Somehow Commenters Will Make This Item About Moonlight
CBS has effectively pulled the plug on Swingtown, moving it to Friday at 10pm beginning this week. It started strong, with 8.6 million viewers for its debut, and much more importantly a 2.8 rating in the adults 18-49 demo. However, by last week it had dropped to only 5.32 million viewers, and only an overnight 1.6 demo rating. Demo starved CBS was likely initially elated about the show, but now is resigned to its failure.
An amusingly accurate interpretation of CBS remarks from Tom Jicha at the Sun Sentinel:
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said the other day that she is proud of the show but wished it had better ratings.
Translation: We thought we had something, but we were wrong.
And they’re giving Flashpoint another chance in Swingtown’s old slot Thursday at 10pm. It won its timeslot, but started weaker than Swingtown, with 8.13 million viewers, and an overnight 1.9 demo rating. It slipped to 7.12 million viewers and approximately an overnight 1.5 demo rating in its second airing. That’s not a good trend. However, CBS seems to want to give it a chance in a somewhat more viewer rich environment. I wouldn’t bet on its success there either, but CBS has little to lose by trying.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I think they should have done this initially. Flashpoint fits much better with CSI than Swingtown did. While Flashpoint might not have a chance at a second season (at least in the US), I do think it will hold more of the CSI lead-in than Swingtown did.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:06 pm
How can you cancel a summer show? Who watches a show faithfuly in the summer time.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:10 am
CBS seems to have problems with their new programming.
Darn.
Why anyone wants to glorify sexual promiscuity is beyond me. The era of Swinging only led to the spread of STDs and destroyed families.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
CBS was wrong for not giving Moonlight a chance to grow, instead they put on c**p in its place. CBS deserves what they get….I hope Swingtown and Flashpoint go down the tubes and well as the show that will replace ML in the fall. Nina does not have a clue….all the actors on ML were great, Alex (Mick) was the lead therefore we refer him as the show. I hope another network has the balls to give ML a chance.
A fan of Moonlight
July 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Just getting past what CBS did in the past, if they cared about viewers and ratings they would open their eyes to the huge following of the Twilight series and upcoming movie and get the closest thing to Twilight on the planet back. A good business move would be to have Moonlight waiting for those fans who come out of the theaters in December wanting more. More being a beautiful vampire/mortal romance that can be watched by entire families. The vampire genre is huge in novels and upcoming movies and television, but Moonlight is unique (like Twilight) and is without graphic sex and violence. All prejudices aside for one show or another - if they want ratings and new viewers who are, “as the bloggers like to say” rabid about their shows, the money is to be made by bringing back Moonlight. The newest Twilight trailer is coming up on two million hits - the figures are there, CBS.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
CBS has made some poor decisions starting with the cancellation of Moonlight. The show had just started hitting its stride and had great potential. I am one of “those Moonlight fans” who still believe that CBS blew it!
July 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
One more MOONLIGHT fan who hopes CBS or some other network will pick up Moonlight. some people may not care for it, but millions of us do. WE NEED OUR SHOW BACK! CBS would be wise to join in the Vampire resurgence and bring Moonlight back.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I am not surprised Swington is going down the drain. People who want to watch that kind of show will not see what they want because it is not on cable. People who think swinging is horrible will not watch the show period. So who exactly was their audience supposed to be? If CBS had really been committed to this show, they would have put it on their Showtime network.
July 24th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Jackie- Unfortunately the networks customers are advertisers not viewers. They sell viewers to advertisers. We are a product. The good news is that we are advertisers customers so……..
July 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Robert,
They are looking for a real “name” actor to replace Petersen, and neither of those two come close to qualifying.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
“Holly - Do you think a big name can keep CSI going strong? And if so, for how long?”
