From Broadcasting & Cable:
CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler confirmed the program’s end at the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Los Angeles Wednesday.
“No we are not going back to Swingtown,” Tassler said. “We were extremely proud of the execution – [it] ended up on a half dozen top 10 lists in 2008.
“That show was also a victim of the strike. It was a risk. We took it and are proud of it.”
Despite the flop, Tassler says that CBS isn’t afraid to do another period piece, though nothing set in the 1970’s is on tap at the moment.
CBS tried shopping Swingtown to cable channels last August. Bravo ended up acquiring the first season, but said it would not be ordering new episodes.
An early contender for the “least surprising news of the year” award…
Perhaps so, but our Will Swingtown Be Cancelled or Resurrected? post has generated 317 comments and still gets several a week. Still, I don’t see folks into a wife swapping show getting all Jericho-Moonlighting-esque on us.
The comments that I read on that post were mostly Moonlight fans going on about how it should be canceled.
I love this show..It was different, I grew up in the 70’s and it brought back so many memories for me..the clothes, the music..I was able to get lost back in another time for an hour once a week…I hope this show comes back! What is the problem CBS??
“Swingtown” was not a victim of the writer’s strike. That’s a cop-out and everyone knows it. It didn’t fit into the Crime Broadcasting Station. It was a victim of the short-sighted Nielsen families. Viewers DO NOT matter. I’m done with CBS. I’m sure this will mean that now Bill and Robert will mention it somehow to get more hits such as they do with “Moonlight” and “Jericho.” Nice job fellas. Seriously, CBS should never stray from procedurals. Nobody should ever pitch interesting and different ideas to them ever again. Time and time again they treat these shows like ugly step-sisters. Unworthy of their time? So, why do they pick them up at all? Just to tease us? The only buzz CBS is getting is from the cancellation moves they so relish in. The press doesn’t care about cookie cutter crime shows. Neither do the award shows.
Love Swingtown – I’ve watched the episodes at least 6 or 7 times, and they get better everytime I watch them. With that said, Swingtown was too young of a show for the old stodgy CBS. They care for nothing but their crime procedurals. Their old-timer audience just didn’t follow over to Swingtown, and even though Swingtown could get a good 18-49 demo with a very small audience, CBS didn’t care.
This show had so much more to offer, and so much more story to air. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see it. Swingtown got shafted one way or another, and it’s a damn shame, because this was the best show of 2008, hands down.
I loved Swingtown. The whole thing was a flash back to the 70’s. It was something different than all the cop shows and mind-numbing “comedies”.
Swingtown is off limits but Desperate Housewives is ok??? Open swinging is bad for children to watch but married couples cheating behind each others back is ok? Now where are the morals really???
I hope someone rethinks the decision. The ratings show someone was watching it.
Right on Tracy, you nailed it. I was a regular on the CBS Swingtown forum for a long time, but can’t say I am an avid TV watcher. Quite frankly, it was a fluke that I caught Swingtown at all as I happened to see a promo and the show was right in my wheelhouse as I was 17 in 1976. The show delivered. I’m a major skeptic and critic, yet the show kept me coming back.
Then I started to read on the forum how people couldn’t believe CBS picked it up, how it was doomed to fail, blah, blah, blah. Then I also read how if it had be broadcast on cable, it would have been a hit and probably wouldn’t have garnered the unwarranted criticism of the PTC, ADA, etc.
Well, there you go. I bow to the wisdom of those who understand network audiences and CBS was the wrong network from get go.
And before posters rag on me about how it was cancelled because, “people didn’t watch it”, I don’t buy it. The fact is CBS’ core viewers didn’t watch it. In fact, it almost seemed like they were boycotting the show so that CBS would give them more pablum like Flashpoint. Well it worked.
I’ll miss this show and these characters because it was stepping into a time machine for me. Only a miracle, like Bravo ordering more episodes, might bring it back, but I’m not holding my breath. Hey, it was just a TV show, but it was a helluva nice ride while it lasted.
Swingtown was a sleazy load of crap – cocaine, quaaludes, wife swapping, leisure suits, porn star moustaches, chest hair and gold chains – all that was the nightmare of the Carter years. Though it was pretty clear it was cancelled when it lost 60% of its audience.
