Carousing on “Swingtown”
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- August
- 22
As the summer of ‘76 winds down on this randy CBS series, the characters’ lives are taking alternate directions. Roger goes to a shrink and confesses that he thinks he’s in love with Susan. “I feel alive when I’m around her,” he says. (If I were married to deadbeat Janet, I’d feel alive when I was around a sloth. Wasn’t her meticulous to-do chart a hoot?)
In her new job, Janet is proving to be the perfect employee—a downright brown-noser, in fact—at the newspaper “The Daily Sun.” Were any of us surprised that she can type 100 words per minute? And then that she gets a full-time job? However, I must say bravo to her for standing up to the creepy editor about his patting her on the butt.
After Susan and Roger bump into each other at the supermarket, she helps him make chicken Kiev and you could have cut the sexual tension between them with a buzz saw. Especially after she ‘fesses up that she phoned from the country cabin looking for him. Then, just as Roger is about to spill his guts to Susan, Janet puts the kibosh on the fun by walking in.
It was SO apparent that Rog is getting bored with Janet by his telling his son to never rush into a romance or settle for someone. He forgot to add, ”…as I did with your mother.”
Miss Thang (aka Laurie) and Doug are still going strong. I took a good look at Mr. Stevens and realized that he’s a darn good-looking guy. And he’d be even better looking in “real life,” without that dopey ‘70s hairstyle.
White men CAN dance, as proved by Tom and Bruce at that wild nightclub that belongs to a friend of Tom. And who wasn’t shocked when SUSAN asked TRINA for a Qaalude? I don’t endorse the use of recreational pills, but she did have a good time with it, as did Bruce and the Deckers. The foursome then retired to the Deckers’ pool for some wild group sex.
And now for the real vs. copycat tally: Real: “I’ll Take You There,” “Boogie Fever” (I think), “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and, thank God, “Get Down Tonight.” Can you imagine the hack job a cover version would have been? There’s NO replacing K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Fake:Â “It’s So Nice to be With You” and “Reflections of My Life.” Then, there were some songs that weren’t on long enough or were too muffled for ID.
Next Friday, in “Surprise!”, Roger and Susan plan a birthday party for Janet, but more than partying goes on. Janet decides to loosen up a little and bring her new (and most likely only) bud at the newspaper, Henry, to the soiree, an action that Roger, who’s finally realizing what a drip his wife is, will probably be glad about — especially since, as he tells Susan, he thinks he’s falling in love with her. Meanwhile, Trina says she’s got a bun in the oven. My main question is if that little swinger has even an inkling as to who the father is. If she had been on the Pill, no one would have gotten her pregnant.
If she had been using other, less reliable methods—such as a diaphragm, condoms, spermacides, an IUD or, God forbid, the rhythm method—it’s anyone’s guess. She might never know until paternity tests using DNA come along! The show’s season — and, I assume, series — finale is on Sept. 5.
(Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS.)
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pm by Jenny Higgons.
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