I’m actually excited about Petersen’s exit. CSI has gotten rather stale and this is a wonderful opportunity for a shake-up. The episodes with Kessler (Liev Schriber) when Grissom left were some of the best of the last several seasons primarily because they changed the dynamic between the existing characters. What’s going to keep CSI alive isn’t necessarily the “name”, but the quality of the story lines. Looking for a high-caliber actor makes sense not just because he might bring in some new viewers, but because you know he’s good and can play the part.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I think CBS should bring Moonlight Back and push it the same as they are trying to push Swingtown and they would get more people watching.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Robert, I didn’t really think you were mad…inflection is so difficult in posting.
As for actors taking the CSI gig: It certainly wouldn’t be a great stepping stone for any of the names I’ve seen mentioned, but it wouldn’t hurt them either. It’s becoming more and more common for “movie” actors to take TV gigs.
July 24th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Maybe Nina ought to bring back something thats missing like MOONLIGHT. Then they will see numbers.
July 24th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Breaking news–Joel Silver says Moonlight is dead.
http://blog.zap2it.com/scifi/2008/07/at-comic-c...
July 24th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I am very disappointed about the move. I am a faithful watch of Swingtown, along with fellow swingers that I personally know.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Well swingtown was a little racey for early thurs. night tv anyway, but I love that show!! Hooked all the way, but I bet it gets canceled anyway. So hooked on Swingtown!
July 24th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
And the parade of idiots continues. I wonder if they realize they reflect poorly on the Moonlight fans with brains. I know there are many, just not a lot of them commenting here.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
This sucks. We love the show and our friends love the show! - Sacramento, CA.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Bring it back. I love this show!!!
July 25th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Bring back Swingtown…We love the show! Hopefully a cable channel will pick it up!
July 25th, 2008 at 10:40 am
CBS should have left Moonlight on.
July 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for that Kel! *LMAO followed by rolling my eyes*
July 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Swingtown is the ONLY noncable network show I watch. It is a very fresh show with great acting and a fabulous storyline. If this show goes, so do I…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I believe that if CBS had given MOONLIGHT the proper chance, they would never have had to deal with the poor ratings in the first place. Moonlight is a show that appealed to a wide audience and was growing in viewership prior to its being taken off the air and hopefully, CBS will see the benefit to bringing back Moonlight and the very large audience this great show had .
July 25th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
drama9565,
Check your facts. The ratings were going DOWN.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
drama9565,
check your facts. The ratings were doing DOWN.
July 26th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I am new to this computer business and I have never campaigned for a TV show in my life, but with the cancellation of Moonlight I find myself compelled to do both. I used to be a CBS viewer ,however when you find a show that is well written and the characters leave you wanting to see more and it is cancelled then I find myself not wanting to get involved in another show on this network. CBS had the shows that I liked namely NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds and yes for those of you who are tired of hearing about it-Moonlight! So now I have decided to make my own statement and watch any network that is not CBS!
July 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
i knew it! that show was too good to be true. all i can hope for is that some other network decides to pick it up.. and by that other network i mean NBC. that show deserves a chance. PLEASE, PLEASE BRAVO PICK IT UP!!!!!!!! back in the day a little show called CHEERS struggled too. it just needed more promo but CLEAR CHANNEL LOVING CBS WAS TOO AFRAID.
July 27th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Not going to complain this week. Just simply gonna say “thanks” for at least saying that Moonlight quite possibly would have done better than the 4.5 million Swingtown drew.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I would always pick a character driven, romantic drama, over ANY program having to do with swinging!!!!
July 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said the other day that she is proud of the show but wished it had better ratings.
Translation: We thought we had something, but we were wrong.
NIna, you had something, it was called Moonlight
Septbday
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2008/07/23/swingtown-...
July 29th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said the other day that she is proud of the show but wished it had better ratings.
Translation: We thought we had something, but we were wrong.
NIna, you had something, it was called Moonlight
Septbday
July 31st, 2008 at 9:06 pm
that sucks. I love swingtown
August 4th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Well all that can be said is they should have kept Moonlight. I tried one episode and couldnt stand it. Makes you wonder what CBS were thinking
August 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
If only they had left the line up the way it was. . .MOONLIGHT 9 PM and yes, I will make it about that. Nina should have listened. Oh well. . .