Carol Barbee has 2 stinkers in a row. First she ran Jericho a great series like Jericho into the ground with the crap that was Season 2 then this. Better luck next time Carol. Hopefully the other Producer of Jericho whos doing “Harpers Island” will have something better to offer. Sadly Ricardo Montalban just died yesterday, I was hoping he would do a guest spot on Harpers Island. KHANNNNNNNNNNNN !!!!!!!!
Holly, I second your nomination for least surprising news of the year. I actually thought it had already been cancelled.
johnthemon, while the quotes from Tassler don’t surprise me at all, the fact that she uttered them does. Anytime a network actually admits to something being “cancelled”, as opposed to just not mentioning it ever again, is noteworthy.
i didnt know people still cared about this show
It isn’t surprising because its a bad fit. A swinger-based show cannot be as explicit as it should have on network TV because the the religious zealots and there idea of decency. Melissa, this is that concept that you are missing. When a spouse cheats, he or she is doing something wrong according to their agreement with each other. When swingers swap partners they are not doing any thing to violate their agreement. Some people simply cannot tolerate concepts that people should be free to live their lives in ways that others do not approve of.
Sorry “Name Required” but some women prefer men with gold chains and chest hair. Not those metro sexual chihuahuas who dress more feminine. Or the plastic Ken dolls with zero personality that CBS serves up. Moustaches look good on the right guys.
I’m guessing you didn’t even watch “Swingtown” and hide a bible under your chair while watching those CBS CSI shows.
Then again by your hatred of original serialized shows, I’ll bet you get off on fake reality shows.
Swingtown was a good show that was wasted by CBS on a Summer run. It sort of meandered a bit at times and totally botched the Janet character, but I liked the acting, characters, and production design. I think it would have been a hit on cable where they could be more realistic.
And for those who think Swingtown was sleazy, it was pretty up front about the destructive aspects of “free” lifestyles, in particular the negative impact on children.
I’m so upset…. I loved this show!
Crime Broadcasting Station or System
I like the nickname for CBS.
Love the Show! Too bad, this took me back to when I grew up in the 70’s. Love It! Love It! Love It! Bring It Back……..
Too bad for CBS.
I think that swingtown should not have been cancelled i know of other shows on cbs that should be cancelled ,this show brought back so many memories the music the clothing and furniture , growing up in the 70’s was a great Era i think our new generation should see what the cloths was like and the music my kids loved watching the show with me they are adults but we made it a mom and daughter night they just loved the show ,they are upset because we were left hanging on the marriages and Trinas pregncey. please bring back the show ,
I loved this show. While I was hardly alive in the seventies, that only made it better – I love period pieces. What got me watching might have been that it was period and yeah who doesn’t love sex, but I kept watching because it was only marginally about “swinging” it was more about how couples/families work out conflicts that arise. It was a drama and one that I thought had some heart. I will really miss the show.
Very disappointing! Swingtown was a reminder of the 70s and the show didn’t stand a chance once CBS moved it to Friday nights.
Swingtown was set up to fail….BS there weren’t enough viewers.
I was so afraid that this was going to happen. It was a just a too liberal way of thinking for most people. It never ceases to amaze me how the bible thumpers that preach love are the most judgment people. I must have missed the day in Catholicism class that taught when one was saved, they received the moral compass from the all mighty himself.
This was a fun show to watch. It was a part of the 70’s as it is today. Anyone that is in the lifestyle can appreciate how this show was written. It did not candy coat it and showed the human nature of jealousy and that sometimes the day after is more than one bargained for. These were wonderful people who explored their sexuality as a couple. They did not kill or brainwash anybody. They did not put damnation bumper stickers on their cars.
This show would have been better suited for HBO. Janet was such a hoot and watching her grow as a woman and thinking for herself was a lot of fun.
My wife and I will miss it.
I am sorry, I am a 24 year old female, I was never offended by Swingtown, I actually enjoyed it. The world needs to recognize- all of those drugs and swinging is still going on. It is nothing new. I thought the storylines were good and I loved how there were really no big name characters. But since it is cancelled there will be another new summer show to introduce and then get cancelled next summer. I understand that they can’t keep every show but maybe they should consider somethings, not everyone LOVES CSI-NY, Miami & LV. So they need to hire some new writers.
