Maybe it won't get all negative...

[Chicup]

"Chicagoist: When did you get the idea to create Swingtown?

Mike Kelley: When I was working on The O.C., my boss, who was also my boss on Providence, said it was one thing to write other peoples’ scripts, but you should really challenge yourself to do something that’s personal to you, that has your own voice, before you get stuck in the rut of doing other peoples’ shows. So I quit. I went off and started thinking about what stories I had to tell. I’m a very nostalgic guy by nature, so I called up my mom and asked her to send me a bunch of photos from the family album. As I was sifting through them I couldn’t help but notice how awesome and young and vital her friends were, and what a great time it was, and how much fun they seemed to be having. That interspersed with the family photographs and the time period, and the 70s XM radio station, and Swingtown was born.

C: How did your parents initially react when you told them you would be writing this show that is loosely based on their wild past?

MK: They were fine initially because they didn’t think that anyone would ever buy it. [Laughs.] No, they were supportive. It’s more imagination than anything else. It’s inspired be people and by images from my childhood, but the things you see from the top of the stairs as an 8 or 9-year-old kid, they tend to get a little bit embellished over time. I think that these stories, while rooted in events from the past, are really wholly imagined. They’re fine, they’re proud parents. My mom is especially excited. Their friends all get together and watch the show.

C: Is this show in any way indicative of your feelings about marriage, relationships or tradition in general?

MK: Yeah I think it is. I think a large failure in our society...is making marriage work. It just doesn’t seem to. And I think that’s because the roles are set up to keep couples from being honest and open with each other. I think once you take those rules away, and you still want to be together, that’s a truer union. It’s about reexamining the structure. I think marriage is totally valid. I think partnerships are essential to the community, and for children and the world, but I just feel they need to be examined in a more adult way instead of sort of a patriarchal mandate from your church or your society at large.

C: Since this show was originally shopped around to cable networks, did CBS change it much?

MK: I wrote the script originally for cable, and that script was written and done. When CBS said they wanted to do it I was quite skeptical. But they said, ‘Look, all we’re asking you to do is cut out the graphic images, the nudity and the language, but otherwise you can keep all the adult content, the drug references, the sex references, etc.’ In a lot of ways it actually freed me up from having to pander to that part of the job on cable where you’re kind of forced to up the ante every week as far as the shock value. This way we get to be a little bit more clever about how we tell these stories. It’s more about who is with whom and under what circumstances. It’s more about who it is that goes behind the bedroom door and shuts it rather than what actually goes on. It’s more about the situation than it is about the act.

C: It allows the viewer to focus more on the story and less on the sex.

MK: That’s what we’re hoping.

Mmmmy apparently the writers parents were swingers (thats what I'm inferring). Maybe this won't get so bad after all.

[Chris&Amelia]

I heard that Kelly is a ex-swinger himself.

Well, here's hoping....

[socolais]

Part of me wants to agree with that - the other side of Walton's Mtn. But I think it just wouldn't sell the commercial space. Good night Johnboy.....

[JustAskJulie]

I think a large failure in our society...is making marriage work. It just doesn’t seem to. And I think that’s because the roles are set up to keep couples from being honest and open with each other. I think once you take those rules away, and you still want to be together, that’s a truer union.

This quote says a LOT. Based on this I would not be surprised if MK himself were a swinger.

[ncmd_couple]

Or at least, at heart a swinger.

[LFM2]

Originally Posted by JustAskJulie

This quote says a LOT. Based on this I would not be surprised if MK himself were a swinger.

I totally agree. At least he thinks like one.

[two4youinswva]

Originally Posted by JustAskJulie

This quote says a LOT. Based on this I would not be surprised if MK himself were a swinger.

I keyed in on that quote too, and felt very good when I saw it.


Great find Chicup. Thanks for sharing.