Take Me To The Pilots '11: ABC's 'Pan Am'
Handsome production values and a solid cast lead to an intriguing pilot
Christina Ricci and Margot Robbie of 'Pan Am'
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[In case you've Forgotten, and as I will continue to mention each and every one of these posts that I do: This is *not* a review. Pilots change. Sometimes a lot. Often for the better. Sometimes for the worse. But they change. Actual reviews will be coming in September and perhaps October (and maybe midseason in some cases). This is, however, a brief gut reaction to not-for-air pilots.]
Show: "Pan Am" (ABC)
The Pitch:"It's 'Fly Girls' 1963."
Quick Response:Two seasons ago -- my, how time flies -- The CW aired a show about glamorous air hostesses on a glamorous airline with a cult following. The takeaway from the show was that the flight attendants on Virgin viewed themselves as the progressive, mobile, liberated women of the 21st Century, that serving drinks and being patted on the backside by drunk passengers were really just the price of having a job that opened up a world of possibilities which might otherwise have been barred. Due to the period setting and less overall suckage -- "Fly Girls" wasn't a good show -- a similar message gets delivered with more class and a richer subtext in ABC's "Pan Am," which probably ranks as my favorite drama pilot premiering this fall. "Pan Am" takes the sturdy period details that made "The Playboy Club" a not-unpleasant viewing experience for me and raises the ante with superior costume and production design, plus a quantity of special effects that I can only assume was daunting. Everything is highly stylized, almost making "Mad Men" look like a piece of documentary realism, but I dug the hyper-stylized approach, even if I compared "Pan Am" to "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" in my notes a couple times. While I was watching "Pan Am," I was impressed with the time-jumping dexterity of Jack Orman's script, which weaves in dozens of characters, countless historical details, and also works in an espionage undercurrent which, at least for one episode, didn't feel forced. Do I completely buy the empowerment message espoused throughout? Not exactly, but it also didn't make me cringe in the way "Playboy Club" occasionally did. Probably director Tommy Schlamme deserves a lot of credit for holding together the whole package. Schlamme's passionate involvement is a key element of my desire to keep watching "Pan Am" going forward. The cast doesn't hurt. Christina Ricci's being positioned as the big "Pan Am" star, but she's closer to a sturdy supporting player. I'm assuming she's been told things about where this character is going and that's why she took the role. For the pilot, Margot Robbie and Kelli Garner have bigger parts. I've always liked Kelli Garner and this is a much better vehicle for her than "My Generation" was last fall. And while I've never seen Robbie before, I'm prepared to like her quite a bit. The leading man swap between exiting Jonah Lotan and entering Mike Vogel won't make much difference either way.
Take Me To The Pilots '11: FOX's 'Alcatraz'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: CBS' 'Person of Interest'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: ABC's ' 'The River'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: ABC's 'Last Man Standing'
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Take Me To The Pilots '11: NBC's 'Up All Night'
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Take Me To The Pilots '11: ABC's 'Once Upon a Time'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: NBC's 'Awake'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: FOX's 'I Hate My Teenage Daughter'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: The CW's 'The Secret Circle'
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Take Me To The Pilots '11: ABC's 'Charlie's Angels'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: NBC's 'Grimm'
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Take Me To The Pilots '11: The CW's 'Hart of Dixie'
Take Me To The Pilots ' 11: ABC's 'Apartment 23'
Take Me To The Pilots '11: CBS' 'A Gifted Man'
All of last year's Take Me To The Pilots installments.
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August 13, 2011 at 2:26AM EST Reply to CommentI never thought this would be your favorite drama pilot this fall although a lot of the interesting stuff (Smash, Awake, The River) are slated for midseason. If including the midseason would Pan AM be part of your top 3?
dan Forg- Dunno. Categorizing things as "best" or "favorite" becomes a real problem when there's absolutely nothing that I'm TRULY excited about. Even things like "Awake" and "The River," I like a lot, but I don't love. It's a BAD crop of new shows...
August 13, 2011 at 1:08PM EST-Daniel
MoreTears Well, I too am surprised to see this crop of new shows characterized as "bad." Relative to what? What the better cable channels come up with every year? Obviously the network shows as a group pale by comparison. But relative to what the networks have been giving us for the past 10 years, all I can say -- without having seen any of the new shows -- is I am keen on at least checking out more new network shows than I have in a decade. I think last season I watched five network pilots. For the 2011-12 season, it will be about 15. However poor the executions of the show ideas MAY turn out to be, the networks are at least coming up with more shows the concepts of which appeal to me.
August 15, 2011 at 12:51PM ESTLiz
August 13, 2011 at 2:51PM EST Reply to CommentWow, someone else who remembers "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"!
*small voice* I like that movie. */small voice*
Jack
August 13, 2011 at 4:31PM EST Reply to CommentDan, I think this is one of those years where a critic and the viewers have a disconnect. One of those years was 1994 when ER premiered. One critic Eric Mink of the New York Daily News, "the great promise of the "E.R." pilot dissolves into the kind of routine, predictable, sloppily detailed medical drama we've seen many times before." So, critics and audiences don't always agree.