Grieving the death of another favorite pastime…
While many people wonder how someone could become so involved in the unfolding drama of fictional characters, I ask, how could you not?
Swingtown, the 70’s set drama that was plump with nostalgia, captivating story lines, sublime acting and exquisite character development has been cancelled.
In the past CBS seems to have been willing to take a chance on several new series with fresh perspective and original ideas, yet time and again, at the first display of resistance or hurdle they cower and surrender faith.
Like so many series before it, CBS pulled the plug on what has and could continue blooming into greatness. I ask what would have happened if networks had cancelled all series that failed (at first) to live up to expectations? Seinfeld, (and ironically Melrose Place), where both extremely close to being cancelled after their first seasons, but they continued, and now appear on almost all “Greatest Television Shows of All Time” lists. The public should have been given more time to catch up to the insight this network had initially shown with this Swingtown project.
I am not a fan of the CSI franchise, and this definitely limits my options where CBS is concerned. What’s next… CSI Chicago? I say this patronizingly, yet the comedy is it could happen.
CBS makes no apologies, but perhaps they should. I believe that they know there were many external factors that influenced viewer ratings, and it had nothing to do with the quality of this show.
I believe that because of CBS’s actions the series seemed to be doomed to fail from its creation. With a lack of advertising and less that desired timeslot I’m amazed that the ratings began as strongly as they did.
Some might argue that the downfall was due to it being sent to summer scheduling (when most people are vacationing outside away from their televisions), but I enjoyed the parallel between its hot season and the actual temperature outside.
I think the problem stems mostly from a sudden switch in weekly scheduling (originally the show aired on Thursday nights but was moved to Friday). I was witness to only one, 10-second clip announcing the change…once it had already been made. If it hadn’t been for my PVR I would not have known where it had gone.
Another way to quickly lose an audience is to, without notice, stray from sequential order. There seems to be nothing worse than being inconvenienced with a repeat only four episodes into a new series. Even an overly acted, completely formulized show like 90210 at least has the courtesy to advise their viewers of when they can expect a new episode at the end of each credit.
I’ve grown up as a voyeur to groundbreaking series that have pushed the envelope, especially in demonstrating sexuality – Sex and the City immediately comes to mind. That being said, I feel that there’s no reason that Swingtown’s modesty affected the series. I found the absence of delivery forced a coy visualization that can be just as effective. However, if resurrection or continuation would have depended on a shift to a more non-controlled cable group (such as Showtime) I’d be all for it.
I sit among the demographic that apparently wasn’t watching Swingtown – yet my group of girlfriends, mother, in-laws and half of my office are self-pronounced addicts of this show.
I wonder if network executives (even the smaller ones) take the time to look beyond the Neilson ratings to count their audience.
Throughout December when researching whether Swingtown would be renewed (before the official announcement) I would scower the Internet for information. The amount of posts articulating concern for the shows future are staggering. Many sites claim a daily post (dating since November) of over 300, while columnists such as Tom Jicha writes “For a show with the low ratings Swingtown had, I’ve gotten an uncommon amount of correspondence about its future”. I even went as far as to listen to the interviews included in the DVD release to get a hint at its future…while Nina Tassler’s (CBS Entertainment President) interview contained many past tense statements – with left me uneasy, the fact that the title of this boxed set was “The Complete First Season” instead of “The Complete Series” left me with a shred of hope for it’s continuation.
This season was prominently displayed on many top ten lists of 2008 (People’s Best of TV 2008 being one) and its re-runs are continually aired on Bravo. The pre-holiday release on DVD was a smart move and for these reasons alone, I’m astounded that CBS seemed to lack the common sense to realize that this new notoriety, airtime, and publicity would only benefit the ratings for the better, hence given this series a second chance.
It’s unfortunate that networks such as CBS seemed to have, over the last ten years, developed a new way of creating excess broadcasting, only to pull the plug on all but a few that don’t in their eyes measure up. It used to be that dedication was attached to the FEW shows they’d develop (full seasons of 20+ episodes filmed, as opposed to a disposal 13 half season). Nurturing a fan base, and their much beloved characters were important. Now it feels to me as though they dangle a promise of something great, then take it away.