August 5th, 2008 at 6:24 am
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO 8 MILLION MOONLIGHT VIEWERS AND YOUR FRIDAY NIGHTS WOULD HAVE IMPROVED WE ARE LOYAL FANS!!!
August 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
if it was a show with lots of violence then everyone would be fine with that. its a good show and i think the majority of you are idiots.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Swingtown is the one summer show I do watch faithfully! The show continues to be thought-provoking, and holds my interest more than Flashpoint. I hope CBS will renew the show.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Bleedingheart69
Vamp Solidarity! Rah Rah!
August 17th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Terry
I agree. CBS is going to wake up to the Vampire trend too late, and realize they could have been on the cutting edge, but instead will be hanging on to the caboose for dear life.
August 17th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Mike Said
08/03/2008 10:45 PM 1 point
“…Being that this type of lifestyle was likely happening in 1976 along with the great period views makes this a fun show to watch.”
**************************************************************************************
Dear Mike
You are mistake if you think that normal people behaved this way in 1976. There was a lot of hype about it in the press, but I did not know one single person that practiced the nonsense that goes on in Swingtown. I was 21 years old that year, and living by myself. My parents, who were very liberal, and had liberal friends, did not do this either.
We all lived in the Los Angeles area, and I suspect this was going on in the homes of rich, bored people, perhaps in Beverly Hills, but soon everyone found out that only homely couples showed up for these parties, hoping to trade in the ugly spouse for the evening, only to discover that the other “players” were as ugly and paunchy as themselves.
All the hot babes were out in the discos, and looking for ONE man, not for a bunch of disgusting, pawing, hairy backed neighbors.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:04 am
I'd be very disappointed if SWINGTOWN were relegated to the trash bin. Granted it's complete fluff without much merit, but in these times we need something where we can get a little lost one hour a week and not think about everything that has come after this somewhat crazy period in American history. I was there, I remember most if not all of this era and most of it I remember fondly. I like the storyline with Bruce and Susan and Janet and Tom. I want to see Janet come out of her suburban housewife shell and Tom get the notch on his bedpost. LOL. As for Janet's husband, I hope they pump him back up pretty soon and give him a big pair. He's a little too whipped for the era.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:23 am
What are your talking about.. It's in all the channels”light bulb”.By canceling the series it's not going to take care of the problem. You control what children watch.So why should we be punish because your child might get std…How dumb are you?
Sex is in school,drugs are everywhere.Kids are going to have sex wheither you like it or not.Sexual promiscuity is in soap opera that you watch on tv.
Gays marriages,girls kissing girls,etc etc…so what banned tv for life so we can stop all this garbage. It's not going away…by banning the show ..it's not going to
stop swinger be a foursome. It's happeing now and it has been around for a long time..Wake up … All I know is that I like the show ,not for the sex but because of the stories it has and the “” oh,my god”" I really dont care about the sexy scenes..come on that stupid.I really dont paid no attention to that just the story itself. The cheating part…
August 25th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Well I was in high school in the hippie revolution and I didnt know that was going on because I was into the Brady Bunch and Rifleman etc…But it was happening only that we were too young to know about it because our parents were “taboo about sex”.
But now that we are older it was happening. The lifestyle was there but like in the closet sore of speak.
It's happening now but it's not as inviting. It's kinda like a friend to a friend.. Or I heard it through the grapevine. I had an offer from a friend of my husband to get together and I laugh because it's not my cup of tea.I respect my husband and no way I can do that. That's totally messed up… By the way that guy died of aids and was married and had a child.. Disco was wild up to the 80's but it was not about sex it was about music and dancing. When it hit the 80's it got better (not about sex)
fashion trend)
August 26th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I really enjoyed Swingtown and would like very much for it to stay on the schedule. It is different and sexy and fun.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
'Swingtown' is a show that I watch faithfully, one of only 3 on “mainstream” tv channels. If CBS wants to keep me as a viewer on Friday nights, then they will bring back 'Swingtown'!
