ABC’s turn at evoking the feel of Mad Men aired last night, Pan Am, starring Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robbie, and Karine Vanasse, is firmly placing itself in that nostalgic vision of American history of the late 50′s early 60′s, a vision laid out for them by the cable darling about men who drink at work, and strong women who put themselves through the gauntlet to carve out their place in the working world.
The moment where the stewardesses were checked to make sure they were wearing their girdles gave me the distinct feeling that some producer explicitly decided to make a show focusing on the secretaries of Mad Men, but in the sky.
These secretaries of the sky have their own stories to tell, with the pretty Life magazine cover girl having just bailed on her fiance at the alter, her sister jumping into the spy game as a replacement for the previous Pan Am Bond girl, and the one with the accent finding out her guy is a married man.
Christina Ricci was unfortunately under-featured in the pilot episode with the focus being put on the two sisters, and a little on the one with the accent. Disappointing for those of us who’ve been in love with Ricci since we were kids, but understandable given the star potential of the two sisters.
The attempt to convey the outdated feeling people supposedly had regarding the majesty of commercial flight came off as quite heavy handed in every scene that attempted it, and in fact was less believable than the international stewardess of mystery spy sub plot.
Pan Am certainly looks to be one of the better shows to come out of the over the air networks in recent seasons, but it doesn’t look to be must watch television just yet, though I’d rather a hundred decent Pan Ams than the reality & procedural fest we’ve had to endure throughout this past decade.