Of all of the disappointment I feel none top the inconsideration CBS has shown to its faithful viewers. If mid-way CBS realized that Swingtown was not going to carry on for a second season why wouldn’t they have shot a more tied up finale? The lives of Swingtown will now sit for eternity beside such unanswered questions as, “Did Keith Mars ever win the elusive job of Sheriff”? Or “Will Kevin Girardi regain the use of his legs while Joan tackles the Devil in Arcadia”?
So I appeal to CBS, and all the fans that disagree with the choice of cancelling this amazing show. I ask that CBS please re-consider and attempt to somehow make this right. I’m not sure if my voice will make one bit of difference, but I have to try, and I appeal that you do the same. Please write CBS…hopefully if anything it will help them be more aware of the voices that don’t own a Neilson Ratings Box when making future decisions.
Here it is a friday night and i just cant seem to watch Flashpoint ,i find it to be another show that we dont need we have to many shows like this we need a good Drama and we had one but CBS didnt even give it a chance ,i write too CBS and bravo everyday requesting it to let us have one more season,i watched one of the episodes tonight ,loke i have been but i would rather have new episodes,i think CBS needs to stop airing all these reality shows ,i use to like numbers but it is another cop show ,i think there is at least 10 or more cop shows where are the Drama shows ,we use to have knotslanding ,falconcrest ,Dallas ,we need more drama shows bring back swingtown.and make your viewers happy.
I could almost cry……I loved the show! I sure wish they wouldn’t have made it so addicting, if they were just going to cancel after one season! I can think of a lot of other shows that should be cancelled before this one. Best new tv show in a long time in my opinion!
I think this is bs. Every station cancels shows way way to early. Its stupid that they dont even give them more then a season, when the Neilson ratings are a third of the population who dont even really speak for us Joe Shmoes. Swingtown was a great show. I think there should be a little more things on late night like this racey, edgy, sexy. Personally I like the little bit of erotica it had
Loved it… I will miss it!
I am so upset about this show being canceled. Obviously the plot lines were great, but the most impressive thing about this show was how quickly the writers developed extremely interesting and complicated characters. I have not watched a show in a very long time where I was so wrapped up in the characters themselves. I wanted to be able to watch them experience different things in many seasons to come. It is dreadful that this show wasn’t picked up by a cable network. I understand it not fitting into CBS schedule, but there are a ton of cable channels that should have been fighting over. It is a sad time in the TV world right now.
Bring swingtown back.. Great show. this is what is really going on today… WTF. bring it back we loved it.
I say instead of posting here, wasting time I say we write to bravo and convince them that CBS made a very real mistake and how they shouldn’t do it too. I’m so upset by this that a lot of the shows I watched on CBS I no longer watch. But to the person who is putting down the housewives, DON”T GO THERE!!! You are comparing apples to oranges. And know not what you speak of. Back to business lets get this show back. So I can smoke a bit and wind down with some good t.v watching.
i hate how they cancel shows just when you get into them, and to leave it at such an ending that you can’t wait to see the start of next season. i loved this show, why don’t they get rid of half the reality shows that are on its not like we need that many. i really hope they will reconsider or maybe even put it on another channel on a different day. it lost ratings because it was on friday nights, anyone who has a life is never home on friday nights.
Well…. I actually won the first series on dvd in a drawing about several weeks ago. I had never heard of it until now and I watched the entire series and I have to say… I absolutely loved this show! It really did bring me back in time and it was nice to have that. I was looking for information on a second series because I loved the first so much that I came across the show had been canceled. I have to say it really is a shame that they did not continue to another season. Depending on DVD sales, maybe they might bring it back. Well, I hope so… it was nice to see something different from the normal TV shows out there.
Noooooo I loved this show, was looking forward to another season, such crap
Does anyone know if a network has ever decided to bring back a show they already decided to cancel? I wonder if there really is a way to bring this show back. I just watched the final episode of the 1st season and I can’t imagine not being able to continue to see another!
^Yep, Jericho….and we all know how well that worked out.
