Bravo Buys Swingtown Reruns, All But Shuts Down New Episode Possibility

Why? Because it was thought that a move to a pay cable network would include the rights to the first and very underviewed season of the show created by Mike Kelley and championed by Nina Tassler at CBS until the protests started and they moved it to Fridays precipitating the drop in ratings.

Broadcasting & Cable:

The series, about couples-swapping in a Chicago suburb in the 1970s, premiered on CBS in June and fizzled in its run over the summer.

But Frances Berwick, executive vice president and general manager of Bravo Media, sees Swingtown as a natural companion piece for Bravo’s Real Housewives franchise, the Atlanta iteration of which launches Oct. 7.

(snip)

But Berwick stressed that Swingtown is a “limited acquisition” for Bravo and that the network was not prepared to go back into production on new episodes of the show.

Certainly a show with this kind of budget is not the staple of the network. Do they actually do any original scripted drama? I don't think so.

And I was hoping that Showtime would pick up the show or maybe even that Viacom pay cable channel that I haven't heard much about in a while. With the reruns going to an NBC-Universal cable channel I don't see that happening now.

Or I could be wrong. I hope so, I liked the show a lot.

Finally, there's this from the Hollywood Reporter:

Bravo has picked up all 13 produced episodes, which aired over the summer to modest ratings. CBS has not made a final decision about the future of "Swingtown," but a second-season pickup is considered a very long shot.

You can still watch all 13 episodes, btw, at CBS.com.

Kelley's currently developing another project, the series Bi-Coastal, produced by Sean Hayes, at Showtime.