Come to this year, A lot of people are saying that the pilots for Smash, Good Christian Belles, The River, Up All Night, Awake, Apartment 23 are all great pilots.
Smash, in particular is getting a lot of love. Some people have said that's it's way way better than the Glee pilot. It's far more serious.
I actually think that there are some shows that could end up being big hits here I think. Smash is being given a really good lead in (The Voice), which will probably increase in the ratings next year thanks to The Super Bowl as a lead in. I think there's a chance for some real hits here. So, i think you're way off when you call this a bad crop of shows. It's a major improvement over last years crop.
cletus van damme I second that thought. While it's hard to judge when nothing has leaked except the Wonder Woman Pilot this network season has a lot more new shows with interesting and/or original premises and there a lot of critics who love shows like The River, Once upon a Time, Alacatraz, Terra Nova, Smash, PanAm or Awake. I also think that Smash has the best chances of becoming the biggest hit of this years new crop. Even better than Terra Novas.
August 13, 2011 at 5:12PM ESTSo I hope that Fienbergs statement turns out to be highly subjective. After the desaster that was last years drama development(that was a bad crop..even standouts like LoneStar and Chicago Code were nothing special compared to cable fare) the networks need some fresh blood. ;)
dan Cletus - Of *course* my statement will turn out to be highly subjective. Even if it's objectively true as well, I can only speak for me. I was just surrounded by the nation's leading TV critics for two years and you're right that there are definitely people who love "The River" and "Once Upon a Time" and "Smash" and "Awake." I didn't talk to a soul who LOVES "Alcatraz" or "Terra Nova," but I'm sure both shows will have defenders.
August 13, 2011 at 6:20PM ESTJack - Did you just craft a mythological 1994 in which "ER" wasn't one of the most discussed/raved-about pilots in years out of ONE random review? Because I assure you, critics and audiences both loved "ER." I'm also confused by your differentiating between "people" loving things and "critics" loving things, when most of the "people" who have seen all of the people you're referring to are "critics."
And "Smash" is fine and "Good Christian Belles" is dreadful. I'll get to 'em soon. I don't need to be told what "people" think of them, since I've seen 'em and have my own opinions. And those opinions are, indeed, *highly* subjective.
-Daniel
War Chief Shake Zula Wow, talk about a burn on Good Christian Belles. If true, it would sadden me to see Kristen Chenoweth being wasted on such a poor series...
August 18, 2011 at 4:44PM ESTJack
August 13, 2011 at 7:20PM EST Reply to CommentDan, I think my point was that while everyone praised the ER pilot, there were a few critics who felt that episodes that followed weren't as good. Some thought that Chicago Hope was better. I disagree with them.
When I mean by "people", I mean people like Joe Adalian who aren't critics but who are reporters that watch tv. Tim Allens (which I have no interest in seeing) show might be a hit because he appeals to Middle America. Charlies Angels will be canceled, I think. Because that looks dumb even to an average person. But, Pan Am, Revenge I could see being hits. Although I'm not sure if Revenge is sustainable.
You might think Good Christian Belles is dreadful, but Kim Potts over at AOL TV said, "Potts: Watch It
The campy fun of the early seasons of 'Desperate Housewives' + the old school soapiness of 'Dallas' = delicious viewing".
dan Jack -
August 13, 2011 at 7:42PM ESTYou can disagree with anybody you want. In the "ER"/"Chicago Hope" example, your point appears to be that you disagreed with a minority of critics. OK...
Joe Adalian is a TV industry reporter. If that's seriously what you're using for your illustration of "people," your statistical sample is screwy.
And Kim Potts may like GCB. That's fine. It's awful, but she can like it if she wants to. She's not accountable to me, nor am I accountable to her.
But the opinions in this blog aren't intended to represent "public opinion." I give my opinion and defend it as best I can. These "Take Me To The Pilots" posts and my eventual reviews aren't "These are shows that are going to be hits and these are shows that are going to be bombs." So throwing "Other random people love these shows" arguments at me won't carry weight. All it invites me to do is insult random colleagues, which I don't especially want to do. At least not today. If you catch me on a different day, I may feel more inclined to do so.
-Daniel
Jack
August 13, 2011 at 8:03PM EST Reply to CommentDan, you have the right to like or dislike something. That's your right.
dan Heck, Jack... It's not just my right, it's my livelihood.
August 13, 2011 at 8:09PM ESTDan
PopCandy LOVE this comment! And yeah, I don't know when I will fall in love with a broadcast drama again... It's been sucky for a few years now...
August 14, 2011 at 10:25PM ESTMBG
September 16, 2011 at 10:50AM EST Reply to CommentIf it's as bad as ER and West Wing, it ought to be pretty terrible. They obviously are doing a "Mad Woman" take-off (punny) on Mad Men, from which they got the idea. (The Baltimore gay-sex episode.)
Pan Am: Television for Women.