“Swingtown†Rides Into the Sunset
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- September
- 9
In the show’s penultimate episode, “Surprise!â€, Bruce dipped his toe further into his smoldering relationship with his coworker Melinda and found out that he has more in conversational common—“Hey, how ’bout those Cubs?â€â€”with her than he does with his wife, Susan. Then the louse lied to Susan that he had to return to his office to retrieve some important papers, and then proceeded to leave his briefcase in plain sight. What a schmo! We later learned that they just talked, but that Melinda suggested they “do more†during their next meeting. She is indeed fulfilling her rep as the office slut.
Janet took a shot at being the writer behind the newspaper’s Dear Abby-ish column, Dear Trudy, which allows nosey-Parker Janet to do what she does best: tell other people how to live their lives. And Roger finally got a much-needed got a job offer…but it’s in Cincinnati. Over at the Deckers’, Trina told Janet that she is—oops!—preggers but is sure that Tom is the father. Then, summer-school teacher Doug turned down the staff-teacher gig at Lakeview high because he didn’t want to have to hide his rob-the-cradle romance with 12th-grader Laurie. 
Meanwhile, the episode contained shameless product placements for Radio Shack, Coke, Yoo-Hoo and Life cereal. And, of course, the tally of original versions vs. the fake versions of the soundtrack’s songs: Real: “No Secrets,†“Jackie Blue,†“We’re All Alone†(Boz Scaggs’, not the heinous remake by Rita Coolidge), “One Toke Over the Line,†“Dance with Me,†“You Are the Woman†and “Love Is Alive.†Quite an impressive line-up! Fake: “Beach Baby†and “Sooner or Later.â€
“Swingtown’s†season finale, “Take It to the Limit,†took place over Labor Day Weekend 1976. A severe earthquake in Guatemala City had Doug on the next plane down there to help with relief efforts. Laurie was to go with him, but, for her own good, he split without her. (Riiiiight—as if her parents would have been fine with her skipping out of school and running down to Central America….) And then there was Tom and Trina’s clambake, which was actually filmed on location at a beach. The beach was a welcome relief to all the scenes shot at the couple’s pool, which was actually a cheesy in-studio set. 
I never found the storyline involving the Miller and Thompson kids particularly interesting, but I was glad that Sam’s lush of a mother, Gail, finally went off to rehab. But will six weeks of it be enough for her to get off the sauce?
In the end, Roger realized what a drag Janet is and wound up sleeping with Susan (Janet’s soon-to-be-ex-best friend) at the airport hotel when he couldn’t get on the plane to find a house in Cincinnati, and Bruce moved forward his romance with Melinda. And Trina, reading a Dr. Spock book, decided to keep the bun in her oven. How ironic that, when all was said and done, Trina and Tom were the couple who stayed together.
And, of course, the tally of original versions vs. the fake versions of the soundtrack’s songs: Real: “The Boys Are Back In Town,†“Show Me the Way†“You Keep Me Runnin’,†“The Things We Do For Love,†“Someone Saved My Life Tonight†and “Take It to the Limit.â€
If “Swingtown’s†tepid reviews and ratings were any indication, the summer of ’08 will be its first and last season of any kind. (Photos by Eric McCandless/CBS.)
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 10:20 am by Jenny Higgons.
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