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Context Series / Swingtown

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51ecwb28uml_ri.jpg]]
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3Swingtown takes place in the suburbs of Chicago in 1976, when the Millers leave their old lower middle class neighborhood, and move into a new home in a more affluent, liberal suburb. The parents, [[Creator/MollyParker Susan]] and [[Creator/JackDavenport Bruce]], befriend next door neighbors, swingers [[Creator/LanaParrilla Trina ]] and Tom, who maintain an open marriage and encourage them to follow suit. In the meanwhile, the Millers attempt to hold on to their old friends - Roger and Janet, who lead a far more conservative life style. Meanwhile, teenage daughter Laurie is HotForTeacher, and naive BJ falls for his TroubledButCute next door neighbor Samanatha, to the chagrin of his best friend Rick, who is also Roger and Janet's son.
4The show is full of nostalgia of TheSeventies, complete with disco, teased hair, pong, Deep Throat scandals, big sunglasses and roller skates. Mostly, however, it focuses on the cultural transition aspect of the period, and the clash of values between old world conservatism and the height of the sexual revolution.
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6!! This show provides examples of:
7* ADayInHerApron: Roger, after being laid off from his job selling insurance.
8* AffectionateNickname: Bruce calls Roger Rog.
9* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Laurie's appeal to Logan.
10* AmbiguouslyBi: the show never goes into detail into what goes on between people of the same sex in the group sex scenarios, and focuses only on what happens between the men and the women. It is however obvious that Susan and Trina are very attracted to each other.
11* AmicableExes: Trina and her highschool boyfriend.
12* BettyAndVeronica: several examples. Melinda is the Veronica to Bruce's Archie and Susan's Betty, Roger is the Betty to Susan's Archie and Bruce's Veronica, and Doug is the Veronica to Laurie's Archie and Logan's Betty.
13* StealthInsult: Janet's backhand compliments are quite legendary.
14---> '''Janet:''' Trina, I knew you were crafty, but I had no idea you were ''crafty''.
15* BewareOfTheNiceOnes: Susan and her son, BJ, share this trait. They are both very flexible and mellow, until someone pushes their respective [[BerserkButton Berserk Buttons]]- for Susan it's selfishness, for BJ, it's anyone who tries to hurt Sam.
16* BirdsOfAFeather: Laurie and Doug, straw Democrats and philosophy nerds.
17* BlitheSpirit: BJ.
18* BowChickaWowWow: the soundtrack for the group sex scenes sometimes fits the trope. Justified by the period in which the series take place, when most of this kind of music was made, and by the mentality of the swingers in general, who seem to be the kind of people who would enjoy this kind of music..
19* BrainyBrunette: Laurie.
20* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: inverted with BJ and Samantha.
21* BrutalHonesty: Laurie, and to a lesser degree, Trina.
22* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Janet is thrilled by the idea of going to a fancy philanthropic gala, but Trina grew up going to this kind of events.
23* TheCasanova: Tom. Also Moreno, Bruce's colleague at the stock exchange.
24* The Charmer: Tom mostly, but also Moreno.
25* CarpetOfVirility: Tom, in true 70's fashion.
26* ChickMagnet: Roger, though he is distinctly [[ObliviouslyBeautiful oblivious]] to it. Tom is more of a ProudBeauty.
27* CoolBigSis: Laurie is quite supportive of BJ, and acts as a ShipperOnDeck for him and Samantha.
28* CoolTeacher: Doug the philosophy teacher, who doubles as a HotTeacher and a bit of a Sexy Mentor for Laurie.
29* ControlFreak: Janet, though pot brownies really loosen her up...
30* CovertPervert: A large part of Susan's arc is about her self discovery, mostly sexually.
31* CuteBookworm: Doug, the HotTeacher.
32* TheCutie: BJ and Sam. Susan and Roger are mature examples.
33* CleansUpNicely: Janet, in full 70's glory - slinky wrap dress and teased hair.
34* DatingWhatDaddyHates: It seems that even after years of marriage, Trina's parents still hate Tom.
35** Laurie and Doug are a prime example as well.
36* {{Disco}}: heavily featured in the soundtrack, clothing, club scenes and dance parties in the series.
37** This is basically the only genre of music form the time featured in the show, with the exception of Laurie teasingDoug for his love of ProgressiveRock, which apparently her mother shares.
38* DeadpanSnarker: Laurie mostly, but also Melinda and Sylvia.
39* DefrostingIceQueen: Janet towards the Deckers.
40* DumbBlonde: played straight with ditzy, alcoholic Gayle, subverted with Sylvia and Sam.
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42* EasilyForgiven: Susan by Janet for lying to her with roger.
43* EthicalSlut: all of the swingers.
44* ExtremeDoormat: Laurie seems to think of Susan as one, and she does shows some aspects of the trope, though she sheds them via Character Development.
45* TheFashionista: Trina, lampshaded by Janet. Susan also singles out Sylvia's sense of style as glamorous, as Sylvia is one of the few women on the show that regularly wears pants.
46* FeminineWomenCanCook: played very straight with homemaker supreme Janet, subverted with glamorous Trina.
47* FieryRedhead: Melinda the stock broker.
48* FishOutOfWater: lampshaded verbatim about Roger, when he and Janet join the Millers at the Pendulum sex club.
49* {{Foil}}: Most obviously - Trina and Janet. Trina is liberal, worldly, artsy and supposedly FunPersonified, while Janet is conservative, homely, very practical and kind of a wet blanket. They also apply as a pretty classic example of LightFeminineDarkFeminine, with prim {{Housewife}} Janet as light and Trina as dark.