September 4th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I would really hate to see this show canceled. It is one of the first shows in a long time that I look forward to watching!! It is refreshing and is not all about swinging but about relationships. There is more partner swaping on daytime soaps then on this show. PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL IT!!!!
September 5th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I love Swingtown. NO, I don’t swing! I find that to be rather gross, BUT this show always kept my fiance and I hooked. I had no idea they even moved it to Fridays. All of a sudden, it just wasn’t on anymore, we though. Yet, we saw new episodes on OnDemand. I really hope they renew it for next summer. For those simple-minded people, there is more to this show that swinging. Idiots!
September 5th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I really enjoyed this show and think that it is a shame that it was canceled. I was 16 in ‘76 and it was fun to watch the fashion and hear the music. I have read that some of you think that the swinging lifestyle was just for LA folk, well I can tell you that it was alive and well on Long Island. I would hear the “adults” talking about who was/ wasn’t and who was getting divorced/ staying together. I hope that CBS might consider bring it back next summer, but it has been my personal opinion that networks are short sighted.
BTW very silly fight about Moonlighting v.s. Swingtown. Two totally different shows, both entertaining. The problem is the very inexpensive to produce reality TV. No station wants to give a show a chance to grow, when people are just as willing to watch Big Brother, American Idol, the Donald.
September 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Uhemm listen up all I understand we all have our opinions but to sound so harsh to people like me and my entire family whom dont nor ever have swing WE LOOOOVE SWINGTOWN! My mother loves it b/c it brings back memories from the 70’s not from when she was swinging b/c again, she didnt the music the clothing everything is done in good taste. It shows not sex and voilence and hatred but love and understandning and compassion. The fact that they show the reprocussions of swinging and how people truly feel on the inside about it or how people somex just need to break out of their shell. Theres almost no aspect of the charachters on that show of which i cant identify in some way b/c of their feelings! This is a great show to be bombarded by nothing but chesssy reality shows anymore this was the ebst show wed seen since Moonlight that should be put back on air as well! Txs for my 2 cents. PLEASE DONT CANCEL SWINGTOWN PLEASE1
September 6th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I’m sorry to see Swingtown go into the trash. I don’t encourage the actual acts but I liked the Characters. I put it on my schedule and followed it this summer. I always wondered what would happen like in Mad Men on the AMC Channel. It showed bits of a ” Real” family with issues.It was better than the rest of the trash that was on the other networks. I liked the music and the actors including the young ones. Course I can’t understand why ” Reba” was cancelled either as my wife watches it everynight on Lifetime. I can only hope it surfaces some place else.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Swingtown is the best show in regular tv in years! Please renew it! Smart, funny, sexy, real! Far more real than so-called reality tv and with excellent actors too! Save Swingtown - we love it!
September 11th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Swingtown is a great show. I’m not big on the activities, but have grown attached to the characters. I was in high school in 1976 and can relate to some of the dress, songs, etc of the period. I hope CBS will give it another chance on a weeknight. I think moving it to Friday killed it.
September 12th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
what the hell is wrong with cbs? first moonlight and now swingtown. unbelievable! I watch view shows and really liked both of these. i can’t believe some of you people live in the dark ages. swinging in the 70’s was more a fantacy to most of us, and whats wrong with that?! do you want to regress to the days we couldn’t have dick van dyke sleep with his wife, mary tyler moore in the 1960’s.please don’t tell me you are that back ass words. if you don’t like it find, but get off your high horse, your nose my start to bleed. swingtown has great writing an actors and should be given a chance, so us low life people can enjoy something. moon light was also a great show and i don’t even like most vampire stuff.not only has cbs let me down, but people who are so closed minded it hurts our country!! i looked forward to those shows a great deal. i guess i need a life. i could start making soap boxes for some of you people to stand on. i’ve never respnded to any thing before, so i guess ya pissed me off. hold on, jerry springer is on, i suppose thats ok but these two show aren’t. no wonder we have so many problems, including i can’t type but had to vent. anyone else got the guts to speak up.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Please give Swingtown a second season by signing this petition!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/stcbs/petition.html
Please Also pass the petition link on or blog it someplace!!!
