Pan Am -- The TV Show

Lance F said:
My wife started with Delta Jan 1970 as a stewardess..."just for a couple of years to do some traveling". Hah! Today she's in Zurich on a trip and in 10 days we're going to non-rev to Paris (no non rev dress code on Delta anymore) to have some fun. There have been tremendous changes in the industry since the jetage started. None more than the stewardess/FA position. It's been interesting to watch and has helped define our lifestyle in a good way.

AFAIK Sue is not acting as a CIA courier.

Sue watched the show and enjoyed it. There are incorrect details for sure, but for fun it's not bad.
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Try showing up in jeans or a tshirt and they wont seat you in business class.

But fun, isn't it? The new business class seats are very nice! They go totally flat.
 
And it's SPACE AVAILABLE. I have "slept" on the floor at Hethrow when a flight was full. I have sat all day at many gates just waiting for the next one and hoping.

Non rev travel even with Sue's great seniority is risky. Flights to anywhere you'd want to go are very full these days. If an airline employee offers you a buddy pass, you might question their friendship.
 
bluee said:
Try showing up in jeans or a tshirt and they wont seat you in business class.

But fun, isn't it? The new business class seats are very nice! They go totally flat.
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Been in Business Elite many times in jeans. No problem. Really there's no dress code. But I sure remember the days men non revs had to wear ties. We stood out in the gatehouse going to a resort destination like complete idiots.
 
I agree that the show could take the "chick flick" route and it had a lot of noticeable CGI. Pretty entertaining though.
 
Lance F said:
Been in Business Elite many times in jeans. No problem. Really there's no dress code. But I sure remember the days men non revs had to wear ties. We stood out in the gatehouse going to a resort destination like complete idiots.
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But international? Last time I checked their dress rules, they said no jeans in business class. Last year I wore a plain black tshirt with a cardigan sweater, and nice pants. The gate agent objected to the tshirt. I changed sweaters to completely cover it. Maybe it depends on the gate agents.
 
steingar said:
I made it halfway through the first episode before I stopped it, erased it, and cancelled taping the series. I honestly didn't see the point.
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Every first episode of every new series is difficult to watch, as they introduce characters that none of us know...yet.

Even Mad Men, a show with amazing writing and acting, sucked for the first few episodes. In retrospect, it probably didn't suck as much as I remember, I just didn't know who anyone was, or why they were acting the way they were acting. In that case, I stuck with it because I enjoyed "fact-checking" the era against my memories.

I'm prepared to give Pan Am the benefit of the doubt, for a few episodes, simply because I love the premise, and, again, it's fun to check them against my recollections of the era.
 
Well thinking about it some more maybe I haven't worn jeans internationally. From habit I still try to dress nicely and I'm too old to change that. However I do not miss the coats & ties!
 
Everskyward said:
Interesting. I was hoping to settle down this afternoon and watch it. What difference does it make where I am?
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Because they can't go after you for violating US copyright laws if you're not in the US? And they may have agreements overseas where somebody is the "sole source" for the content in that nation.
 
Lance F said:
Well thinking about it some more maybe I haven't worn jeans internationally. From habit I still try to dress nicely and I'm too old to change that. However I do not miss the coats & ties!
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I always dress nicely too, because I hate looking like a slob. I hate other travelers who look like slobs. Have you seen some of those people?

Here's another gate agent story. A few years ago I was trying to get a long haul flight. I was dressed nicely. I saw on the boards in Atlanta that there was one business class seat left, and I was next on the list with the highest date of employment (my dad - 1964). There was no time for any paying passenger to show up, only non-revs. They did not give me the business class seat. They gave it to an obese man. I'm guessing they looked at small/normal sized me, and then the obese non-rev, and gave him the business class seat instead.
 
