First off, what I loved about watching the first few minutes of SWINGTOWN, was the mental picture I got of religious right-wingers everywhere clutching their collective chests and reaching for their heart pills. The brainchild of Mike Kelley and executive producers Robert Del Valle and Alan Poul (two of the finest minds behind SIX FEET UNDER), this is a series meant to evoke the mid-'70's and to reflect the sea-change in the Sexual Revolution during that time, on the cusp of the birth of the Disco era. And it does so with a vengeance!!!
Kind of THE ICE STORM without the precipitation, we meet two couples: Tom and Trina Decker (former MELROSE PLACE resident stud Grant Show and THE NINE'S Lana Parrilla) and the Miilers, Bruce (Jack Davenport of the PIRATES OF THE Caribbean series and THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY) and Susan (Molly Parker - a long-time favorite of mine from many, many TV shows and film roles, most recently as Tim Olyphant's main squeeze in DEADWOOD.)
It's July, 1976. The Millers are "movin' on up" - not to the east side, mind you, but a few blocks away, to a bigger, better house and presumably a slightly more upscale lifestyle, thanks to good fortune smiling on Bruce's career and financial situation. This new turn of events has Susan a little bewildered, to say nothing of the loss felt by their former BFF's/next-door neighbors Roger and Janet Thompson (DAMMIT, JANET! - sorry, I just had to throw that in there), played by Josh Hopkins and Miriam Shor. Although the Millers will be literally just down the street, it might as well be half a world away for the Thompsons. Alas, the two families have NO idea.
Because as it turns out, Tom and Trina Decker are swingers. And not the 'just-on-the-weekends' kind, either. They are very active participants in the lifestyle, and being an airline pilot, Tom sees to it that he and his lovely wife (a former stewardess herself, not coincidentally enough), are never fresh out of new "guests" to stay over and party with. In fact, it's just as one of their latest 'friends' is on her way out the door, that Trina spies with her little eye the the attractive Millers, moving in to the house across the street. Let the games begin!
CBS has a summer hit on their hands, I think. It's controversial and nostalgic all at the same time. The cast is excellent, with everyone looking terrific in polyester pants, (especially Grant and Lana), and no expense or effort has been spared in getting the details just right. But even more important - and evocative - is the soundtrack, which is chock-a-block with original Seventies chestnuts, and not tired sound-alikes. Just in the first episode alone, we are treated to the likes of David Bowie, Norman Greenbaum, The Captain and Tennille, Gary Wright and The Commodores. I can't wait to see what future episodes have in store.
Of course, if the whole plot was just about swinging, that could get old really fast. But interesting subplots abound in the adventures (and misadventures) of the Millers' and Thompsons' kids, reflecting on how the 'sex-quake' of the Seventies affect and inform their lives as well.
Based solely on this premiere, I have certainly been convinced to stick around. I hope that creator Mike Kelley and the writers will be as adventurous as Bruce and Susan have become by the "climax" (pun most definitely intended)...
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