Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
U.S. tunes in, turns on to “Swingtown”
The reviews for “Swingtown” may not have been great, but U.S. television audiences — at least those not watching the National Basketball Association championship game — didn’t seem to mind as some 8.6 million total viewers tuned in to Thursday night’s premiere of the new CBS program about sexual adventurism in 1970s suburban America.
“Swingtown” garnered 8.6 million total viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49, while a rival program in the same 10 p.m. hour, ”Fear Itself,” had 5.2 million viewers and a 2 rating among adults 18-49.
On the east coast, “Swingtown” competed with the widely-watched NBA game between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, which won first-place and relegated “Swingtown” to second. “Fear Itself” came in third.
“Swingtown” replaced “Without a Trace” in the 10 p.m. slot for CBS. By comparison, last week’s episode of “Without a Trace,” which was a rerun, had 8.5 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen.
“Swingtown” has won a lot of media attention because it covers a topic – married couples with multiple sex partners — that typically would not be on a broadcast network like CBS and would likely show up on cable TV where standards over what can be put on TV are less restrictive.
While reviews were rough, several of our Fan Fare readers seemed to like it. You can check out the comments on the blog posting from yesterday “‘Sex’ sold, but will ‘Swingtown’? Reviews are in.”
“David” writes “I don’t care what those stuffy newspapers say, I loved Swingtown!”
“Sex” sold, but will “Swingtown”? Reviews are in.
That old advertising axiom, “sex sells,” certainly held true for the film “Sex and the City,” which debuted at No. 1 in U.S. movie theaters last weekend with $56 million in ticket sales and has since added about another $12 million.
But a new “sex sells” question mark will be raised Thursday night when the CBS broadcast network debuts ”Swingtown,” about suburban sexual adventurism in the 1970s, complete with orgies, drug use and a touch of nostalgia.
The show has caused speculation over whether a broadcast network can truly do justice to the idea of a lifestyle with multiple sex partners because broadcasters face far greater restrictions than cable networks over the amount of sexual and other adult content in programs.
So far, a few critics are weighing in and several have expressed doubt.
The New York Times said: “Just because an era is amusingly kitsch does not mean it is ripe for dramatic exploration.” The paper noted that cable TV show “Mad Men,” a similar sort of program set in the 1960s that has been a hit with critics, ”plays with all the familiar cues of the period — the music, clothes and raffish ambiance — to frame a mystery that holds viewers’ attention.” “Swingtown,” it said, “has ’70s mystique, but not much mystery.”
The Boston Globe writes that “the older-skewing CBS is almost as far as you can get from HBO … And so while “Swingtown” is racy by network standards, and includes not just sexual situations but all kinds of drug use, it still doesn’t have the freedom to get into the nitty-gritty of a subject that is nothing if not nitty-gritty.”
“For all the industry chatter, the new CBS drama might as well be called ‘That ’70s Sex Show,’” the Los Angeles Times wrote in its review. “A network daring to tread in the R-rated territory previously left to the cable stations — imagine!”
We have watched every episode of Swingtown and have enjoyed it immensely . The character development and human angst is interesting. We are left each we to see what will develop next week. When we saw last night that there is only one more episode, we were very disappointed. I hope there is enough outcry and interest that CBS or one of the cable or satellite companies will continue it. This, we feel, could be blockbuster for someone. Let’s hope it continues.
My wife and I LOVe this show. I also give Kudos to CBS for being willing to show this. It is funny, original and we love all the characters.