Airs: Thursdays at 10:00pm
Network: CBS
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Review - "Swingtown"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
Swingtown takes place in the summer of 1976, after Woodstock but before Reagan. The show focuses on a nice suburban family — the Millers, to be precise. Bruce and Susan Miller (Jack Davenport and Molly Parker), their teenage daughter Laurie (Shanna Collins), and son B.J. (Aaron Howles) are moving into an affluent neighborhood on the shore of Lake Michigan, north of Chicago, where they discover most of their neighbors are swingers.
The show starts off with one of the Millers' soon-to-be neighbors, Tom Decker (Grant Show), seducing an employee and bring her home to his wife Trina (Lana Parilla) for a ménage à trois. It felt like watching a black widow go in for the kill, to be honest. Trina has an affinity for women, something her husband, of course, loves. When their newest meal has been devoured, Trina decides she needs a little bit of a change. And lo and behold, a new young couple has just moved into their neighborhood. They look so in love and conservative — the perfect challenge for Trina.
Trina and Tom rush over to meet their new neighbors, the Millers, and invite them to their Fourth of July party happening the next night. The Millers accept, as any upstanding neighbor would, and rush off to finish packing for the move the next day.
While Mom and Dad are away, the kids will play — and play they do. The Millers' kids are testing their boundaries. Laurie is a teenager who is exploring her own sexual independence with her current boyfriend, but clearly has eyes for her young, single English professor. And B.J. and his best friend have discovered Penthouse and Playboy (a rite of passage for most young boys, I hear).
Back in the old neighborhood, Roger and Janet Thompson (Josh Hopkins and Miriam Shor), the Millers' old neighbors and best friends, are envious of the Millers' new affluent neighborhood and are afraid to lose them. After the Millers have packed up and left, they surprise Bruce and Susan with Fourth of July leftovers and hope to make a night of it. When they discover their best friends have plans, they weasel their way into an invitation to the Deckers' party. Of course, none of them know what kind of party it is going to be, and the Thompsons are appalled when they find out about the sexual lifestyle the Deckers partake in. But the Millers realize their marriage is getting a little dull; they missed out on the sexual revolution, and feel this new lifestyle could add some spice to their marriage. Janet is appalled and leaves, but you can tell Roger is intrigued.
The next morning, the Millers have clearly had one of the best nights of their life and are read for more — or are they? As the camera pans on Susan's face, you can tell she is feeling guilty and is having second thoughts.
And that is the question: will the Millers continue this new lifestyle? How will it help or change their marriage? What will happen to their old friends, the Thompsons? Will they still be friends? Will the Deckers drop them now that they've had them in the sack, or will they want to come back for seconds? Will their daughter get involved with an older man? And what will both of the children think of the swinging lifestyle?
The show is well-written and has a great cast, but I feel it would do better on Showtime, CBS's family member, so they could have the freedom they need to be able to pull off the subject matter convincingly. Because they are on CBS, they are going to have to be very careful with the subject matter and the way they film the show so they don't get their hands smacked by the FCC.
Swingtown is fun to watch, and reminded me of the night-time soap operas of the 80s, like Knots Landing and Falcon Crest. It is very much an adult drama, and might be offensive to some. But if you are looking for a new drama that presses the boundaries, then this show is for you.
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