This show is Mad Men meets Desperate Housewives but can Pan Am have the impact of drawing in a huge audience? This season is more of a baton pass from Desperate Housewives to Pan Am on Sunday nights in back to back time slots. The other factor is The Good Wife moving to Sunday night in an earlier time slot, but CBS will lose their audience because afternoon football games will likely force a late start. This could bring a shift in viewership for those like us who do not have patience for foolish scheduling. DVRs do not account for late starts so as their audience looks for other shows, Pan Am could be sitting pretty.
Drawing a plot line from an earlier decade gives an advantage of knowing the major events, and as with Mad Men, characters can impact the past. There is a reversal of Mad Men as the majority of this cast is female, as the times they were a-changin’. The dominating men take a back seat to the woman who find themselves in a new and more liberating work environment. There are still challenges to overcome and secrets that, if revealed, could change the country’s underground missions.
Kate Cameron (Kelli Garner) is a multilingual stewardess who is recruited by the CIA as a covert operative. She has the ability to use her job to smokescreen hidden agendas while collecting pertinent information for the government.
Laura Cameron (Margot Robbie) is fresh off her training as a stewardess and having her photo snapped in full uniform that will be plastered in every magazine stand with her on the cover of Life Magazine. Her newly acquired celebrity status puts her in the spotlight, causing static between the sisters.
Maggie Ryan (Christina Ricci) is a character whose strong-hardheadedness puts her in constant entanglements with her superiors. Her responsibly to run a good crew while balancing the demands of her immediate supervisors is a task she relishes.
Colette Valois (Karine Vanasse), born and raised in France, was orphaned during World War II and is now a stewardess for Pan Am American World Airways. Her feelings toward the German people have stayed sour over the years.
Bridget Pierce (Annabelle Wallis) is English and recently left her position as purser where she led a double life as a covert operative. She dated Dean Lowery but abruptly cleaned out her flat in London. Dean is now left with a million questions. Bridget recommended Kate as her replacement within the covert intelligence community.
Dean Lowery (Mike Vogel) is the Captain of the Boeing 707 with romantic ties to Bridget.
Ted Vanderway (Michael Mosley) is the wise cracking First Officer who does not take life all too seriously.
These characters may take some time to build a repertoire with the audience. It is hard to become fully invested in the characters at such an early stage because all the women seem to have the same motivation. ABC is looking to replace Desperate Housewives after the lights go out for the show at the end of this season.
Swingtown was a show way before its time which was based in the 70’s, encompassing all the shows discussed earlier. It would have been the perfect replacement for next year’s 9pm Sunday time slot, so if Pan Am expands the characters through growth it could have the potential to sustain an audience.
