Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: After exploring pot-dealing in suburbia in its dark comedy Weeds, Lionsgate Television is taking on another suburban taboo in a new reality series. Certain to create controversy, Bedroom Community revolves around a group of swingers — suburban couples who swap partners. Lionsgate shot a presentation for the project, which is now being shopped to cable networks. Bedroom Community is one of the first projects shepherded by reality producer Eli Frankel, who in March signed a two-year deal with Lionsgate. “The world of swingers is mythologized in American pop culture, but very few people outside of it have seen it,” Frankel said. And many would be surprised looking in, he said. “What we have seen on shows about swingers are primarily older hippies, fringe people who are a little bit dirty. What we found are elite groups of people in upscale communities who are good-looking and have money and access. That glossy version is much more interesting to watch.” The series was cast after an extensive casting process, Frankel said, adding that “it took awhile to convince people to trust us and to convince them that the show was not going to be exploitative but just document people who are fairly normal but chose to do live their relationships on the edge.” Focusing on family and inter-couple dynamics, Bedroom Community will chronicle the cast members’ lives in their living rooms, not in their bedrooms. “It is not a show about sex but about people and their relationships,” Frankel said. The swinging lifestyle was introduced to American suburbia in the 1960s, and was depicted in the praised but short-lived CBS drama series Swingtown, set in the 1970s.

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