Did you swing to ‘Swingtown’? Was ‘Fear’ a factor?

There were silly plot holes in the Fear Itself show. One thing that was silly was the fact that if the creature was a vampire, why was it howling like a werewolf. Stupid little stuff like that just confuses people.

Of course, the front end of the story is not explained (other than we just assume that these guys are bad guys to begin with). did the guy really get a tree branch in the chest? Other then a squeamy visual, there was no reason for her to sew his mouth shut. He woulda been unconscious anyway and wouldn’t scream. The whole thing was too much like M. Night Shamalamdingdong’s, the Village anyway.

Then the kid from Friday Night Lights…was he supposed to be mentally challenged? His name is Lemon? All I could think of was…why isn’t 30 Rock on….

Good story idea. Coulda been executed better without the gore. Where’s the suspense in the story telling. Does the American public have to be bashed over the head with gory visuals?

I am a child of the ’60s and wonder why anyone would want to revisit the idea of swapping mates and group drug fests by watching the show “Swingtown.” The shows characters represent irresponsible adults trying to make up for the emptiness in their lives by having sex with the neighbors. I can’t relate to the shallow, me-first risky behavior that jeopardizes home and family that these characters portray. I don’t find them the least bit interesting, and frankly, I don’t want them in my home. I was shocked to learn that Carol House Furniture was one of the sponsors. I plan to tell Brook and Amy that I do like nice things, and this show isn’t one of them. Marsha P.

Not all television is for all people. There are plenty of things to watch Marsha, which you should do, instead of harassing the good folks at Carol House because they did a massive air buy that was spread among many hours and varied programming.

I really don’t understand folks like you, Marsha. If you don’t like it, change the channel. Why make the big protest to the sponsors? If anything, those things seem to backfire as they make the show appear more titalating. And why the protest over sex, but not over the gratitious violence of Fear Itself? In TV and in life, I will take sex over violence every time.

That said, about the show. I kinda thought it was a Desperate Housewives for the 70s. It doesn’t glorify the swinging lifestyle–actually you saw that that it was “filling the emptiness” that Marsha referred. Perhaps there is a lesson to learn in that, thus making the show somewhat redeemable.

I plan to watch again next week, though to me the big thing was that there was too much going on. We only got a piece of everyone’s story and nothing was fully developed. Perhaps that is typical for a pilot.

This program is offensive. The woman doing “coke”, the pill popping, the foresome, the run-a-way child. What value does this have for our society? The news is all about drugs, family decay, run-a-way children and the devastation it brings to innocent people. You may someday be the one affected by the choice somone else makes either directly or a family member, a close friend

Carol House needs to know what they are supporting. I would want to be informed if it was my company.

We are what we think.

The idea that viewers who don’t agree with shows such as “Swingtown” can just “change the channel” does not address the real problem, Suzyjax. This program will no doubt have its viewership, including young, impressionable viewers who are very much up and about at 9 p.m. during the summer months. If you’re comfortable with that, fine. You can write to Carol House and congratulate them on their choice of program they sponsor. Your comment about Carol House’s massive air buy leaves the impression that the company didn’t know where its advertising dollars were being spent. For the amount of money they are spending to sponsor this program, no doubt they are well aware of their participation. As long as I am a member of this society, I am going to express my opinion and disappointment about TV programming I feel is inappropriate for prime time, which includes gratuitous violence. (What gave you the idea that I am okay with violence. That was an illogical leap.) I respect your right to do the same.

I think Swingtown was rather sanitized, from what I remember about the 70s.

I was much more interested in Swingtown than I was in Fear Itself…I watched both. I agree with John about the plot holes…Oh, and John, his nickname was Lemon. He said his actual name was Lemuel.

As to the comment about children, well, there aren’t any in this household. Why should I be penalized by that lowest common denominator? Use your V-Chip, or Parental controls change the channels, or send them to bed. Or use the show to talk to your kids about acceptable behavior in your household. I’m actually tired of that argument, especially in the 9 pm hour. Besides, they’re probably watching porn on the internet anyway.

As to advertising, did you hear a voice-over announcer say “brought to you by…” or, “sponsored by…” before their ads? If not, they aren’t sponsors, as suzyjax said, they are advertisers. They just bought a block of ad time.

Funny, it seems to me that the people who call for less government are the same ones that rush in and want them to censor the airwaves (Janet’s nip slip, Sipowicz’s bare butt on NYPD Blue, etc.). They claim it’s “for the children” but in reality it’s due to their own prudishness and the fact they want to implement their own moral code on society.

As a child of the 70’s (and of a couple that didn’t swing) my parents were cetainly able to limit what I watched on TV without any fancy vchips or other techonology). If something was inappropriate, I wasn’t allowed to watch it. This isn’t TV related but my mom wouldn’t let me see the James Bond movie “Octopussy” because of the name!

So to all you parents that want government censorship on the airwaves cause you don’t like the thought of people having sex, don’t infringe on my right to want to watch that of show (though I didn’t). Watch what your kids watch, if they’re watching something they shouldn’t; turn the channel. beter yet, get them from in front of the TV and do a couple of laps around the block.

In today’s society, anything they see on broadcast TV pales in comparison with what they see and hear in school, see on the internet (youtube).

Because I mentioned my disappointment in Carol House’s sponsorship of “Swingtown” I feel compelled to share the email I received from Brook Dubman from Carol House. I had written to express my disappointment that Carol House was sponsoring this program. (And garricks, advertisers whose ads run during a prime-time show, making it possible for the station to broadcast the show, is a sponsor, with or without a voice-over announcer. If the advertiser dollars are pulled, no more show.) Here is the email I received.

Marsha,
Thank you for writing because this is news to me and I agree with you! We have a TV ad agency that NORMALLY does a good job for us. I will definitely check into how this occured so I can fix it.
Sincerely, Brook

Kudos to you Marsha,

That’s called consumer activism. In response to the person saying Marsha and her friends are calling for government regulation… I don’t see that here. What I see here is a call for decency and for consumers to let their voices be heard.

Consumers united are more powerful than an inept federal government ANY DAY.

I tuned in to Swingtown but only stuck around for about 10 minutes. I just didn’t see anything to hang around for.