Swingtown

[Deleted User] · 24/11/10 - 00:29

Anyone else watching this? Its one of those American imports itv put on and then move it later and later each week! The only issue I have with it us jack davenports slightly dodgy American accent!

p@tty* · 24/11/10 - 02:22

Hi, yes i,m watching this ,got to agree about Jack Davenports accent lol

Bar from that i,m quite enjoying it.Never seen a thread about it before,so it looks like there,s only a few of us watching.
Iv,e series linked it which is handy as they keep putting it on later each week.Wonder if theres a second season & will itv bother with it,as it does,nt seem to be very popular.I want to know what happens with Susan&Roger

baggiovalderram · 24/11/10 - 05:45

It's been a good watch but sadly never reached season 2 (cancelled)...

Camino · 24/11/10 - 07:09

i have really quite enjoyed this, think its the last episode next week and ITV love shoving it around the schedule. The woman who plays Trina is gorgeous.

[Deleted User] · 24/11/10 - 17:42

Its one of those programmes know one ever talks about! It's a shame that it's been cancelled I was really getting into it!

[Deleted User] · 24/11/10 - 17:45

I quite like it - although always forget which night it's on so I've missed one or two episodes.

Agree about JD being the only week point - he seems to do a good American accent, it's just too OTT I think - i.e. not natural enough.

suesuesue · 25/11/10 - 06:36

I mentioned Swingtown on a "programmes you like but no-one else has heard of" thread recently. I asked what was the point of ITV spending dosh on US imports if they bury them at night with no promotion (Swingtown replaced Dexter which they treated in the same way).

As for Jack Davenport's accent I wonder if to the American ear it sounds as authentic as Dick Van Dyke's "mockney" does to us .... "Gee whizz Mom that sure is swell"

Listentome · 25/11/10 - 07:48

Been watching it, though I find a lot of it annoying, namely the daughter Laurie and her skinny winny arms.

Jack Davenport's accent does sound dodgy, but no worse than Hugh Laurie's to my ears. Funny thing is an America friend of mine says Laurie's accent is spot on, though to me it sounds so fake.

MoreTears · 25/11/10 - 07:57

Listentome wrote: »

Funny thing is an America friend of mine says Laurie's accent is spot on, though to me it sounds so fake.

I'm a North American and Laurie's accent is perfect. I can't help but wonder if Brits who complain about it just can't get Laurie's British accent out of their heads -- i.e., it "sounds fake" to Brits because they are acutely aware that it really is fake, is all part of an act Laurie is putting on..

Brass Drag0n · 25/11/10 - 09:13

I saw the first 2 episodes, but figured ITV would give it the same terrible treatment that Dexter got so didn't bother sticking with it.

Very strange accent from Jack.

chuzhuchiche · 25/11/10 - 09:55

MoreTears wrote: »

I'm a North American and Laurie's accent is perfect. I can't help but wonder if Brits who complain about it just can't get Laurie's British accent out of their heads -- i.e., it "sounds fake" to Brits because they are acutely aware that it really is fake, is all part of an act Laurie is putting on..

This has always been my view too. The only criticisms of Laurie's accent I have ever seen have been from British people and I do think it is the inability to erase memories of how he really talks and of his parts in Fry and Laurie and Blackadder etc. that leads to this perception. I seem to remember reading that he sent in his audition tape and the producer/director or whatever did not know him and had no idea he was English.

To go on topic, I watched the first episode of Swingtown quite a while back and it just did not hold enough interest for me unfortunately. I can't recall being struck in either a particularly good or bad way by Jack Davenport's accent.

Straker · 25/11/10 - 10:20

Perhaps criticism of Laurie’s accent comes mainly from people who watch the show on DVD. The PAL format runs very slightly faster than NTSC (which correctly converts the filmed source material, IIRC, at 24 frames per second whereas PAL does not) and those with a sensitive ear can detect this, mostly on music but it does affect voices, most noticeably mens. When I watch Fringe on DVD for instance I can’t help but notice Joshua Jackson’s voice sounds weird when compared to the region 1 DVDs. Laurie does sound a bit more nasal and slightly more squeaky when I compare my region 1 House sets to region 2.

Swingtown was an excellent show IMO. Unfailry neglected and prematurely cancelled it seemed to capture the sense of the time as well, in it’s own way, as Ang Lee did in The Ice Storm. Would have worked better if it was an HBO show or even AMC or Showtime. A touch more raunch would have stopped it seeming a bit too safe although having said that it was quite brave of a mainstream network to greenlight a show based entirely around swingers! Bought the DVD several years back now and burned through it in a week. Bizarre to see it turn up so long afterward and buried in the graveyard slot on ITV. Wouldn’t have seemed out of place on BBC4 IMO, perhaps after Mad Men.

Killary45 · 25/11/10 - 12:40

MoreTears wrote: »

I'm a North American and Laurie's accent is perfect. I can't help but wonder if Brits who complain about it just can't get Laurie's British accent out of their heads -- i.e., it "sounds fake" to Brits because they are acutely aware that it really is fake, is all part of an act Laurie is putting on..

