Swingtown

I've gotten hooked on a television show this summer. Yes, Swingtown. I can tell you exactly why I began watching this show: it stars Grant Show, who I loved on Melrose Place all those years ago, and Molly Parker, who was one of the stars of Deadwood, which may be the greatest television series ever made.
I was a little skeptical about the premise: suburban couples during the 1970's sexual revolution who spend their nights disco dancing and swinging with the neighbors. There seems to be a lot of potential for cheesiness here! But I fell in love with this show from the first episode.There are very superficial reasons to love Swingtown: the costumes, the hairdos, the decor, the music! It's all vintage 70's, and seeing these artifacts from my childhood brings back so many memories. There are so many little touches like the hairbrush Grant Show was using in the "Get Down Tonight" episode - one of those flat black plastic numbers just like my dad used to have. I plan to download the soundtrack as soon as it's available, because I loved every single song they played during the course of this season.
But the real reason this show is so great is because of the superb plots and acting. It's not really a show about swinging, of course. It's on CBS for heaven's sakes! It's really about a bunch of people of all ages experiencing growing pains in parallel to the political and cultural changes going on in the U.S. in 1976. And the strongest characters on the show are the women, who are figuring out how to embrace the increasingly mainstream ideas of equality and liberation. The male characters all try to be supportive of their ladies' search for themselves, but mostly end up standing around looking befuddled!
It's a fun show to watch, and every single episode has made me laugh out loud at some point, and then well up at the final, poignant lesson-of-the-week. I don't know if this show is being renewed for a second season, but you can check out this summer's episodes on the CBS website.