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Swingtown: Discussion Thread


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OK well i thought for a network drama on such a non network subject it was pretty brilliant.

Well after months of wondering when it would air I started to think I really wouldn't like Swingtown. I was wrong. Largely I thought it was pretty terrific. My only real complaints were with the straightlaced neighbour--some of her actions felt a bit too cliched/obvious (scrubbing the oven after walking in on the orgy, out of upset??) and a few too 70s mentions (and I didn't even live then) but this may have been cuz it was a pilot. Also it was obvious that the show was intended for HBo or Showtime--so many times you could picture an ass shot here, an f-bomb there, but it didn't really take away (Ent Weekly mentioned how they were surprised with what they could get by with on CBS--cocaine use, orgies as long as there was no "bouncing" etc) . I forgot that producer Poule was one of my fave Six Feet Under directors--the direction for this really was particularly striking after a night of watching other network tv shows. Also not quite sure about the neighbour who wallpapers in foil...

The two big surprises for me were in the main couple--I knew I loved Molly Parker but I thougth she was perfect for the show--it would be easy i think for many audiences to not accept that she'd take a quaalude so quickly or not approve--but with her you really go with it. And more so was Jack Davenport, the British actor I knew and loved from Coup-ling and who was in the first Pirates of the Carribean movie. Really good. And Grant Show looks great, 50 and with a mustache or not you almost get why anyone would "swing" with him.

Speaking of, one random thought I had that's prob not particularly brilliant, while watching. If swinging was and is seen by those who do it as so progressive and for the man and woman so liberating why is the focus still always on the woman and the "extra' man is only involved in how he connects with either woman? I guess that's just from a gay perspective though--i wonder if it would be more truly equal now?

Oh and while the music was largely used in a cliche fashion I think it was also done very very well--apparantly CBS is already featuring a channel where you can play in full each song featured each week.

And I have a feeling CBS has NO faith this will be worth renewing or even airing all eps :(

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I did move in a sorta slow way (which was perfect for the slow summer ennui the show is set in) that reminded me of Six Feet Under and other cable shows more than network tv--you got to know the characters as the episode progressed not all at once the way American tv likes to simplify it for audiences.. You shoulda stayed with it till the party though which was brilliant. oh well

Glad to see it got stronger ratings than I expected it to ! Of course the test will be if it can keep this up--TC let me know what you think.

Honestly it probably was the best drama pilot I've seen since, ironically that other period piece, Mad Men.

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Mad Men averaged under a million viewers so I'm glad it won all the awards and is back. TC I believe last year's eps start this week in Canada on CTV--you need to watch from the start. It can be kinda slow at first but the characterization and acting and writing are just superb. I hope this year it reallyt akes off--i hear they're gonna do a huge marketing campaign to try to get more of an audience.

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