LAX

This show had a lot to offer the television viewer!! I found this series to be effervescent and entertaining along those lines... Stars like Heather Locklear, Blair Underwood and Paul Leyden made this show on my preferred list during the year that it was on NBC at 10/9c on Monday nights!! Ever since 9/11, security at major airports has been of great interest to the American people... Decorum must be implemented with strict policies about what is allowable and what is not allowable!! Shows have to be humorous yet cover a broad base of social and political issues without being controversial!! LAX did just that and accomplished the task of providing innocuous entertainment to the television viewer in a socially acceptable manner!! I like LAX and I thought the acting was extremely good!! I could see where it would be canceled after a few years, but not after just one!! I thought this television show was much better than that!!

As a pilot, I find this show to be not only ridiculous, but also insulting. I was quite skeptical when I saw the promos for this show, expecting it to be grossly inaccurate and/or downright silly. My skepticism was well founded. Absolutely nothing about this show has the slightest shred of realism.

I wasn't expecting a documentary but come on, they could have at least indulged us pilots a little. At least refer to the runways correctly. They mentioned 10, 19, and 22 (none of which exist at the real LAX by the way), and they are calling them "Runway Ten," "Runway Nineteen," and "Runway Twenty-Two." Any airport personnel and any pilot would say, "Runway One-Zero," "Runway One-Nine (or one-niner if you want to be really picky), and "Runway Two-Two."

All we see in LAX is Heather Locklear and Blair Underwood bickering like schoolchildren at the elementary school playground. "I run the airport!" "No, I run the airport!" "No, I run the airport!" "I'm more important than you!" "No, I'm more important!" Absurd.

But I guess that this show has as much to do with airports and airplanes as shows like "Silk Stalkings" and "CSI" have to do with crime and detectives. All the audience wants to see is the beautiful people running around in their ultra-stylish clothing, trying to act all witty and important. This show is simply the latest installment of mindless prime-time idiotic crap.

Earlier, a pilot suggested LAX was flawed by a lack of technical accuracy. ER has been a runaway hit for a decade or more, and isn't a particularly accurate portrayal of emergency medicine. They do attempt a certain level of accuracy, but my friends who work in hospitals find it hilarious. I'm also a pilot, while my niece is a flight attendant. We don't speak the same language. Pilots and controllers use one set of terms, airlines another, and airport operations a third. "Niner", "Air Force One" and other terms were invented in response to incidents where pilots and controllers miscommunicated. An Emergency Room deals with hundreds of people per day from every walk of life. An airport deals with hundreds of thousands of people per day, from every nation in the world. LAX had a lot more potential than ER. That being said, it was generally wasted. Thanks to TiVo, I saw a few episodes - and a few of the plot lines I knew to have been actual incidents.

I think the focus on the main actors and not the plot lines was probably the undoing of the show. In reality, the techical life of a pilot is *supposed* to be boring. It only gets exciting when someone makes a mistake. Nearly all the interesting stories are not about the aircrews, but about the passengers. Long flights and free liquor lead to interesting stories. Alcohol is amplified by altitude, as are most medical conditions. Add confined space and being disconnected from the outside world and you get "Cheers", "ER", "Melrose Place", "Big Brother" and a bit of "Survivor" all in one. I think there is no better proof than the fact that "LAX" is in the trash bin, while the documentary series "Airport" is a hit (for cable, anyway). As for my comrade, the days of pilots being romantic heroes died in the seventies. Astronauts are boring to most people - our lives are TOO technical and detail oriented. They also want the feeling that nothing will happen, ever, when they board the aircraft. We haven't been interesting since Roger, Over, and Unger were in the cockpit. So let Frank Abignale get the glory, and the union the drama. I still get a little rush when the wheels leave the ground, and the sim keeps me humble enough to feel a small sense of satisfaction when they are all back on the ground again. As the prayer goes, let me demonstrate my superior judgment rather than my superior skills. Besides, even the interesting stories make us look bad. How many pilots does it take to screw in a light bulb?

I too am a pilot and I can attest that messinam's comments regarding the reality of the show are correct. The real problem lies within the "nature of the beast" and unfortunately the only exciting thing at an airport is a bomb threat. Other than that, it's just a bunch of planes taking off and landing and the mundane life of the ticketing staff, pilots and ground crew and the excitement in their lives would barely fill a teaspoon. SO .. NBC has created a series of shows that lie about how exciting the airport life really is. My take: If you want to watch something realistic about airports you should watch "Airline" on A&E. It's filmed at multiple airports around the US and focuses on Southwest Airlines. Of course, even this show is at the hands of editors so don't believe EVERY word they say.

Airport dramas always involve elements of joy, tragedy, and pathos by portraying families reunited, lost luggage and drunken businessmen. LAX enters the foray in entering the 21st century with two strikes against it. Fear and loathing in a giant facility run by pseudo-government types. Look, as much as I want to like this series, it's not really cutting it in story nor pace. It tries to be the dramatization of the more watchable AIRPORT on the Wings Channel or the update of Arthur Hailey's story. Maybe they should do what Jack Webb did when he made DRAGNET and solicit ideas from the public or how about include medics/EMTs and an airport chaplain as additional character development. You might as give the show last rites the way it's going.