What will CBS do with Swingtown?
The Nielsen ratings for last Friday night showed that NBC did really well with the Olympic opening ceremonies. Good for NBC, bad for fans of CBS's Swingtown. It didn't take a psychic to predict that all that NBC Universal hype would draw those who love pomp and spectacle. It also didn't take a seer to see that CBS wasn't giving Swingtown a fair shot by asking it to go up against the Olympics. Still, in CBS's defense, Swingtown just hasn't grabbed the kind of ratings all summer long -- mostly on Thursday nights -- to warrant the network believing that it has a potential hit on its hand. The New York Times pondered Swingtown's fate, too.
I think it does, but only if CBS gives Swingtown some time. I'm not alone in thinking this either. Josef Adalian agrees, as do and many TV Squad readers have expressed their passion for this show. Will CBS hear them as they chant, "All we are saying, is give Swingtown a chance."
I fear not. The generally poor ratings hurt the show. Added to that is the fact that Swingtown has lost advertisers like Procter & Gamble because it objected to the show's content. If I were at CBS, I'd be advocating to keep Swingtown. Bring it back at mid-season and this show could become a Dallas or a Knots Landing. And if CBS chooses not to stick with it, a network like Lifetime or Bravo or FX should snap it up because there is a groundswell of support for this show.
One more thing about Swingtown, Rich W. wrote me with the following: "I am a big fan of Swingtown and I was surfing through some photos on the net the other day when I came upon the famous Grant Wood painting American Gothic. Take a look at the woman in the painting. Is that Janet Thompson (Miriam Shor) from Swingtown or not?" Great catch, Rich. They do look alike -- and I've even put the pics together as you suggested. Thanks for writing. By the way, I call the photos, Gothic Swingtown.

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