Coming this fall: ABC's "Pan Am" -- "Mad Men" in the skies?

[Doctor Strange]

I thought the first ten minutes was great, really capturing the excitement and glamour of the time and introducing the setting and cast effectivley, but then it faltered in its overdone flashback backstories for the characters. And it clearly staked its claim to be an old-fashioned, middlebrow adventure/romance show, not an angsty drama like Mad Men... not that there's anything wrong with that. At least the very attractive cast made it darn easy to watch... But I thought it odd that the show's big star and initially most interesting character - Christina Ricci's beatnik - had the least screen time. What's with that?

Anyway, it was watchable - which is alot more than I can say for The Playboy Club!

 

[dhermann1]

I have to admit I was bouncing back and forth between channels, (baseball, you know!), but I got a fair idea of what was going on. I could mention lots of very tiny quibbles about period authenticity. I was in my middle teens during this period, so I have very clear and specific recollections about things. The one thing that continues to irritate me about so many of these shows is the mens haircuts! Before the Beatles men wore NO fringe at the back. EVERY man had the old clippers look in the back and on the sides. The Roger Maris look. Some may have had brush cuts, others had Princetons. Look at old images of NASA during the Mercury and Gemini programs.
It was cool that they included a DC-6 in the story. I was lucky enough to catch a ride in a Navy C-54 in 1968 while stationed in Hawaii. We flew from Oahu to the Big Island. (Return trip was in a C-47, and we did long slow circles over Kilauea Crater for an hour. But that's another story.)
I like the in cabin atmosphere they create. My first airplaine flight ever was on an Alitalia DC-8, very close to the Boeing 707 in the story. So the flying part of the show is much fun for me. Plot seems pretty dopey. We'll see how it evolves.

 

[C-dot]

I could mention lots of very tiny quibbles about period authenticity.

Oh sure, but the average viewer will think it is authentic. I'm going to keep watching, but I really hope they cut down on the background music - not the jazz songs, the original score. It reminded me a lot of a Disney movie, it was very distracting.

 

[ButteMT61]

I liked the French gal and Ricci. The men - all of them - annoyed the hell outta me. Dunno, seems like a replacement for Desperate Housewives. Loved the flight scenes, and the women dressed period.
Don't think it's a keeper for me. Too much like a soap, with more drama than substance, but I expected that.
Love the look of it all - but it's almost too perfect at times. I'd say it's a 6+, and I'm in a good mood...

 

[Widebrim]

My sister, who was in high school in 1963, and went on to be a TWA stewardess, thought that the production company got the "look" of that time down pretty well. (I think that too many men on the show were wearing hats, though.) As Butte wrote, it looked a bit too perfect at times; how about showing a passenger with mismatching colors, or someone wearing an out of date suit? (Ok, one stewardess had a run in her stocking...) The espionage subplot, although based somewhat on what some stews were doing in those Cold War days, will likely be construed as contrived by those unacquainted with history. As was posted by another Lounger, the flash backs kind of interfered with the plot, and as Doctor Strange said, Ricci had little screen time, considering that she is supposed to be the "star" of the show. I'll watch it next week, though, and see how it develops.

 

[Widebrim]

I have to admit I was bouncing back and forth between channels, (baseball, you know!), but I got a fair idea of what was going on. I could mention lots of very tiny quibbles about period authenticity. I was in my middle teens during this period, so I have very clear and specific recollections about things. The one thing that continues to irritate me about so many of these shows is the mens haircuts! Before the Beatles men wore NO fringe at the back. EVERY man had the old clippers look in the back and on the sides. The Roger Maris look. Some may have had brush cuts, others had Princetons. Look at old images of NASA during the Mercury and Gemini programs.

Yes, especially considering that the pilots were grown men, not teens. The captain especially needed a trim in the back, and he and another actor needed to raise up their sideburns as well. About the only American males who had anything approaching longer hair in 1963 were Bikers, Beatniks and Surfers.

 

[MissLaurieMarie]

Even though I didn't watch the premiere, I found this article really interesting: Real Pan Am flight attendants fact-check 'Pan Am'

 

[C-dot]

As Butte wrote, it looked a bit too perfect at times; how about showing a passenger with mismatching colors, or someone wearing an out of date suit? (Ok, one stewardess had a run in her stocking...)

