'Pan Am' on ABC HD - Page 2

Wasn't the MI-5 guy smoking on the plane?

If I thought like that I would have missed out on Friday Night Lights. It never got good ratings.

Not only was he smoking, but the "spydess" (Nancy?) picked up an ashtray and held it for him while he flicked ash into it.

And IIRC, he was smoking when she walked into the hotel room near the end too.

Anyone expecting Mad Men like details was surely disappointed by the pilot. Instead of looking like a show that was actually filmed in the 60s and broadcast in 2011, it looked like a show that was trying to look like it was made it the 60s but actually made in 2011. The writing was horrible, the attention to period detail was laughable, and the sanitization of the time period was off-putting. It took me about 10 minutes to realize what was wrong with the show; I wasn't sure, at first, and I puzzled my puzzler, but then it hit me, no one was smoking. I hate smoking, but a show set in the 60s, to look authentic, has to have it, and sexism, and drinking. The dialogue wasn't even authentic. It was a Happy Days-style version of the 60s (yes, I know Happy Days was set in the 50s, but this show had the same level of authenticity as the later years of Happy Days). I so wanted to like this show, especially with Mad Men delayed, but I could only make it half way through before I bailed. Spies! Really? With ABC, who knows what will become of this show. Great shows like The Unusuals and (for every episode except the finale) Life on Mars get canceled after one year, at most, but dreck like Castle (so, have they made him an official cop yet, or is he still working on that book 3 years later, lol) and Desparate Housewives run seemingly forever; based on that track record, Pan Am is sure to be around for a long, long time. Here's one guy who won't be watching.

I don't think it's fair to compare it to Mad Men (or any other 60's based show). Clearly it has a different vision... a simpler outlook of the period. More towards memories of the time (what they represent such as John Kennedy's hope versus his actions) than actually living them. As a teenager of the period I can relate to several visions and to a large degree each has its own basis in reality. The shows are apples and oranges where one doesn't make the other good or bad. They are simply different.

ABC will repeat the pilot of "Pan Am" Friday at 9PM ET/PT: http://tvlistings.nytimes.com/tv/pan...495?popup=true

So now every TV show set in the 1960s must get compared to Mad Men? Give me a break. And as for the lack of sexism, alcoholism, darkness, dourness and the like, that's fine with me, since Mad Men in no way represents the only view of the 1960s that people are allowed to have.

I thought the first episode of Pan Am was a good example of light drama done right -- a story with characters that kept me engaged, great production values, and a wonderful nostalgia factor. Hopefully the crew can keep things going and give people who liked the first episode a reason to stay tuned.

Is that really your criteria for quality? Because I don't think shows made in the 60's had what you are looking for, either. Unless Gilligan's Island, The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, Perry Mason, The Doris Day Show, Batman, Family Affair, Julia, Daktari, Mission Impossible, and Marcus Welby had that authentic unsanitized 60's edge you are missing.

I thought the show represented an almost dreamlike surrealistic setting that was supposed to be "better than the real thing". Every detail, from the wedding scene, to the company sending a helicopter to carry a stewardess to work, and the brand new plane, was just a nostalgic fantasy explosion. It only worked because they carried that level of ultra perfection through every shot of every scene. Illicit affairs and stewardesses that are spies just adds fantasy drama to the fantasy setting. The whole show is one big escape from reality.

I was alive when this was supposed to have taken place and in 1959 actually flew from Idlewild to SFO on a United DC7-C Super Mainliner. With the exception of smoking I didn't see anything particularly jarring about the way this show depicted the era--all the cars were period accurate, the DC-6 in Cuba was suitably tatty, a pack of cigarets and a pack of gum really did cost about 68 cents.

