Swingtown

Swingtown was a CBS network drama series created by Mike Kelley, which aired from June 5 to September 5, 2008, lasting for one season & 13 episodes.

It was produced by Mike Kelley-Alan Poul Productions and CBS Paramount Network Television.

Plot
Set in the 1970s, the series centered on Susan & Bruce Miller, who move their family to a suburb in Chicago, Illinois where they discover that their neighbors, Janet & Roger Thompson have an open marriage, and are involved in swinging.

Cast
Main Cast Recurring Cast
 * Jack Davenport as Bruce Miller, Sr.
 * Molly Parker as Susan Miller
 * Lana Parrilla as Trina Decker
 * Grant Show as Tom Decker
 * Miriam Shor as Janet Thompson
 * Josh Hopkins as Roger Thompson
 * Shanna Collins as Laurie Miller
 * Aaron Howles as Bruce "B.J." Miller, Jr.
 * Michael Rady as Doug Stephens
 * Brittany Robertson as Samantha Saxton
 * Nick Benson as Rick Thompson
 * Kate Norby as Gail Saxton
 * Rachelle Lefevre as Melinda
 * Rick Peters as Tony Mareno
 * Kyle Searles as Logan Rhode
 * Erin Daniels as Sylvia Davis
 * Mark Valley as Brad Davis

Production
Producers Mike Kelley and Alan Poul first pitched their idea to HBO, where Poul (who had worked on Six Feet Under") had a development deal.

Poul said HBO passed on the opportunity at least in part because it already had "Big Love" in production and "Tell Me You Love Me" in development.

The two next approached Showtime, but before discussions with that network went anywhere, CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler found out about the proposal and within a couple of days, had read the script; she gave the series the greenlight in May of 2007.

The script (written in anticipation of a cable network deal) had to be rewritten for American broadcast television standards, all but eliminating the nudity and the explicit depiction of sexual acts.

CBS ordered 13 episodes from CBS Paramount Television.

Controversy
The American Family Association urged members to write letters of complaint to the media, while the Parents Television Council followed a failed boycott attempt with an effort to convince CBS affiliates to preempt the program. Procter & Gamble and Ace Hardware stopped advertising on the show.

Cancellation
Audience interest for "Swingtown" dwindled as the summer progressed. After a strong pilot episode, the ratings for the show got progressively worse, aided by a mid-season move from Thursdays to Friday.

According to executive producer Alan Poul, the first season ending was shot with the show's uncertain future in mind, saying: "The season ends with a cliffhanger, but it's also a completely satisfying ending. So, if we go forward, there are many new things that are set up to explore. And if we don't go forward, there's no feeling that we've been left with something incomplete."

The poor ratings led CBS to see if any cable networks, or perhaps DirecTV, were interested in picking it up. Bravo decided to acquire rights to the show's existing episodes, but did not order any new ones.

Reception
The 26 critics included in the show's Metacritic gave it mixed reviews (a "metascore" of 49).

Variety said that the series "exhibits rare depth" and includes "plenty of nifty touches, from the pop-song score and Boogie Nights fashions to the first-rate cast."

The Hollywood Reporter said, "even skillful performances by its largely unknown cast aren't able to hide the lack of character development and the sense that the people in this series are almost self-parodies."

Salon called it "stylish and '70s-sexy but also shallow enough to feel like a less funny, hollowed-out combination of The Wonder Years and Boogie Nights — which is exactly what the show's creators told the New York Times they were aiming for (without using the words 'less funny' and 'hollowed-out' of course)."

Lindsay Soll wrote that one "producer thinks of sophisticated swingers Tom and Trina (Show and Parilla) in a ‘Great Gatsby-like way,’ calling them 'the shining couple across the street.' Exactly why we'd get in bed with them--er, the show."

Ratings
There were low ratings for the first seven episodes of "Swingtown."

The seven Thursday night episodes averaged 6.7 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49, led CBS to move the show from Thursdays to Fridays.

Following the change, the ratings for the next four episodes averaged just 3.9 million viewers, with an average 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic.