Pan Am - season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

The pilot (pun intended) episode of Pan Am airs tonight on ABC at 10 p.m. EDT.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I really enjoyed the premiere episode. I thought the casting was pretty solid but I was a bit surprised that more screen time was not devoted to Christina Ricci in the pilot; although I am sure other episodes will feature more content with her character. I think the series has a lot of potential, given the time period and the ability to travel to any number of locations. Some of the dialog was weak but the direction from Thomas Schlamme was assured. I particularly enjoyed the production design and Colette (Karine Vanasse) is easily my favorite stewardess of the series, at least of the pilot episode. Glad I tuned in for this show. - Walter.

 

[Citizen87645]

So somehow Maggie (Ricci) got a haircut on her cab ride to the Pan Am building, as well as hard shorter hair in the Cuba flashback.


Weird continuity gaffe...

 

[Nelson Au]

I agree, this premiere episode was very enjoyable. It was very slick and hit all the right notes for fun and escapist entertainment. Quite glamorous. This was one show I had been looking forward to seeing. It does not feel like a Mad Men knock off at all yet. Or like a Grey's Anatomy in a jet, yet. Pan Am obviously has a higher budget to play with then Mad Men. But that doesn't mean it will have the quality Mad Men does. So far so good. The cold war stuff was also a surprising aspect I saw in the promos. I was surprised Ricci wasn't featured more as well. But I suspect she'll see more screen time. It will be interesting to see how this series develops.

 

[mattCR]

I'm not sure what to make of it yet; it's better then I expected. But it also has some issues that either will work themselves out or not. I'm unsure about the spy subplot, and that will be tricky to write and be effective and blend into the storyline. If it's done well, fine.. but it could easily go very wrong.

But the film was better then I thought it would be.

 

[Citizen87645]

I had a question about the youth of the pilots, and it looks like they fudged on that a fair bit.


At the very least the pilots should have served in the Air Force and fought in a war. It would be silly if they didn't, as that would provide plentiful back story for the characters.

 

[Charles Smith]

Yes, the apparent youthfulness of the pilots was off-putting, not to mention their way-too-playful attitude regarding the flight. Pilots -- of all ages, even the youngest ones -- have always been way more serious about their craft (and their craft) than this episode would indicate.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I don't hate it, but I don't love it either, this show.

 

[Nelson Au]

There was a subplot that I forgot to mention. I was checking out the ABC app on the iPad. It worked great as it played Pan Am, I hadn't used this app before. What I forgot about was the Captain's girlfriend who was missing for the maiden flight of the Clipper, and her apparent spy plot. Seemed unnecessary, but perhaps this would help keep this series from becoming the Love Boat in the air as Captain Dean(?) might be trying to figure out what becomes of her. I was also noticing that the 707 interior set looked awfully wide compared to reality. No doubt necessary for filming. Unless the 707 is really that wide. A friend was also commenting that in 1963, they likely would not have a boarding ramp like that. More like the drive up stairs. But this likely makes filming much easier in the studio. But it fit the stylized look of the show.

 

[Sylvia*ST]

I expected Major time mistakes, especially re: smoking, but there were smokers, just not on the plane. In fact, one character was smoking outside the building--not a necessity for several decades after this time period. I generally liked the show far more than I expected to, probably in part due to Tommy Schlamme's experienced hand as director.

 

[Walter C]

Just saw the 2 episodes, and find the show to be a bit like Desperate Housewives. More of a dramedy, as it is lighter in tone, than the other 60's based show. And not nearly as many songs played, which can be a problem when it comes to DVDs (though not nearly as bad the couple 60's based shows that were made from the 80's - thanks for nothing, music industry).

Did like the reference to Metropolitans, although I doubt anyone called the team that, even back then. Also thought the songs played were actually fun to listen to, even if they were in French.


Well, I like it enough to keep watching, and hope it can hold its own against that show involving sunglasses and hips on hands.

 

[Bob Gu]

The flying planes look good, are they all CGI?

 

[Nelson Au]

I think you could bet on it that the 707 in flight is CGI.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I've only seen the pilot. Much better than the Playboy Club. It seemed a lot more accurate to the time period than that show did. I like the sisters and the French stew, but I haven't gotten much of a reading on the Ricci character yet. I had the pilot for a week and dreaded watching it, but I'll probably watch the second ep tonight and I look forward to it a bit more. Though, I have a lot of shows recording tonight. I wonder why I (and everyone else) have four Oscars today. I'd like to thank the producers, the director, my mom. . . .

 

[Citizen87645]

There's no other show competing for my attention on Sundays, and I'm enjoying the lightness of tone mixed with the glimpse at the social conditions. The darker espionage subplot so far is integrating pretty well.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

This show is so beautifully filmed. I'll watch it every Sunday night for the gorgeously filmed throwback to an idealized early 60s when flying was glamorous.

 

[Nelson Au]

Next week involves JFK in Berlin. Looks like a fun romp. I hope this series survives to next year when The Beatles first come to America and JFK (Idelwild) airport. The producers must be thinking that.

 

[Greg_S_H]

The girls read Pan Am clues on Jeopardy today and one was about the Beatles. Just another remind of how fantastic this cast looks.

 

[Citizen87645]

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Albert_M]

Finally watched the first 2 episodes. One, it looks great. Other than one particularly bad cgi plane in the clouds that would have looked better had it been an old school model plane... Acting is ok/fine and story - well potential is there. I'm giving time for exposition and set up, but there is enough that is good enough and potential that this could find a groove that works well. The Cold War angle is fun too.