But they didn't show it

I thought it looked a bit too perfect a whole lot of the time! All the men in the show were extremely young, extremely clean cut and extremely handsome. You can say the same for Mad Men, sure, but they have Freddie Rumson.

One other thing I found weird was Christina Ricci's hair. From the time we saw her in the Village to the time she got to the helicopter, she had long hair... Then, when she appeared in uniform, she had a short bob. It wasn't a wig, and she wasn't pinning it up. Continuity issue, maybe?

Even though I didn't watch the premiere, I found this article really interesting: Real Pan Am flight attendants fact-check 'Pan Am'

Thanks for that! I wasn't expecting the only issue to be with hair length and uniform colour

 

[Doctor Strange]

I read in one review somewhere this morning that there were reshoots on the pilot, and they hoped nobody would notice that Ricci had different hairstyles in adjacent sequences.

I guess they didn't plan on you, C-dot!

 

[C-dot]

I read in one review somewhere this morning that there were reshoots on the pilot, and they hoped nobody would notice that Ricci had different hairstyles in adjacent sequences.

I guess they didn't plan on you, C-dot!

I knew it! Nothing escapes my beady eye!

 

[Widebrim]

The article posted above also mentions the fact that the pilots on the show were too young-looking, and that senior pilots (50+) would bid on overseas flights.

 

[ButteMT61]

The article posted above also mentions the fact that the pilots on the show were too young-looking, and that senior pilots (50+) would bid on overseas flights.

Oh sorry, men in their 50's won't cut it for this soap opera in the sky! Stuff like this is even off limits to well-aging men, forget the women. Don't think it has legs myself, which is too bad as the premise had potential.

 

[dhermann1]

That's right, now you mention it. Their pilots would ALL have been experienced WW II bomber pilots, making them about 45 years old on average I would guess.

 

[Gene]

That's right, now you mention it. Their pilots would ALL have been experienced WW II bomber pilots, making them about 45 years old on average I would guess.

You are correct sir, perhaps even younger.

 

[Widebrim]

Oh sorry, men in their 50's won't cut it for this soap opera in the sky! Stuff like this is even off limits to well-aging men, forget the women. Don't think it has legs myself, which is too bad as the premise had potential.

Too true, regarding the attitude towards older men. "Aged" folk, once esteemed in Western culture, have now long been considered of little use, especially as "selling" points...

 

[ButteMT61]

Too true, regarding the attitude towards older men. "Aged" folk, once esteemed in Western culture, have now long been considered of little use, especially as "selling" points...

Oh to the contrary! They sell:
Lipitor
Cialis
Viagra
AARP memberships
Scooters...

You get the picture. We're all but dead now (I hit 50 this year) and I can't stand how they make my age group look so feeble. No wonder youngsters treat us like we're already dead.

 

[Widebrim]

Oh to the contrary! They sell:
Lipitor
Cialis
Viagra
AARP memberships
Scooters...

You get the picture. We're all but dead now (I hit 50 this year) and I can't stand how they make my age group look so feeble. No wonder youngsters treat us like we're already dead.

Precisely...This maltreatment of older folk when it comes to advertising became endemic after WWII. Look at magazines, for example, before the war, and you'll see older gents being used regularly for hat, suit, and neckties advertisements, as well as in ads for fountain pens, automobiles, and so on. After the war, a shift begins which becomes very apparent by the late 1960s. Even early TV had many programs which featured over-40 lead characters, but today we have...PAN AM.

 

[John in Covina]

Too true, regarding the attitude towards older men. "Aged" folk, once esteemed in Western culture, have now long been considered of little use, especially as "selling" points...

I estimate at the present manipulation of public values we are between 50 and 75 years from the Logan's Run style society here in the US. Earlier in Europe.

 

[MrBern]

That's right, now you mention it. Their pilots would ALL have been experienced WW II bomber pilots, making them about 45 years old on average I would guess.

You know, I thought the same thing. But then I jsut gave it up to the consideration that they were probably going for the same aircrew look that DeCaprio had in CATCHMEIFYOUCAN. And that was based on a true story or a very young man masquerading as a pilot....

 

[MrBern]

FedoraLounger in PAN AM pilot episode

Incidentally, did anyone notice the seated gentleman drinking & smoking at the WeddingParty scene?
He's a member of this forum and a diehard 60s enthusiast.