TVSquad

How much of Swingtown is real and how much is pure fiction? According to Mike Kelley, Swingtown's creator, there are elements in the show that come right from his childhood memories of growing up on the North Shore, a trendy suburb of Chicago. But the sex and the swinging? That's mostly creative license.

So were there really sex parties and swinging in the Kelley home? "You know, it comes from imagination, for the most part."

Inspired by 1976, the era of women's liberation, disco-dancing, the end of the Vietnam War, and sexual freedom thanks to the pill and no AIDS, Kelley balances the fantastic elements with nostalgia.

Right away this list from Burbia.com of the 12 Top TV shows based around the suburbs doesn't make any sense. Sorry, any show that doesn't include The Dick Van Dyke Show just doesn't know what it's talking about. It was the show that epitomized the suburbs in the early 60s, but it doesn't even get a mention on this list.

Instead we get recent shows like The Sopranos, Weeds, and The Simpsons. They might even be good choices, but whenever a list leaves out a show that is so obvious the entire thing becomes suspect. They did include some classic shows on the list, including Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (and some that didn't make the list but are mentioned anyway, like Mr. Ed), but I have to ask: since when is Milwaukee (Happy Days) a suburb? Wasn't My Favorite Martian set in L.A.? And I wouldn't really call Beverly Hills (The Beverly Hillbillies) a suburb either.

What other shows should have been on this list?