This past Friday was the season finale of “Swingtown,” possibly the series finale as well. CBS has not announced whether it will renew the show and rumor has it that they could shop it to cable networks.
Let’s get the storyline that was boring and plagued the season, in my opinion, out of the way first.
Samantha’s aunt came to take her away and put her sister Gail in a rehab program. BJ and Ricky sat outside BJ’s window and talked to Sam as she was leaving on the walkie-talkie. Eventually she was out of range, which is when Gail was seen returning home to snort some coke with her friends. This was the one story I just wasn’t liking at all to be honest. I felt it was a bit boring and would have rather watched the adults. Oh and we never got any resolution as to what was up with Ricky. Does he like boys? Girls? The world may never know! That’s a shame, because that was the one time I thought the story was actually getting interesting.
Janet was offered the job writing the advice column at work, but had to turn it down. Her friend there, Henry, didn’t understand at all. Janet didn’t tell him, but Roger had already told her that they’d be moving to Cincinnati for his new job.
Janet was upset and talked with Trina. She didn’t want to move, her life and friends were here. Trina told her to tell Roger, tell him it’s not what is best for their family. She said it wasn’t 1954 anymore and father didn’t always know best. I felt for Janet, because you could tell she really wanted that job at the paper, but at the same time she knew how unhappy Roger had been not working. Well, at least that’s what she thinks he’s been unhappy about.
Janet finally did stand up to Roger and tried to put her foot down, only to have him put his down harder. He said she might be the head of the house, but he was the head of this family; they were moving to Cincinnati! Roger booked a flight to go find a place for them to live and stormed off. I can’t believe he talked to my Janet like that! It was the first time in the whole show that I really got ticked off at Roger for his attitude.
Meanwhile, back to one of the less interesting stories. Doug learned that Guatemala was hit by an earthquake, a friend of his from school was there in the peace corps working. He was worried sick and had to go there. Eventually he learned his friend Dave was fine, but he still wanted to go. Laurie insisted she go too, but he wasn’t thrilled. At one point she asked if something was wrong, he said that she had school and all. She wanted to take a semester off, this was important. He agreed, saying she had to go home and prepare, as well as get permission. She did from her mom, but returned to find Doug already gone. He left her a note and the key to his place for her to use until he returned. I was convinced he had a wife there or something, but CGinCA suggested maybe Dave was his male lover. I never thought about that, but it could be. It would make sense, there was something unspoken between Doug and the female neighbor who gave him the news about Dave originally.
Susan confronted Melinda, knowing she met with Bruce. Bruce also knew he was busted with his lame-o “briefcase at the office” excuse, as Susan caught him in it. Melinda told Susan she didn’t love Bruce, but they had a connection. She asked Susan if she felt connected to Bruce? Susan was offended and said that was none of her business. Oops, she just gave Melinda an answer there. We know Susan doesn’t feel connected to Bruce. She’s admitted it, Bruce doesn’t seem to want to though.
At Tom and Trina’s end of summer bash, the whole “keys in the fishbowl” game was played. Susan confronted Bruce over Melinda, how she knew what was up. Bruce blamed her for opening the door to their bedroom and starting all of this. oooo, wrong thing to say! She then stormed off with a strange man, leaving Bruce stunned.
As everyone left the beach bash party, Trina finally told Tom about the baby. She hadn’t decided what to do. He said she didn’t have to make a decision right now, but he would support her. He also said he never loved her more than he did in that moment. You could see he wants this baby. It seems like it’s Trina who is the one who is unsure about it though, even though both Suan and Janet told her she’d make a wonderful mother. I think there is a story there about Trina’s own mother we aren’t hearing.
Janet was home alone when Henry showed up with a copy of the next day’s paper. He had her column printed and got her the job, even though she turned it down. He felt she was made for this job. He also brought champagne for her and Roger to celebrate with. She said Roger was on his way to Cincinnati to find a place for them to live there, but he could stay for a drink. He wanted to, but had a date. Janet thought it was with Jenny at the paper . . . it was with Mark! Janet was speechless, but said good for him. He left and she started scrap-booking and drinkin!
I have to say this is one I didn’t see coming at all. Also I felt terrible for Janet. I really thought Henry liked Janet, and I think Janet was starting to like Henry to be honest. I thought he could be there for her when Roger and Susan’s tryst was found out. Lately the show has been about finding that “one” you connect with, I thought Henry was Janet’s “one.”
Finally, Roger called Susan from a hotel at the airport. He didn’t get on the flight, he asked her to come meet him. She did, and the show ended with her walking into his hotel room . . . .
I have to say I have really enjoyed this show this summer. Normally summer is re-runs and reality, so this was a good break and just a fun show. I hope CBS renews it, or at least lets it go to cable. Honestly I think it might work better on cable as they could push it even further; though not in a porn-direction mind you.
Move over Edie and Gabby, a new sex kitten is taking over? Ausiello is reporting that Gail O’Grady will join “Desperate Housewives” this season as a recurring character. He originally hinted that the story was to have her lusting after one of Lynette’s teenage sons, but that might have changed. That’s already been done with Gabby and John in season 1, so hopefully they’ll find a different story for her character.
Mike Kelley, the creator and executive producer of “Swingtown,” has inked a new deal with CBS, the Hollywood Reporter reports. Part of the deal includes a new show for Showtime called “Bicoastal.” The show is about a married man in California with a male lover in New York.
