that you have to keep it open and honest. Full open communication is crucial. If you don't have that, you can't deal with jealousy issues, etc. And it will go bad.

Great fun show, we're glad to see where they went with it, and we plan to keep watching.

Now if they'd only bring Jericho back - for anyone who hasn't seen my thread on that in "the watercooler".

[Rachael559]

Originally Posted by Dan And Jennifer

<snip> Full open communication is crucial. If you don't have that, you can't deal with jealousy issues, etc. And it will go bad.<snip>
bring Jericho back - for anyone who hasn't seen my thread on that in "the watercooler".

Wanted to say that I think that's true of any successful long-term relationship, not just open relationships, but ANY relationship.

As for Jericho, I just could NOT get interested in that show. If you want post-apocalyptic then I get to say "Bring back FIREFLY!!!!"
Hugs,
Rachael

[Dan And Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Rachael559

Wanted to say that I think that's true of any successful long-term relationship, not just open relationships, but ANY relationship.

Absolutely!!! Open, honest ommunication is crucial for any long term relationship.

[Rachael559]

Being a TV drama we knew they could not leave well enough alone, especially with the plot pacing they've been keeping up ( which for those not watching has actually been very fast if you think about the fact that there have now been what 6 or 7 episodes. It will be interesting to see how they deal with the concept of infidelity in the context of non-monogamous couples. My sincere fear is that they will treat it the same as the way any monogamous TV couple deals with infidelity and I don't necessarily think that non-monogamous couples deal with it the same way, though it's never been an issue for us so I couldn't say directly. Interested to see what your take on the last few/next few episodes have gone/will go.
Hugs,
Rachael