50* ForeignCultureFetish: interesting in world example, as Tom takes over the new line of flights to Tokyo thanks to this big trend of the 70's. The silk kimonos he brings Trina from Japan become a minor plot point at one episode.
51* FrenchMaidOutfit: One scene has Trina Decker dress up in a French maid outfit to seduce her husband as he films her.
52* FreudianExcuse: Sam's mother's antics have apparently made her as suspicious and guarded as she is.
53* FunPersonified: Tom, though he has some more somber, sensitive moments.
54* TheGenerationGap: A discussed trope. Interestingly, the swingers experience it twice as parents - in contrast to their own parents, and in the still large gap between them and their children. this most evident in Laurie's and Bruce's relationship.
55* GoGetterGirl: Laurie is a young version, Sylvia and Melinda are grown up versions of this trope.
56* GoodBadGirl: most of the swinging ladies, but mostly Trina - and to a lesser degree (since she is portrayed as less "good"), Melinda.
57* GreenEyedMonster: Envy's Rick's defining personality trait.
58* GuiltyPleasures: Doug, who has a "contentious objection to television", is somewhat obsessed with political broadcasts.
59* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: played straight with BJ, subverted with Logan and Sylvia.
60* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Gayle, Samantha's mother.
61* HasAType: Bruce's LoveInterests are both red heads.
62* HenpeckedHusband: Roger, at least at first.
63* HighschoolSweethearts: Susan and Bruce. Susan got pregnant when they were still in their teens.
64* HotBlooded: Bruce and Laurie share this trait, as Susan points out.
65* HotForTeacher: Laurie falls for her philosophy summer school teacher, Doug. Eventually he falls for her too, and once summer school is over they ensue a relationship.
66* {{Housewife}}: Susan and Janet, though eventually Janet gets a job as a secretary.
67* {{Hypocrite}}: Bruce, who gets mad at Laurie for breaking the rules of propriety while having an open relationship and fooling around with his colleague. Susan and Laurie both call him out on it.
68* IncorruptiblePurePureness: BJ, complete with PuppyDogEyes.
69* TheIngenue: BJ is a RareMaleExample.
70* InnocentBlueEyes: Susan. To a lesser degree, Janet.
71* InSeriesNickname: BJ actually stands for Bruce Junior.
72* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: what Trina says when looking at her high school graduation photo from [[TheSixties the early 60's]], complete with {{Ojou}} curls and white lace. One can only imagine how a few years later she would look on her teased hairstyle and very very shiny dresses.
73* TheLadette: Melinda, who enters the office pull on who will get in her pants first.
74* LikeFatherLikeSon: Inverted with the Miller family. Susan mentions more than once that Laurie and Bruce are similar - proud, hot tempered and adventurous. BJ seems to take after his mother, and is as gently open minded as she is.
75* LoveDodecahedron: One of the risks of open relationships. Bruce is into Melinda, Susan and Roger are interested in each other, Janet is drawn to Tom...
76* MoodSwinger: Sam.
77* MsFanservice: Trina Decker is often shown in little clothing, with the show going out of its way to highlight Creator/LanaParrilla's good looks. In one scene, she dresses up as a French maid, with the camera slowly moving up her body.
78* MyGirlIsASlut: Tom and Trina, and to stronger degree, Brad ans Sylvia.
79* ObliviouslyBeautiful: Janet, according to Tom.
80* OddFriendship: Janet and Trina, eventually.
81** Even moresoe in her friendship with Harry Reems. Yes, [[Film/{{Lovelace}} the Harry Reems.]]
82* PimpedOutDress: Any dress worn by anyone at the disco clubs, especially the Pendulum sex club. Trina's dresses take the prize though.
83* PlatonicLifePartners: Rick and BJ, Susan and Janet.
84* PopStarComposer: Creator Mike Kelley's childhood friend Music/LizPhair helped write the score.
85* {{Pornstache}}: Harry Reems, obviously.
86* RavenHairIvorySkin: Janet.
87* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Janet rains one on Trina, Roger and Susan at the end of the Puzzlerama party.
88* RebelliousPrincess: Apparently, Trina. She was brought up to be a proper New York socialite, but eventually rebelled against her mother's and society's expectations, became a stewardess and met Tom.
89* RedOniBlueOni: Rick is the Red to BJ's Blue. Laurie and Doug are a romantic example.
90* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Doug and Laurie.
91* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Brad and Sylvia, the fancy academics.
92* ShippingTorpedo: Rick for Sam and BJ. To a lesser degree, both Tom and Roger intervene against Bruce's trysts with Melinda.
93* ShipperOnDeck: Laurie for Sam and BJ, Trina for Susan and Roger.
94* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Bruce, mostly towards Laurie.
95* SmugSnake: Moreno.
96* SoapBoxSadie: Laurie is a classic example. Sylvia is a grown up version of the trope.
97* SugarAndIcePersonality: Samantha plays some serious hot and cold vibes on BJ.
98* TomboyishName: Samantha is often shortened to Sam.
99* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Laurie and Susan. Laurie also qualifies as a TankTopTomboy, and usually sports a TomboyishPonytail as well.
100* TroubledButCute: Samantha, according to BJ.
101* UptownGirl: Trina to Tom, though this aspect of their relationship is rarely brought up.
102* VaporWear: literally all of the ladies at one point or another, especially while going out, in accordance with disco fashion.
103* WideEyedIdealist: Laurie and Doug, who both veer into StrawPolitical territories.

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