April 24, 2009 WILLIAM S PAYLEY FOUNDATION THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, BEVERLY HILLS, CA Swingtown’s premise—a conventional married couple drawn into the sexually profligate lifestyle of their new neighbors in the sybaritic seventies—promised high camp and low-down thrills, but creator Mike Kelley instead delivered an affecting meditation on family, emotional intimacy, social upheaval—and, yes, sex—in the short-lived CBS series. Jack Davenport and Molly Parker played the ambivalent Millers, Grant Show and Lana Parrilla were the thrill-seeking couple down the block, and Josh Hopkins and Miriam Shor played the Thompsons, who came to question their values and assumptions in the wake of the Millers’ explorations. Sweet, sad, and often funny, Swingtown was a great place to visit—if you could get past the sideburns and polyester.
| ||
 |  |  |
Alexandra Leighton | Lana Parrilla | Liz Phair |
 |  |  |
Alan Poul | Aaron Howles | Liz Phair |
 |  |  |
Miriam Shor | Molly Parker | Grant Show |
 |  |  |
Miriam Shor | Shanna Collins | Molly Parker |
ALL PHOTOS © 2009 MICHAEL GERMANA / SUPERSTAR IMAGES ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NO REPRODUCTION | ||
Friday, April 24, 2009
William S. Paley Television Festival - Special Festival Closing Night: A Swingtown Celebration
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
William S. Paley Television Festival - The Hills
April 21, 2009 WILLIAM S PAYLEY FOUNDATION ARCLIGHT CINERAMA DOME, HOLLYWOOD, CA MTV’s The Hills has eyes: lined, shadowed, and mascaraed. They belong to Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, and Whitney Port, four young women navigating the City of Angels. Slick and stylish with a hip soundtrack and naturalistic dialogue, The Hills looks and feels like fiction, but the characters are real people going about their actual lives (though producers have acknowledged setting up some of the action). Like Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County—the show that sired it—The Hills has been dubbed “docu-soap.” The idea, per executive producer Tony DiSanto, “was to see if we could do a reality show in the visual language of narrative film.” Adam DiVello, a Laguna Beach alum, created the series. | ||
 |  |  |
Lauren Bosworth | Whitney Port | Lauren Bosworth |
 |  |  |
Audrina Patridge | Brody Jenner | Whitney Port |
 |  |  |
Brody Jenner | Audrina Patridge | Stephanie Pratt |
 |  |  |
Lauren Conrad | Stephanie Pratt | Lauren Conrad |
ALL PHOTOS © 2009 MICHAEL GERMANA / SUPERSTAR IMAGES ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NO REPRODUCTION | ||