Swinging - TV-14

Sexed-up British sketch series isn't for kids.

TV Rating: TV-14 Network: Sundance Channel Genre: Comedy

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this saucy British sketch comedy series revolves a group of recurring, very dysfunctional characters and their sexual issues, which range from a woman marrying a closeted homosexual to a teacher who comes on to one of her students. Language goes mostly uncensored ("s--t" is unbleeped), and innuendo is constant. Overall, it's ribald, racy, and not for kids.

Families can discuss sex and the media. Do today's TV shows include more sexual references and scenes than series did in the past? Why is that? When and how did the standards change? Who sets those standards to begin with? Are they different for network TV than they are for cable? Why? Are they different in England than they are in the United States? (If you don't know, how could you find out?)

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Lucy Maher

Each episode of racy British sketch comedy SWINGING looks at the sexual idiosyncrasies of a number of recurring characters.

For example, there's an anxious sex therapist who can't talk about sex; a teacher who tries to seduce her student with promises of red wine and cocaine, an elderly woman who prepares a bowl of dog food for the latex-clad man living under her kitchen table, and a woman who will only talk about sex euphemistically ("Will Mr. Thomas play with the magic bean?").

While adults may be able to appreciate Swinging for the ironic spectacle that it is, the constant barrage of sexual content might be too much for all but the most mature teens. Some of the vignettes might even be considered emotionally distressing; in one episode, a girlfriend asks her husband -- who's admiring a female bartender -- if he finds her attractive. "No, you're attractive," he says. "She's stunning." Ouch.

Fans might also like Spoons or the original British episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Virtually every scene delves into the characters' sexual idiosyncracies. Non-stop suggestive talk and innuendo.
Violence
Language "S--t" (unbleeped) and other, milder words ("damn," etc.).
Message
	Social Behavior If this show is to be believed, sex pervades every daily human experience. Characters' flaws and foibles are played for laughs in typical sketch-comedy style.
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Social drinking. In one episode, a teacher attempts to seduce her student with alcohol.