Pan Am [ABC - SPOILERS]

To air on the Beeb: http://www.digitalspy.ie/ustv/s165/pan-am/news/a332056/pan-am-to-air-on-bbc-two-in-the-uk.html

New US drama Pan Am will air on BBC Two in the UK.

The channel has picked up the UK rights to the series, which focuses on the employees of the Pan Am airline in the 1960s, Broadcast reports.

Pan Am, which will premiere in the US in September, features a cast including Christina Ricci, Mike Vogel and Kelli Garner.

The BBC's head of acquisition Sue Deeks claimed that the show is a "breath of fresh air".

She also described the series as a "colourful and stylish drama set in a captivating era that changed the world".

BBC Two's controller Janice Hadlow added: "With a love story at its heart and a great unfolding plot that hints at the danger and mystery to come, viewers will be in for an exciting but turbulent ride."

Sparty's Erin Cummings joins Pan Am: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/09/02/erin-cummings/

Passion, adventure and espionage… They experienced it all – and they experienced it at 30,000 feet. The style of the 1960s, the energy and excitement of the Jet Age and a drama full of sexy entanglements deliciously mesh in the highly anticipated new series, “Pan Am,” premiering SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 (10:01-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.


Welcome to the Jet Age. It’s 1963. WWII and Korea are history. A new kind of war, a Cold War, is underway. The world is poised on the brink of a cultural revolution, and everywhere change is in the air. In this modern world, air travel represents the height of luxury, and Pan Am is the biggest name in the business. The planes are sleek and glamorous, the pilots are rock stars, and the stewardesses are the most desirable women in the world. Not only are these flyboys and girls young and good looking, but to represent Pan Am they also have to be educated, cultured and refined. They’re trained to handle everything from in-air emergencies to unwanted advances – all without rumpling their pristine uniforms or mussing their hair. These pre-feminist women form a powerful sisterhood, as they enjoy the rare opportunity to travel outside the country -- something most women in this age can only aspire to – and one of the few career options that offers them empowerment and respect.


At Pan Am there’s Dean (Mike Vogel), a cocky, charismatic and ambitious new pilot – the first of a new breed not trained in war. A farm boy from a small rural town, Dean finds himself thrust into a leadership position at Pan Am far too young, but is eager to prove himself as the new face of the airline. On the sly, he’s dating Bridget (guest star Annabelle Wallis), a beauty with a mysterious past. Co-pilot Ted (Michael Mosley) comes from wealth and privilege, but his powerful family is a blessing and a curse, and he has his own dark secrets. A rebellious bohemian, Maggie (Christina Ricci) turns into a buttoned up professional for work in order to see the world, trying to balance her hunger for life with her undefined ambitions. Also on this crew is flirtatious French stewardess Colette (Karine Vanasse), who is the empathetic caretaker of the group. And finally there are the Sisters, the spirited Kate (Kelli Garner) and her beauty queen younger sister, Laura (Margot Robbie), a runaway bride who recently fled a life of domestic boredom to take to the skies.


In the premiere episode, “Pilot,” Dean takes on his first assignment since his promotion, piloting the Clipper Majestic on its inaugural New York to London flight. Bridget is supposed to be his lead stewardess, until she’s a no-show for the flight. Grounded purser Maggie is called in to fill in for her. On the same fateful flight, Kate adds another dimension to her work as she takes on her first assignment from U.S. intelligence. Her stress is compounded when she discovers that newly minted stewardess, Laura, her sister, is also working the same flight.
“Pan Am” stars Christina Ricci (“Penelope”) as Maggie, Margot Robbie (“Neighbours”) as Laura, Michael Mosley (“Justified”) as Ted, Mike Vogel (“The Help,” “Blue Valentine”) as Dean, Karine Vanasse (“Polytechnique”) as Colette, and Kelli Garner (“Going the Distance”) as Kate.


Guest starring are David Harbour as Sabel/Anderson, Jeremy Davidson as Handsome Stranger/Richard, Annabelle Wallis as Bridget Pierce, Will Chase as John, Veanne Cox as Miss Havemeyer, C.J. Wilson as Howard, Kate Jennings Grant as Judith and Hope Allen as Evelyn.
Series creator Jack Orman (“ER,” “Men of a Certain Age,”), Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing,” “Parenthood,” “Mr. Sunshine”) and Nancy Hult Ganis (“Akeelah and the Bee”) are executive producers. Orman also wrote the pilot, with Schlamme directing. “Pan Am” is produced by Jack Orman Productions, Out of the Blue Entertainment and Shoe Money Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Know what?...i'm giving this 5/5 just for the AMAZING production values alone!, it looked stunning, utterly stunning!