Everskyward said:
Interesting. I was hoping to settle down this afternoon and watch it. What difference does it make where I am?
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The production company signs license agreements with different companies in different countries. For example, in Canada, they might license to CTV or Global, and those companies would have exclusive distribution rights in Canada for the content. ABC cannot show it to you up in the GWN.
 
kyleb said:
I don't remember the 4' wide aisles on the airplane... ;-)

I do remember people dressing a little better than today's standard passenger garb of wife beaters, dirty sweats, and flip-flops.
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Don't blame them there:mad2:
 
JeffDG said:
The production company signs license agreements with different companies in different countries. For example, in Canada, they might license to CTV or Global, and those companies would have exclusive distribution rights in Canada for the content. ABC cannot show it to you up in the GWN.
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CTV apparently has it but the streaming was sooo sloooow that I gave up.
 
Watched the first episode on hulu- basically a soap opera; reminds me of the movie "Airport".
But some pretty good classic airliner "porn", and they do a pretty good job of capturing the "feel" of the world as it was when I was born (1963).
And Christina Ricci... I could watch her fold laundry and find it entertaining. :D
 
Christina Ricci is one of the finest actresses going. Pity she wound up in Pan Am. She deserves better.
 
Saw first 20 minutes of pilot episode and turned it off. Capt and FO glancing in each others eyes before taking off with a big smile. Way to gay for me.

I knew someone that flew in the days of the Pan Am flying boats. They handled a lot of South American routes to keep Nazi Germany out. They were the Americn flag carrier for a reason. Shame most the viewers will be focused on girdles.
 
rottydaddy said:
Watched the first episode on hulu- basically a soap opera; reminds me of the movie "Airport".
But some pretty good classic airliner "porn", and they do a pretty good job of capturing the "feel" of the world as it was when I was born (1963).
And Christina Ricci... I could watch her fold laundry and find it entertaining. :D
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I'm not into soap operas. Sounds like maybe I should avoid Pan Am. I'll go back to Mythbusters and Top Gear on my Netflix, thanks for the heads up.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Every first episode of every new series is difficult to watch, as they introduce characters that none of us know...yet.

Even Mad Men, a show with amazing writing and acting, sucked for the first few episodes. In retrospect, it probably didn't suck as much as I remember, I just didn't know who anyone was, or why they were acting the way they were acting. In that case, I stuck with it because I enjoyed "fact-checking" the era against my memories.

I'm prepared to give Pan Am the benefit of the doubt, for a few episodes, simply because I love the premise, and, again, it's fun to check them against my recollections of the era.
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Jay, A refreshingly open minded attitude! Good for you. Amazing the other negative responses - so quickly...like so much else on TV is better! Still prefer the cable channels but will give them the benefit of the doubt for a few episodes.
 
kontiki said:
Saw first 20 minutes of pilot episode and turned it off. Capt and FO glancing in each others eyes before taking off with a big smile. Way to gay for me.
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Aww, that means you missed the high-five at rotation! (Seriously? Seriously.)

I keep wondering how many flight crews are doing "V1, V2, Rotate, High-Five!" this week, in their cockpits just to laugh their butts off (quietly below their sterile cockpit altitude). :rofl:
 
steingar said:
Christina Ricci is one of the finest actresses going. Pity she wound up in Pan Am. She deserves better.
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Independence Air?

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Better image is:

sardines-in-can-good-one.jpg
 
Lance F said:
...AFAIK Sue is not acting as a CIA courier.
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It's not very clear why that girl would even take the risky job, other then to show she's always underestimated. Do they pay her at some point?

Lance F said:
Sue watched the show and enjoyed it. There are incorrect details for sure, but for fun it's not bad.
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You mean we don't repeat "Cleared for takeout on runway 13 left?" How about, "V1....V2...rotate...gear up"

I expected better from Tommy Schlamme. They could have hired just one technical consultant.

He could use a script from Aaron Zorkin, but then again, those are the guys who had Air Force One landing on runway 3-9.

I liked their closing scene with the row of stews holding their purses on their wrists with their gloved hands stylishly pointing into the air. You could imagine them being trained to walk like that and being told that it's not feminine to be holding stuff in both hands.
 