CBS has not announced whether or not it will renew “Swingtown” for another season. Reports in August suggested the show could be shopped to other networks. Kelley is reported as saying “Swingtown” is his priority.
Renny and Keesha are on the block, and the decision as to who goes home is in Dan and Memphis’ hands.
Renny is furious, but won’t campaign against Keesha. Keesha said she didn’t want to lose Renny, but she didn’t want to leave either. Memphis feels he can only trust Dan, while Jerry feels screwed over by Memphis. Jerry wants Memphis punished and that once again he’s alone. Dan of course is thrilled.
Jerry talked to Keesha, he told her he wanted Dan out this week and he thinks Memphis and Dan are planning to go to final 2. Jerry wanted to make a deal with Keesha for final 2 at this point. Jerry also told her that she probably knows at this point, Memphis has an agreement with everyone. Keesha did have a deal with Memphis too, now she’s wondering.
Jerry then tried to put thoughts in Dan’s head, that he wanted Dan to make a deal with him to get to the final three. Jerry told him if one of the girls gets to the end, they will win over any of them.
Dan and Keesha talked, they soon realize what Jerry’s game was. They then talked to Memphis about Jerry’s game. After Keesha went off, Dan tells Memphis they have to be careful with Keesha!
Keesha and Renny got drunk together and cried together. Renny told her she wanted her to be a mother, and she would never forget her and she was very special to her.
We got to see the jury house and the reunion of Libra, April, Michelle and Ollie. They watched the DVDs each brought with them to compare notes. April and Michelle couldn’t talk enough smack about Keesha at all. Dan was the other person they gave it to. Ollie, upon entering the house, got his answer from April, who agreed to be his first girlfriend.
The live vote occurred, Memphis and Dan both voted and evicted Renny. Renny talked with Julie about her exit. Renny got to watch the exit messages the guests taped.
They played the HOH game, which was a true/false trivia game and Dan is the new HOH.
JIM SAVES A YOUNG PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR, ELI, WHO SUFFERS A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE AND MELINDA BEFRIENDS HIM AND SOON REALIZES HE SHARES HER SAME ABILITY, ON THE FOURTH SEASON PREMIERE OF “GHOST WHISPERER,” FRIDAY, OCT. 3
Jamie Kennedy (“The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”) Joins The Cast as a Series Regular Playing Psychology Professor Eli James
“Firestarter” – When a fire breaks out at Rockland University, Jim saves a young psychology professor, Eli, who suffers a near death experience and Melinda befriends him and soon realizes he shares her same ability, on the fourth season premiere of GHOST WHISPERER, Friday, Oct. 3 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Official CBS PR
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First up, given it was a 2 hour premier, I’m not about to attempt to recap it. I wanted to watch the premier to soak it all up and get acquainted with the show, not sit and take notes for a recap. Sorry! Plus there is the whole “I’m bad with character’s names till a few episodes in” thing. If you missed it, the premier is set to repeat on Thursday, and I’m sure it will be online to watch on The CW’s website. More than anything, I want to use this post more to give my thoughts on the show, given I watched the original (up until Brenda left at least).
The first thing I noticed was that aside from the zip code, the theme and Brenda and Kelly; this show seemed to be more like “The O.C.” than 90210 to me. Granted “The O.C.” played off 90210 in a big way, but still . . . The whole lacrosse team/jocks seemed straight out of “The O.C.” Given how quickly they went there, I was left with an “O.C. taste” in my mouth.
It seemed like the Kansas kids were accepted by the cool kids a little too fast. I don’t even remember Brenda and Brandon being taken in that fast. I mean we were all in high school once, let’s be honest here . . . the cool rich kids would not be drawn to the new kids from Kansas. I know it’s TV, but a tiny bit of realism would have been nice.
Can we talk about forgiveness? I’ve never seen such backstabbing forgiven in five minutes. BJs in the car, smearing blogs, fights on the team; all forgiven just like that! That concerns me, as so far there doesn’t seem to be the evil bitch of the show. Everyone just gets over what each other seemed to do to one another. It does seem like the popular girl is headed to be the evil bitch, which isn’t shocking to be honest. Oh and was it me, but did she remind anyone of Jessie from “Saved By The Bell?” Well, Jessie when she was in “Showgirls” that is!
Drama all unleashed within the first hour also is a bit shocking. I get they had to really drop the bombs to keep us tuning in. But cheating boyfriends, unknown kids given away for adoption, a “story” about Dickinson’s adoption. It seemed like there were a lot of huge bombs dropped in the first hour. I thought wow, where will they go from here? It’s no surprise that the second hour didn’t seem as engaging to me. Two hours was a lot as well, so it’s no shocker attention span started to go.
Predictability, from the son’s problems with the team to the whole popular girl plagiarizing the girl’s paper, there was a little too much predictability going on for my tastes. The only thing they didn’t do was expose the token lesbian or gay within the first hour . . . though I am suspect of Kelly’s sister to be honest.
Finally Laurie Laughlin, or the lack there of of her. I love her and I felt she was under-used. I hope this changes.
Aside from my gripes, there is enough here that will make me tune in at least for next week and see where things go. I liked Kelly’s kid, who clearly is Brandon’s unless there is a big “Dylan” bomb dropped. I want to know the drama behind the son’s adoption. I want to know who Rob Este’s kid is (you know that is gunna be some shocking dating drama most likely). Also let me say it was very smart of them to prominently feature Kelly and the return of her mother in the promos for next week. Way to make fans of the original return!