Gina, in a post-Jericho world, the only hope you have is (if the DVDs are ever released) to buy as many sets of the DVDs as you can possibly afford and then get all your friends to do the same. Money is the only thing that talks, and DVD revenue does make money. But don’t get your hopes up.
I loved that show. It’s hilarious! I wish cable would pick it up.
CBS You guys suck !!! Swingtown is the ONLY tv i watched. Come hell or high water, I was home to watch this one.
My husband & I are children of the 80’s but Swingtown had what it took to reel us in. It was a surprising yet VERY enjoyable variety of shows & it was our guilty pleasure, defenitely on our top 3 DVRs for the week. Last season’s cliffhanger still plays afresh on my mind – how in the heck am I going to break the news to my dear husband?
Damn you CBS- you have made a new enemy today.
I loved Swingtown. The show brought back memories for my wife and I
My husband and I are addicted to this show. I am truly disappointed that it will not be returning.
Bring this show back!!!! I have been waiting and just found out it’s cancelled. If lame, boring shows like One Tree Hill can make it, why not this one? Bring it back, I need more…..
I can’t believe CBS could cancel such an exciting show like SWINGTOWN. Bring it back I need to see if Roger and Susan go through with it…lol DAMN IT…
I am so dissappointed! I loved this show and so did my daughter. Please bring it back? We want to see the rest of the episodes, you can’t just leave us hanging.
WHY……………eww you all kill me all the good shows get canceled whats wrong with you people!!!!
No……..not another one! I was just checking on Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies and now Swing town!! I have my DVR set to record all new episodes of all these and have been waiting for a new one to show up! I like to think I have good taste in television but I guess enjoying something DIFFERENT is not what the networks want. Why do they tease us like this! Brag about it being in the top 10 on half a dozen lists then cancel. Whatever!
FOX brought back Family Guy! The show did horrible ratings, got cancelled, then the DVD sales went through the roof!!! They brought back the show. Everyone….BUY THE DVD!!!!!
Great show….brought back a lot of memories…best of ‘08.
SOOOOOOO TIRED OF THE SAME CRIME, COURT, and FAUX-REALITY PROGRAMS!!!!!!!
Bravo should REALLY order more seasons….
This is such a great show. How come they cancel all the good ones? Very disappointing.
This was a really great show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!No more CBS for me.Hope they conclude it somehow.
Contact Bravo
I love the show and I’m so disappointed with CBS for canceling it I found a site where fans where asking other fans of the show to contact Bravo to let them know you would love to see them do a sencond season here is the link http://www.bravotv.com/contact and tell them how you feel hey it can’t hurt
I want this show to continue I stopped everything to watch this show each time it was on. I can’t deal with this show not being available this year. I just don’t get why shows that are so great get pulled. BRING IT BACK!!
I loved this show!..I was looking forward to another terrible season ( Reger, Susan , etc). It is sad that this show was not picked up by a cable network and I hope someone rethinks the decision of canceling it … obviously someone was watching the show other wise this forum wouldn’t exist!
Too bad that the show didn’t stick around, although I agree that the show would’ve had a much better chance had it started out in cable tv to begin with. It was only time when people would complain about the show being too racy for regular tv, although anything goes in crime shows (which I don’t quite understand the double standard).
I remember during the strike how they started showing severely edited episodes of “Decker,” and how they were not doing the show any justice by doing that. I know why the network did that since they had nothing to show and because of the show’s very graphic nature. I suspect that “Swingtown” would be the same had it had a chance to be on cable tv, but instead it had to hold back quite a bit because it was on regular tv.
Anyway, I do hope they bring it back and air it on cable instead, although Tom Decker, the airplane pilot character, is now on “Private Practice” as Archer Montgomery, Addison Montgomery’s brother. I guess if they start it back up on some cable network someone else will have to play that part. We’ll see.
Oops I meant “Dexter” not “Decker.”
The first (only, alas!!) season is available on DVD and I picked it up this week. I really miss Swingtown, and I can’t believe this one season of episodes is all we’ll ever have. I’m very disappointed in CBS for canceling this show.
please please please bring swingtown back. I love this show it was is and will be my fav show u can never get tired if this show please cbs bring singtown back. i am so sad
I am devastated by the news of cancellation…..foolish on their part because it was a great show!!!
