• Variety, Thursday, March 6, 2008 12 PM

The day after NBC said it would use mostly original programming on Thursdays this summer, CBS followed suit, announcing plans to run 1970s-era drama "Swingtown" at 10 p.m. on the night, starting May 29. That's the same night that "Fear Itself," a scripted horror anthology is set to roll on NBC. "It's a sign that we're all taking summer a little more seriously," says Kelly Kahl, CBS senior executive vice president of programming operations. "Thursday at 10, be it July or October, is certainly a critical time period."

The new "Swingtown" is already raising eyebrows for its depiction of the sexual and cultural revolution of the 1970s that featured various experimentation and "swinging." But CBS is up on the show and wants to give it a top time slot and will roll it behind a "CSI" rerun.

"We wanted to give it a solid lead-in," Kahl says. "In the summer, we need as much help as we can, and with 'CSI' as a lead-in, that should speak volumes about how we feel about the show."

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