Pan Am

For those wanting to bathe in the innocence of the era, the examining of the stereotypes and issues typical of the day, wrapped in a delightful coating of lovely sets, beautiful and convincing actors, and believable scripting, then this is your show.

For those wanting serious period drama and historical accuracy to the nth minutia, then disappointment awaits. (As many reviews reveal) Some TV shows just make you want to puke or punch the screen. Terra Nova is a prime example at the moment. But I find myself quite ensconced by Pan Am. Not once do I find myself saying "oh, that can't be real", or "yeah right!".

Pan Am's believability is determined by the joy shown for their parts by the actors performances. There aren't many shows which the focus is largely on the woman, and their intelligence and courage in what was very much a man's world.

The sets are truly amazing - they actually built a full-size replica Boeing 707 for this show! In summary - if you have fond memories of Pan Am and the era it represented, or just enjoy well-made television, then I think you will find this show delivers.

Okay - elephants in the room. Dean would never have been a captain at his age and experience level - the union would have gone to war over it. Second baby elephant 'cause she's so tiny - Maggie would never have been a stewardess let alone a purser because she's too short to reach the overhead baggage bins. And she'd only been with Pan Am for 2 years. BUT! This is TV, so what the heck!!

It was fun! As a former pilot I saw aviation goofs, and was proud of myself for how much I remembered and then got back to enjoying the show. I thought the short field take-off in Haiti was brilliant. And it is most certainly a "thing".

Ted was my favorite, most well-rounded character. Kate grew the most. Maggie the most consistent.

I was glad they brought in a genuine cranky "dirty old man" captain, AND a Sky God! That was essential to the story - and they were like that!!! You had to love them! Or loved to hate them. And they DID tell war stories about their flying days in the war. The one's I heard were riotous and comical and if put into a book, no on would believe it - including almost taking out the Taj Mahal one foggy morning.

Yep. THOSE were the days, my friend!! We thought they'd never end.

SO, forgive the hiccups in the series and enjoy it for what it is: Really good, fun entertainment!!

Good old fashioned "escapist fun". That was ABC's forte back in the day. "Fantasy Island", "Love Boat"...shows like this took you away from your standard drama show. And in some ways "Pan Am" does just that.

No, there's no schlocky comedy or anything along those lines, but you go back to a day and age where flying was glamorous, and there was an air of 'excitement' in faraway places. I'm, just a little too young to recall travel like we see on the show, having been born in 1961... My first flight wasn't until the late 60's and by then jet travel was almost the norm than the exception...and then deregulation came along and flying was more a chore than an event to look forward to.

I agree with another poster who thinks the flight crew is a little young. The "jet boys" tended to be a little older. I recall when the pilots of the planes I flew were all old WWII pilots, all in their late 50's or so when I flew through the 1970's...

Aside from THAT, I have very little to grouse about.

Should this show have really great legs and last a while, it'll be interesting to see where we go as Pan Am's fortunes were at their peak in the 60's, but the decline began as the 70's arrived.

Good show. Good Job, ABC!

As a retired international pilot at Trans World Airlines I was very disappointed in the casting of a cockpit crew which exhibited very unprofessional behavior on the flight deck and acted like silly fraternity boys. In the 1960's the pilot in command of an international flight was almost certainly a World War II veteran, often a chain smoker and a no nonsense type. John Wayne in the High and the Mighty looked much more like the old Captains.

In the Pan Am show the Captain made all the radio communications while flying the aircraft- a duty which the First Officer or the non flying pilot traditionally does. During takeoff all attention is given to the instruments and the aircraft. Pilots do not exchange gleeful looks with each other at such critical moments. They also do not ask Air Traffic Control or Gander Oceanic to find out from their company where their missing purser is. They would be laughed out of the sky.

No airline pilot would leave a layover hotel to look for his girlfriend in uniform. Pretty amateurish.

I did enjoy the footage of the great vintage aircraft. The rest was mindless soap opera material.

Having flown Pan Am dozens of times from the late 1960's to the mid-1980's, I found the visuals of the show to be right on the mark. Yes, the stewardesses walked gracefully in formation through the airport terminal and all heads turned. Their uniforms, hair and posture were perfect. They were worshiped as goddesses by young men and idolized and envied by young women. Pan Am does a terrific job of portraying this image accurately. The first episode (pilot) attempts to set the table for the following episodes by introducing the viewer to the main characters - Maggie, Collette, Laura, Kate and the mysterious Bridgette. I think that is all the first episode needed to do. The first episode left enough unsaid to make this viewer tune in next week.