I am glad that I did not know when I watched The Wire that at least three of the main actors where English. I certainly never suspected that they were not using their natural accents, but perhaps I would have done so if I had known it.

Listentome · 27/11/10 - 12:28

MoreTears wrote: »

I'm a North American and Laurie's accent is perfect. I can't help but wonder if Brits who complain about it just can't get Laurie's British accent out of their heads -- i.e., it "sounds fake" to Brits because they are acutely aware that it really is fake, is all part of an act Laurie is putting on..

That's a good point.

I think the only Brit I've heard do an American accent that convinces me is Matthew Rhys in Brother and Sisters, Not sure how it sounds to North Americans.

Listentome · 27/11/10 - 12:30

Straker wrote: »

Perhaps criticism of Laurie’s accent comes mainly from people who watch the show on DVD. The PAL format runs very slightly faster than NTSC (which correctly converts the filmed source material, IIRC, at 24 frames per second whereas PAL does not) and those with a sensitive ear can detect this, mostly on music but it does affect voices, most noticeably mens. When I watch Fringe on DVD for instance I can’t help but notice Joshua Jackson’s voice sounds weird when compared to the region 1 DVDs. Laurie does sound a bit more nasal and slightly more squeaky when I compare my region 1 House sets to region 2.

Swingtown was an excellent show IMO. Unfailry neglected and prematurely cancelled it seemed to capture the sense of the time as well, in it’s own way, as Ang Lee did in The Ice Storm. Would have worked better if it was an HBO show or even AMC or Showtime. A touch more raunch would have stopped it seeming a bit too safe although having said that it was quite brave of a mainstream network to greenlight a show based entirely around swingers! Bought the DVD several years back now and burned through it in a week. Bizarre to see it turn up so long afterward and buried in the graveyard slot on ITV. Wouldn’t have seemed out of place on BBC4 IMO, perhaps after Mad Men.

I agree it is an excellent show, but not sure how long it could run for. Apart from Roger, Janet and Susan I find the characters quite one dimensional. Trina had possibilities, but they would have needed to move away from the swinging angle.

[Deleted User] · 27/11/10 - 15:02

Listentome wrote: »

That's a good point.

I think the only Brit I've heard do an American accent that convinces me is Matthew Rhys in Brother and Sisters, Not sure how it sounds to North Americans.

Lots of the lead characters in Flash Forward were English - and their American accents were superb! I was so shocked when I found that out.
I got quite into Flash Forward - rather gutted it got cancelled after one series.

Camino · 01/12/10 - 14:26

Argh! the last episode left so many questions, what a shame it was cancelled after the first series.

Killary45 · 01/12/10 - 14:42

Listentome wrote: »

That's a good point.

I think the only Brit I've heard do an American accent that convinces me is Matthew Rhys in Brother and Sisters, Not sure how it sounds to North Americans.

Did you watch The Wire?

If you know that an actor is British then it can jar when they speak with an American accent. In The Wire at least three of the main actors were English, but I did not know that when I watched it and never suspected it.

Americans say that Hugh Laurie's accent in House is perfect, but lots of Brits have criticised it.

suesuesue · 01/12/10 - 15:04

Camino wrote: »

Argh! the last episode left so many questions, what a shame it was cancelled after the first series.

Agree!! Think they could have carried on for another series and tied up the loose ends with the main characters. The "swing" element might not have continued with the main cast - especially if Trina became a Mummy - but some of the peripheral swingers could have taken it forward for a few more seasons.

lightonmyfeet · 01/12/10 - 15:33

suesuesue wrote: »

Agree!! Think they could have carried on for another series and tied up the loose ends with the main characters. The "swing" element might not have continued with the main cast - especially if Trina became a Mummy - but some of the peripheral swingers could have taken it forward for a few more seasons.[/QUOTE]

That is a good idea. The main characters could be involved with their own developing storylines, and interest gathered here, but alas it is not to be:(

It is a shame that this is the only series, I enjoyed it. I felt that the production captured the era of 1976 without seeming false or too staged, some dramas set in decades that predate this one seem to have a "dressing up" feel to them. I am always aware that that modern actors are pretending to be in the 60s etc, but Swingtown captured the correct feel to me with the food, decor and fashions:eek: and music.

The only thing that mildly disturbed me was as mentioned Jack Davenport's accent. But the only person I did not enjoy watching was the awful daughter, who needed a few meat pies and a slap.

phil solo · 01/12/10 - 15:59

suesuesue wrote: »

Agree!! Think they could have carried on for another series and tied up the loose ends with the main characters. The "swing" element might not have continued with the main cast - especially if Trina became a Mummy - but some of the peripheral swingers could have taken it forward for a few more seasons.

But it wasn't, as I see it, really "about" swinging at all, it was about the 70's, the post-hippie loosening of the bounds of societal convention, and female emancipation in the workplace and in relationships, and the concommittant effects on the staus of the male/female dynamic.

The swinging was a thematic hook around which to base the soap elements. It didn't need to feature as heavily in any putative future seasons once the changes to everyone's lives and outlook had been set in motion.

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