Which TV Shows Include A Partner Swapping Story Subplot?

When I watch TV with these storylines, I like to explore how the writers are exploring the idea of partner swapping. Many times the writers will simply add in a ‘ seksi’ moment to grab the audiences attention, other times to explore topics of trust, identity, or changing sexual mores. I already mentioned ‘Swingtown’ above. It’s a show that centers around a group of suburban couples who decide to start swinging and how it affects their marriages and their reputation in the community. Pretty straightforward in intent but it’s an interesting exploration of how cultural shifts affect people.

To look at partner swapping from another angle, there are the stories of Californication and Shameless where it is but one aspect of their very complex and chaotic lives. In both of these cases, the swapping of partners is not something to be emulated in order to provide commentary or lessons to be learned by the audience regarding sex and relationships. Rather, it is a manifestation of the characters’ overall complete lack of responsibility and boundaries. This type of narrative is also prevalent on queer television, with shows such as Queer as Folk and The L Word often blending the erotic with genuine exploration of issues of consent, jealousy, and the social norms of sexual communities and relationships. Unlike other forms of narrative about sex, queer TV can examine non-monogamous relationships in a serious manner. Another method by which to explore issues of sex are reality TV programs such as Temptation Island and Love Island in which men and women are put in a series of situations in which they are strongly tempted to swap partners or to recouple with former lovers. And then there is the matter of the dramas created in these reality shows to keep the participants in a state of increased emotional arousal. Can we watch these shows and remain persuaded that the swapping of partners is healthy for all of the participants? Or are we merely being entertained?

This kind of dramatic plot is really exciting to me. To me, “partner-swapping” and “swinging” are themes that can occur in almost any kind of TV (drama or reality TV). If you’re interested in something with partner-swapping as the central plot of a period piece, then “Swingtown” is your show. The couples of suburban Swingtown are partners in exploring the phenomenon of partner-swapping in the 1970s. The show explores the strong appeal of the phenomenon as well as the various awkward situations that can occur.

While ‘Swingtown’ is a period drama that approaches the theme of partner-swapping in a fairly realistic way, there are plenty of more contemporary shows that explore similar ideas. Californication, for example, often features swinger parties and casual sex, resulting in all sorts of chaos and mayhem. On the queer side of things, both Queer as Folk and The L Word have tackled the topic of non-monogamy and open relationships in their respective shows. While Queer as Folk approaches the theme with a more party-oriented and raunchy take, The L Word explores the same ideas in a more character-focused and emotional way. Reality TV, on the other hand, uses partner-swapping as a structure to a show, rather than calling it “swinging”. Shows such as Temptation Island and Love Island test couples by putting them in situations with other people, and then see how they react when they are returned to each other.

As for other shows, some of them use partner swapping for shock value. They portray it as a fascinating way of life, and, sometimes, the two can even be combined. There are many different scenes and storylines of various TV shows that use partner swapping for different reasons. For example, some of the scenes and plot twists in ‘Shameless’ feature casual sex and other bedroom scenes, while other shows, like supernatural dramas, use parties with orgies, like in ‘True Blood’, to explore a character’s boundaries and quirks. Each show interprets partner swapping in a different way – as satire, as a tragedy, as sexy and fun, and as a social experiment.

I have a pretty short list of shows that feature partner-swap plots that I would recommend to someone looking to watch that. Some of those would be Swingtown (the show is literally about people who are swingers), Californication (the main character attends swinger parties and has a few casual swaps with women), Queer as Folk and The L Word (both of these shows feature open relationships and explore groups of people in relationships with each other), Shameless (the frequency of messy entanglements with many, many different people makes for some good TV), as well as shows like Temptation Island and Love Island (the recouplings and the temptation of other people to be with are kind of the structure of the show). There are a lot of dramas and supernatural shows that feature orgies or scenes of people swapping partners for shock value, but there are also a lot of comedies that feature a partner-exchange plot point and are often humorous in a farcical way. What I enjoy most about late-night TV is analyzing how different genres look at issues of consent and the consequences of said actions, and whether or not the show seems to be approaching the subject with curiosity or exploitativeness.