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My Pan-Am story: We chartered Pan-Am jets to London for a high school tour circa 1971-72. Pan-Am didn't show with the return jet until almost a day late. We had to camp out in Heathrow.

I really hated the trip, mostly because I didn't know any of the other guys, and that was the final straw. I added a large "Sucks!" to my Pan-Am bag and made sure the crew saw it.

The way things are these days having a flight cancelled would almost be routine. Was that toward the end of Pan-Am's life?
 
I predict the headline for a few weeks from now: Airline passengers long for the days of "PanAm"

Note that the conveyor and the kiosk were just for baggage handling. THERE WERE NO SECURITY GATES and NO TSA!

And there was just one door leading to the jet and the little girl was standing at it watching.
 
I started watching this now that I can receive the ABC link. I made it through about the first 10 minutes...
 
I couldn't get past the first few minutes of the show.

Bleech.
 
I caught the rerun last night. As much as I wanted to like it, I decided shortly after takeoff that I had something - anything - more pressing to do.
 
Very 60s stylized. 60s hairstyles, clothes, and especially music. A lot like "The Playboy Club". Actually, exactly is more like it. Not quite a soap, not quite a drama. And more than a few kinks to work out.
Give it a couple of weeks. You will probably find they only bought 6 episodes and that's as long as it runs.; no matter how much better it gets.
"The Playboy Club" included.
 
The Playboy club has more... um... interesting costumes. They'll last a full season. :rofl:
 
AggieMike88 said:
@Post #15 this thread -- I grew up with my father being a pilot for Branniff between the Jelly Bean years until 1982 when bankruptcy #1 occured. And I remember much of what that post described. Especially the dress code and the meal service.

One vacation trip to Mexico when I was 9, I recall the meal being served in what would be known as table side at today's restaurants. And the food quality was waaay better.


I also recall the futurist artistic style of Love Field and Branniff's terminal designs. From the ticket counters to the gate, you felt like you were in an art museum.

I too miss this era of commercial aviation.

A cool site on history of Braniff Airlines


An add on to our memory lane... The Love Field JetRail. My brother and I had more fun on this than we did on the actual plane ride.

JetRail circa late early 1970's
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Jet Rail Page
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Braniff was The Airline for Univ of Texas for football games. Braniff always made sure the 737s were UT Burnt Orange. Lots of fun to land in Fayetteville, Arkansas in the midst of a sea of red.
 
Watched about half of the show tonight but tuned out mentally for most of it.

Mother-Daughter-Daughter issues, attempted rape and the morality problems of a single girl in the 60s trying to fight back.

But, to make the script work... We have a Captain who acted like a modern sensitive male and clueless and impotent, like all modern shows portray males. Dumb as a box of rocks. Didn't show any defense of his crew even, let alone chivalry.

I guess my role-models who were alive in the 60s weren't good enough for the ABC writers. They didn't ever act like that nincompoop. They'd have probably offered to pop the idiot in 3D in the nose if he tried anything else on "their" airplane. Probably not that sensitive to the crew's issues, but wouldn't let someone on "their" plane get away with anything. Offer them a drink? No.

No depiction at all of the well-documented crew coordination and "rank" issues from those days -- "The Captain shall be obeyed" -- type of stuff we all know happened back then. Just locker room talk by the twits in the cockpit.

It's already a lost cause as a show.

We're going to "learn" how evil life was for the "stewardesses", and the pilots and airline history will be trashed. Characters will follow the stereotypes necessary to make the show PC today. A Captain chewing out a crewmember? No. Won't see that.

I'm glad our local news interviewed a real Pan Am stewardess - she was a nice normal person who appeared to really enjoy her former job. Quite unlike our angst-ridden female cast, who are the only characters allowed to have brains, thus far.

Not planning on watching anymore. General Hospital of the fake 60s skies.
 
I missed the first episode sitting in the UK. Caught last night's. Or the parts of it that were on when I was in the room. Looks like a total waste of time. I wonder if it will still be on the next chance I have to have an hour wasted by it (10/23)?
 
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