"Swingtown": We'll always have the summer of '76

A belated post to say thank you to the "Swingtown" folks for making Friday's closing night sesh of the Paley Festival such a blast.

Cast members Lana Parrilla, Grant Show, Molly Parker, Miriam Shor and Shanna Collins (pictured from left above) could not have been nicer or warmer, or more sincerely willing to accentuate the positive. There was no sour grapes, no second-guessing of whether the show would've done better on a network other than CBS. The thesps and creator/exec producer Mike Kelley and exec producer/helmer Alan Poul (pictured below left) took the high road and had only kind words for CBS Entertainment boss Nina Tassler, CBS Paramount Network TV prexy David Stapf and others at the Eye.

Perhaps the most revealing moment came toward the end when I gingerly asked Kelley his ideas for what might have been in season two. He didn't hesitate. Lana Parrilla's Trina, who winds up unexpectedly pregnant by the "Swingtown" finale, probably would have opted to have an abortion, which would unravel her marriage to pilot and swinger poster boy Tom, played by Grant Show.

Parrilla got one of the bigger laughs of the night in discussing how spoiled she became by the fabulous wardrobe she had at her disposal on "Swingtown." At present she's costarring in a medical drama pilot for CBS, "Miami Trauma," and she was heartbroken when she came to realize that her wardrobe choices consisted of scrubs, and more scrubs.

Another highlight was the large photo collage from Kelley's childhood (circa '76) that was set up on an stand in the lobby of the Paley Center in Bev Hills for the afterparty. The outline of "Swingtown" plain for all to see from those pics. It's no wonder the characters rang so true.