Swingtown's portrayal of open relationships is insightful and honest but still feels exotic. To really normalize non-monogamy we'd need a polyamorous Bachelorette.
Swingtown's portrayal of open relationships is insightful and honest but still feels exotic. To really normalize non-monogamy we'd need a polyamorous Bachelorette.
The TV addict that I am, I usually slip into a mild depression after sweeps. What will I do with my evening hours? Summer and mid-season replacements almost always pale in comparison to the real-deal shows, but there's one exception: Swingtown. Attempting to recreate the 1970s summer-of-love vibe, they've come pretty close. The 8mm video style camera work and wardrobes give it a grainy, authentic feel, as actress Lana Parilla can attest. You almost (almost) forget you're watching CBS.
"It's different from any part I've ever played before," Lana Parrilla observes about her role as the sexy Trina Decker in CBS' summer series "Swingtown." No doubt about that. After all, the show, set in Chicago in 1976, is about a couple of swingers—in the wildest sense of the word—who initiate their new neighbors into their sexually permissive lifestyle. The titillating pilot, capped by a wife-swapping party, was designed to hook viewers and get them talking—if not protesting. "It will obviously raise some eyebrows, but at the same time I don't think we're exploiting any more than 'Desperate Housewives' or 'Lipstick Jungle,'" Parrilla points out. "The sex is there, but there's a deeper element to the show. There are the relationships and familial aspects. You see how the children are affected by their parents' lifestyle. And there's a lot of heart to our show." Here, the sexy star dishes on shooting on-set intimacy, researching orgies, and the three words that describe her: "Good in bed." Just kidding..."