Please bring Swingtown back. CBS has very few good shows (NCIS & Two and a Half Men) are the only other shows I watch on this network. Swingtown didn’t debut anything new to the viewing world. If anyone took offense to the “swinging” on this show, then my only question to those people is: “Where have you been for the past 30+ years”? From soap operas having their daily bedhopping to shows like Desperate Housewives, The Girls Next Door and even the daily Lifetime movies with their intermarital romps, Swingtown is viewing nothing more than these shows do. For the people who did not enjoy this show, then please go back into your bubble with your rose colored glasses on. For the people who are living in the year 2009 and can handle reality, let’s just hope that CBS can bring this show back. If CBS wants to be ignorant to their fans, then hopefully another network will be wise and have this show on the lineup come summer or fall.
Please bring back ‘Swingtown’!!!! I love that show! It’s so different. I was a kid in the ’70’s and it’s wonderful to hear the music, politics, and see the fashion of the day. CBS you need to give it another chance.
swingtown was the best thing to watch during the summertime, and the fact that you would just leave it half done says something about your character, as someone stated earlyer i to grew up in the 70’s and i was fully aware about the STD’S and i was fine. it was just a T.V show and you have the option (or at least i thought we did?) to pick up the remote and change the channel!! all the people who were against it should serously re consider there live’s! seroulsy people… Alas, all i want is someone to finish the story, how freakin hard could that be?
I also hope swingtown returns, I was born in 77 and still loved the show! It was interesteing to see how some lived back then, and some still today. I say RENEW!!!
PLEASE CBS give Swingtown another chance!!!! That was the only show my husband and I looked forward to watching during the summer. We loved it! It was well written and awesome eye for detail of the 70’s! Please bring it back. Garanteed to have more viewers this year. I went through my tween – teen years in the 70’s, and this show brought back some great memories.
Please bring back ‘Swingtown’!
That show put me back up in the essense of that time. Good stuff and otherwise. I was a kid in the ’70’s and it is wonderful to hear the music, politics, and see the fashion of the day – now in an observers seat. I now ‘get’ what some of the things were happening and what my parents were dealing with.
CBS you WILL have an audience if you resume where you left off.
For those (1) of you who found the series to be offensive and thought it promoted unbecoming and dangerous behavior, take note- this show made me VERY aware of what the consequences are and what can go wrong when you act sexually and otherwise irresponsible. I feel this show was fantastic fun, but I could still keep my pants on.
BRING BACK SWINGTOWN !!!!!!!!!!
GIVE IT ANOTHER CHANCE !!!!!!!!!!!
YOU CAN’T LEAVE US HANING LIKE THIS !!!!!!!!
I’m so suprised this show didn’t do well … it was great !
Great writing … great music … great acting !!!!!!!!
PLEASE BRING SWINGTOWN BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!
SWINGTOWN WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST SHOWS THAT I HAVE SEEN IN WHILE. FOR THE PEOPLE THAT DIDN’T GROW UP IN THE 70′S IT LET THEM SEE WHAT HOW AMERICA CHANGED AND LET THEM SEE THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIFES DECISIONS. I FOUND THAT DURING THE SEASON MY HUSBAND AND I HAD SOME INDEPTH CONVO’S ABOUT SITUATIONS ON THE SHOWS, AND BY THE END OF THE SEASON WE HAD BECOME CLOSER. CANCELLING THE SHOW WAS STUPID. YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT DON’T HAVE COMPUTERS TO WRITE REVIEWS, AND THE PEOPLE THAT SPENT THOSE NIGHTS MAKING SURE THE THEY WERE HOME JUST TO WATCH THE SHOW. I EVEN BOUGHT THE FIRST SEASON. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No Surprise here that CBS has canceled another great show. Took out Moonlight and Jericho last year. I was so hoping that Swingtown would be back on again this summer, they left it so open. I’m so sick of reality shows, I just want regular shows on every night. Also, what the hell is going on with Ghost Whisperer? Let’s kill Jim and then make his soul come back into someone other dude’s body. CBS could of done without this “smart” move.