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.

** Spoiler alert ** Don't read this if you're a "Swingtown" fan and haven't seen the finale.

Kudos to "Swingtown's" creative stewards for wrapping up the series last week in a satisfying a way. Instead of the pulling out the old trick of "let's leave 'em on a cliffhanger so the fans will raise a ruckus for renewal," exec producers Mike Kelley, Alan Poul and Carol Barbee gave us conclusions for the show's three central couples: Susan and Bruce Miller, Janet and Roger Thompson and the fun-loving Trina and Tom Decker.

So the real cliffhanger for viewers is: Does "Swingtown" go down as a 13-part miniseries -- beach reading for the summer of '08 -- or does it get an eleventh-hour renewal?

(Read another take on "Swingtown" from Brian Cochrane on Variety's Season Pass blog.)

To my surprise, I have made a point of keeping up with "Swingtown" during the past few weeks.

The characters in CBS' retro tale of suburban angst in the summer of '76 have grown on me. "Swingtown" benefits enormously from its solid cast, anchored by Molly Parker (pictured far left with costars Miriam Shor and Lana Parrilla) as Susan, a mother and housewife who is starting to come out of her hausfrau shell. Parker is one of those thesps who is engaging on screen in a very natural way. At her best, she makes you feel like you can read her character's thoughts.

Another big part of "Swingtown's" charm is the 'remember-when' aspect. For those of us old enough to remember all the the Bicentennial ballyhoo (and if you were remotely conscious, you can't forget it), the hubbub over Nadia Comaneci and her perfect 10s at the Montreal summer Olympics and Carter vs. Ford at the polls that year, "Swingtown" is an immediate fix of nostalgia for a bygone era that, of course, seems rosier in memory that it was in real time. That sentimental feeling increased by a factor of 100 for me in this past week's seg, "Go Your Own Way," which involved Susan defying her husband Bruce's wishes by attending a fundraiser for the legal defense of the star of "Deep Throat."

To make up her mind, Susan goes to see "Deep Throat," and the location used for the theater was none other than South Pasadena's (once) majestic Rialto Theater. Oh, the movies I saw there when it was a Landmark-owned revival house. This was in an interesting transitional period for showbiz -- only a few years after the time frame of "Swingtown," and only a few years before video cassette players became a household appliance, allowing film buffs to indulge in a whole new way.

Shannon C. Barry of Trabuco Canyon, Calif. (near Mission Viejo in Orange County) is not a self-appointed media watchdog, or an activist by nature.

She's a wife and mother of three who works as a waitress and a professional horse rider, and as a "taxi driver" for her kids. She doesn't have much spare time to watch TV, though she makes a point to "never miss an episode of 'American Idol.'"

But Barry was incensed and spurred to take action after getting a glimpse of CBS' "Swingtown." Last weekend she emailed a letter of complaint urging CBS affiliates to yank the show that revolves around the lives of three married couples and their spouse-swapping, Quaalude-dropping adventures in the summer of '76.

"Basically, it's defiling marriage," Barry said in a telephone interview Thursday. "The more we put things like this on the air, the more the public is exposed to things like that, it becomes OK. But it's not OK to represent marriage that way."

Barry first heard about "Swingtown" through an item in People magazine. A look back at the era of sex, drugs and spouse-swapping didn't sound like anything that belonged on broadcast TV, in Barry's opinion.

Her instinct was confirmed after she saw a promo spot for the show on CBS. Then she went on the CBS website and watched a trailer "that showed three people in bed together," Barry said. "It definitely really rubbed me wrong."

We certainly could've predicted this. The Parents Television Council-driven complaints about CBS' "Swingtown" are starting to roll in, as detailed in this post on Season Pass.

Lots of TV-centric goings-on around town in the next few weeks. CBS Paramount Network TV gets into the swing of summer with a "block party" on the CBS Radford lot on Tuesday night to herald the June 5 debut of CBS drama "Swingtown," about fun-loving, Quaalude-downing, partner-swapping couples in the summer of '76. It's so nice to see "Swingtown" costar Molly Parker all cleaned up and dusted off from her "Deadwood" days...

...Speaking of CBS dramas, a clutch of "Moonlight" fans are descending on L.A. this weekend for what's billed as the first fan-generated confab on the show, "MoonlightCon," at the Westin hotel out by LAX. Undoubtedly these folks will cook up some stunt to draw attention to their cries for another network to pick up their fave rave, which CBS dropped last week. (That's the hint in an email message today from a "devoted Moonlight fan" who promised me that "the fat lady ain't sung yet!") It doesn't appear that their immortal, series star Alex O'Loughlin, is skedded to stop by, but they will be taking a "Moonlight"-centric tour of the Warner Bros. lot on Friday...

...Some of those "Moonlight" fanatics might want to hop a bus to Culver City on Saturday morning, where Sony Pictures TV is holding open auditions for its revival of "The Gong Show" for Comedy Central. The cattle call will be held at a site near (but not on) the Sony Pictures lot on West Washington Boulevard. Click here for the specifics...

...Finally, the upcoming event we're most excited about is the June 4 party to celebrate the opening of Gordon Ramsay's new eatery at the London West Hollywood. The restaurant's moniker is already a mouthful: Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood. Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen" is having a nice hot run behind "American Idol" on Tuesdays in the last lap of the 2007-08 season. He ought to be in a good mood, and for once he won't be able to yell at anyone (but himself) about the food.