The production vales are HUGE, jesus....movie levels, huge sets, very high end CGI, costumes, period 60's, 100's of extras, vintage cars galore. It looked utterly superb, they thre a TON of money at it and you see it onscreen.

But lets talk characters and script, it was fairly cheesy stuff at first, in fact i kinda thought...hey this is a bit naff , but by the second half it really picked up. It's interesting they gone with spies! :eek: - yeah, Pan Am stewardesses were used as spies in the 60's...the Cold War and everything, so that angle was the most interesting part.

I think people might say Pan am is all style over stubstance....and i get that, in part i agree, there wasn't anything real meaty in the characters and script. What sells it is the production values and look, however i very much doubt they'll be able to maintain these levels of quality over the course of a season with a standard per episode budget.

The girls look great, it's very 60's....it's a bit cheesy, it's not exactly edgy or raw, but based on the pilot i'll definately see ep. 2 and see where they are taking this show.

It won't be for everyone but i'd recomend this JUST for the visual eye candy alone

Ken Tucker sums my thoughts uo better, give him a read: http://watching-tv.ew.com/2011/09/25/pan-am-christina-ricci/

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I watched it this morning and imagine my surprise to see Donna from Neighbours in one of the lead roles!!! I loved her in Neighbours and thought she could do better than an aussie soap but I never expected her to be a lead on a massive show like this so soon after leaving. Good for her!

Anyway, I enjoyed it, there was a lot going on in the pilot but I guess that's always the case, trying to set it all up and introduce everyone and all that.

It looks so expensive to make, I wonder will they be able to keep up the production values for a whole season?

Not a chance!....the CGI alone would cost a fortune, never minds the sets and cars etc.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Well I'd imagine there'll be quite a few episodes where we don't see them anywhere other than in the plane set where all they need is a few clouds outside the window every now and then.

They've set the bar sooo high, production wise, i think people would notice a drop in budget. It's gonna happen.

Looking forward to tonights ep.!, hope the visual quality keeps up!

Casting news, FNL alum Smash to guest star on PA: http://www.tvline.com/2011/10/pan-am-gaius-charles/

As noted he's been very low profile so nice to see him again, hopefully a well written racism plot.

Ep. 4 is out....which may just end up being the final ever ep. we'll see!!, if the blurb is to be belived, if the ratings don't improve with this ep. it will be axed very shortly.....sad panda!

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

I liked the latest episode. It was interesting to see them casually flitting around the Orient, which would still be pretty exotic today.

Thought it was a b1tchy move for Laura to move out on Kate without telling her, presumably sticking her with a higher rent, etc.

The landing into Hong Kong was a close call and if I'm remembering my history correctly, Pan Am are due a bad crash on domestic soil soon. So, we'll see!

You watched that ep. pretty quickly Fouxy! - yer a fan then i take it?
I thought ep. 4 was OK, no way as good as last week....but we did get some character development for Ted, him being a naval test pilot, crashing his plane, wanting to be an Astronaut etc.

Lots of sibling rivalry between Kate and Laurs...agree Laura moving out was a petty move! :mad: , again...not even a note :rolleyes:
You think Laura and Ted will get it on at some stage?...they seem kinda drawn to each other, or will they do the usual move of him cheating on her and being a douche?

Can't stand Maggie! :mad: - don't like her attitude and i loathe Rici!, hate her as an actress, she's weird looking! :eek: like a troll or something.
At least in this ep. they explained why the youngest pilot in history got his wings, everyone on forums/reviews have noted how there would be NO WAY you'd have a pilot that young, but they did go some way to explaining that.

Alot more CGI in this ep. pretty high quality as welll...the Hong Kong approach was hairy stuff!

Overall it was OK, not a patch on last week....but, will this ep. help the ratings and avoid the axe? :eek: - i think not!

Watched this, the production is good and must be very expensive.
The premise of the show is not very good imho.

I think a ryanair television soap/show would be far more interesting, with low paid hostesses having paid their own training and uniforms, calenders, visits to 20 countries with airports in the middle of nowhere, Brian Dowling working for MI6, picking people out to weigh their luggage, passengers paying less than a bus fare