At last year's upfronts [1], I was surprised to see CBS attempting to step out of its crime-procedural-and-laugh-track- comedy box with a couple of shows that sounded distinctly different from anything the network had done in a while. The first was Viva Laughlin [2] and, well, we know how that turned out. The other was Swingtown [3], set in the socially (and sexually) revolutionary '70s.

Swingtown is finally getting its premiere this Summer, and over the past couple of weeks, CBS has started to promote it — I caught one ad after How I Met Your Mother on Monday. The show centers on Susan and Bruce Miller, who move into a ritzy Chicago suburb and discover a seedy alluring side to life that they never knew existed. Watching the promo, I'm having trouble imagining CBS's typically older demographic reacting well to this — but I certainly want to see more. Banishing a series to the Summer typically means it isn't very good (unless it's on cable), but with more networks talking about programming year-round, maybe Swingtown can be an exception.

Besides its thematic resemblance to one of my favorite movies (The Ice Storm [4]), Swingtown has at least one other cool thing going for it: Liz Phair is doing the soundtrack [5]. Melrose Place fans also might get a kick out of seeing Grant Show in the ensemble. Does Swingtown intrigue you as much as it does me? To check out the trailer, just .

Photo courtesy of CBS [6]