September 14th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I think Swingtown was just what TV is supposed to be, entertainment. It was outside the rhelm of anything i would do and i wish a cable channel would pick it up. And as far as sexual primiscuity goes for television Will and Grace graced the CBS network for years and it is damn funny. Adults need entertainment too and Swingtown time slot was appropiate for adults.
September 14th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
please sign the petition and maybe CBS will bring it back on. it is a good show but most of all these actors and actresses can have a job. what is america coming to gas and food is sky high and jobs are at an all time low…………where is the american dream!
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Even thought this was a summer show my friends and I always watched it I would like to know who are these people who are making the decisions not to mention the music was so totally awsome. I don’t usually watch new shows because of this cancillation BS. I could have actually seen this show becoming somethig of a melrose place.
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pm
well… as for ppl saying that swingtown was morally bad… etc…
its no different than melrose place ever was… etc.
and every damn commercial i see these days, somehow mixes sex into whatever is being advertised… even vehicles / cars, etc, are using sex to sell their stuff on day and night time tv.
i enjoyed swingtown. it might not be a lifestyle i’d ever live, but its a fun escape, into something different, something risque… without actually doing that kinda thing.
there is an actual good and realistic story line to the show…
with the kids, and their friends… the different situations happening in the characters relationships too. a lot of it, really happens to some extent in ppls lives, in one way or another…
i was just beginning to get into the show, looking fwd to the next episode… then bammm ! they go and cancel it.
why ? they did the same with another show i liked, on global… called
” train 48″…. it was a canadian show… and even that show lasted way longer than swingtown ! how sad is that ! and they had cross dressers, homo sexuals on train 48… lots of risque things on the show… yet it lasted way longer than swingtown…
and swingtown has a very realistic storyline to it… more so than even train 48… sigh…
who wants to be over loaded by too many csi and law and order shows and shows about vampires, or lame sitcoms all the time.
swingtown was the spice we all needed, instead of blood and guts… killing, murder… etc…
it was refreshingly good… and with great music too.
now they go and cancel it !!! completely… !!! ?
no way is this fair or a good choice…
tv needed swingtown… to shake things up for once, with something new yet familiar, and fun to watch… i really wish cbs or someone would reconsider just how big swingtown could become, if given the chance to stay on tv !
September 26th, 2008 at 5:52 am
i thing SwingTown should be giving a second chance.
I like Flashpoint and all . we dont need anymore fbi things. we alright have CSI
and SwingTown is different than all the other things on television shows on CBS.
CBS is making a HUGE mistake
September 26th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Oh no! My wife and our friends and I started swining because of Swingtown. We’re going to lose our inspiration.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Glad to see one more completely decaying moraless show go down the drain, not to mention the actual channel. Bye bye
September 28th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
you people are lame stop watching so much tv and go outside ya bunch of fat asses.
September 28th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
seriously why do you people give a shit there tv shows,get a fucking life!!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
you guys can not cancel swingtown it was the best show i couldnt wait for the next one every week. please bring the second season out.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
The vote from me and my buddies, is “do not” I repeat “do not” cancel Swingtown and please please please bring back Moonlight. I can remember going out to eat and my entire group would worry about making it home in time to watch Moonlight. CBS, listen to the masses, we want Swingtown and we want Moonlight back too!!
October 1st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I love SWINGTOWN! I got hooked after the first episode, and it immediately became my favorite show. My best friend also feels the same way. I told her after the first episode that it would get canceled just because we love it so much. Neither of us are swingers, but there is so much more to the story line,and of course the wonderful 70’s clothes & music that we grew up with.
PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!!
October 1st, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Pleae do not cancel. This is the best thing since DALLAS!!!!!!! I have watched and recommended this show to many of my friends. Just give it another try. You ran this in the summer (Who watches TV in the summer?)
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:47 am
Please do not cancel Swingtown! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!!!!!It brings me back to the 70’s everytime I watch it! The story lines are great, the people are great, the music is great!
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
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