Contrary to the depiction of the era on Mad Men, this really was an optimistic age--the economy was flourishing, the two biggest corporations in the world were GM and RCA respectively, people had job security because Red China was an enemy and long distance rates to India were outrageous and Japanese products were considered cheap junk (which at the time they mostly were). We had an active space program and it still didn't require an environmental impact report to improve a road or build a needed power plant (you actually saw billboards along the highway encouraging people to buy new kinds of appliances without regard to energy savings). Gas and electric bills were negligible, fuel economy didn't sell cars and nobody cared about crash test results when they bought a car.

...a gallon of gas was about 25¢, the good old days.

I'm still miffed at ABC over "Men in Trees". I vowed to not watch any more ABC programs until they had a season or two under their belt. I did watch Pan Am and then realized later it was on ABC, now I'm afraid to watch it anymore, because if I get interested in it, no telling what they'll do to booby-trap it.

"Eli Stone" was another show ABC canned that I really enjoyed.

I thought the show represented an almost dreamlike surrealistic setting that was supposed to be "better than the real thing". Every detail, from the wedding scene, to the company sending a helicopter to carry a stewardess to work, and the brand new plane, was just a nostalgic fantasy explosion. It only worked because they carried that level of ultra perfection through every shot of every scene. Illicit affairs and stewardesses that are spies just adds fantasy drama to the fantasy setting. The whole show is one big escape from reality.

Pretty good summation.

I fell asleep half way though. I'll try to watch the rest tonight, but so far......

For those who are interested, here's an interesting 'behind the scenes' on the making of Pan-Am, and the various visual effects: http://vimeo.com/25483317.

Well, "Mad Men" it isn't and being a broadcast network program it can't be anyway. But I enjoyed the pilot mainly because I like Kelli Garner's work and though Christina Ricci got the top billing, Garner seems to be more the main character. She has good comedic timing and that is necessary for this show since it doesn't take itself seriously (good in my opinion).

There is another era of Pan Am more interesting an that is when they pioneered transatlantic flights in the 1930s with those big clipper airliners. That would probably be too droll for the general public though.

Well it could be an alternate universe Pan Am flying transatlantic dirigibles, with Nazi spies and archaeologist/adventurers wearing fedoras. I'd watch that.

Strange that that's exactly what I imagined when I read Brian's post.

I'd watch it also.

Count me in. That's a show I'd watch the heck out of.

Is it wrong to have a crush on every one of those girls?

Thanks for the link.
I know the pilot/first episode gets a big budget, but I'm amazed they can afford this for a TV production.

Those 60's gals had the charm...


That's already been done... Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

Not necessarily an alternate universe, because Pan Am began in 1927 and was using flying boats in 1931. That decade is quite a romantic one for aviation. There's probably plenty of material for a series based on what really happened and yes you'd still about everything but the dirigibles. Check out the Clipper routes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_American_World_Airways

I cant believe the spaceios seats on that new plane....even in economy....compared to present space & seats design.

Also what types of enginies were on those plane?

Liked the 1st episode so far. Wife also gave a thums-up....Timer stays on for the moment.

I really enjoy the visual design and overall feel of the pilot, and I hope it continues through the series. A far cry from the detailed naturalism of Mad Men, Pan Am recalls for me the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the 1950s, or the Rock Hudson-Doris Day comedies, with a little North-by-Northwest espionage thrown in for suspense. (Not that it's as good as any of those, but I think that's where the style comes from.) Even the score, overly orchestrated and emotive, recalls that earlier time and style. Seeing it in a tv series looks to me really fresh and a pleasant departure from a lot of what's in vogue right now.

If the writers can find any way at all to tell stories -- which I'm not convinced they can -- this series might do well.

Here's a link from Wikipedia, with some tech specs. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped...iki/Boeing_707

Agree with you. The "Oh so trendy" Mad Men apparently has become the only acceptable 60s icon.

My wife loved this show. I can't say I'm a big fan but I do remember a time when the stewardi were mostly hotties.

I'm going to give it a season pass for now. Nice camera work and good looking people, the teenager even likes it and it seems pretty kid friendly

Thanks