TVSquad

(S01E03) Consider this episode of Swingtown a case of being betwixt and between. The Millers have been in their new home all of two weeks and so much has happened to shake their foundation; Susan especially seems like the song "caught in the middle with you." Does she want to be the good wife going to church and being satisfied with the way they were, her and Bruce, back in the old neighborhood? Or is she ready to embrace swinging?

She's at first drawn back to Janet and Roger and the old ways. Because she's still perturbed by the business card she found in Bruce's pants from the Playboy Club, the one from Sylvia suggesting a get together, Susan drags her family to Sunday services for a little God-time. Impulsively, when chatting with Janet, Susan announces that she's having a housewarming and wants Janet's help. It's like she's clinging to a simpler past.

How are you? That's good. I just wanted to take a moment from your usual reading of sitcom/drama/reality stuff and tell you about some specials and documentaries popping up this month that looked rather interesting to me. I hope you think so, too. Here's what I found:

If you like music, PBS has two specials coming up you might like: Great Performances: We Love Ella! A Tribute to the First Lady of Song, and Paul Simon: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The Ella special, which features contemporary artists performing songs by iconic jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. The Paul Simon tribute will air on June 27, also at 9:00 p.m. Simon is the first songwriter to receive the prize, and will be honored during a ceremony featuring several singers, songwriters, and other people of note, including his former collaborator, Art Garfunkel.

The Sundance Channel will launch season two of Iconoclasts on the 26th with the help of Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and surfing legend Laird Hamilton. According to Executive Producer Robert Redford, "Iconoclasts explores the intersection where two great talents meet - and where creativity comes alive." That's a pretty way to say they point a camera at a pair of people we wouldn't normally get to see together and watch what happens. It can go either way, but when it works, it makes for a very interesting show.

The rest of the slate for season two has some other intriguing pairings, including Mikhail Baryshnikov & Alice Waters, Quentin Tarentino & Fiona Apple, Isabella Rosselini & Dean Kamen, Paul Simon & Lorne Michaels, and Dave Chapelle & Maya Angelou. I'm really looking forward to the Tarentino & Apple episode. Two interesting careers, and they both have just enough of the crazy in them that it could be fantastic television. The website has bios for everyone and promises video is "coming soon."