Does anyone think this show will "Pan" out? ;)

[jsrocks]

TV is mad about the '60s

The late '50s and early '60s are popular this year with TV producers, following in the success of "Mad Men," with offerings from BBC America ("The Hour"), NBC ("The Playboy Club") and ABC "Pan Am."

Comments

[eevilalice]

They're so full of shit; they're obviously riding MM's coattails. And what they mean by seeking larger audiences is that the shows (at least the American ones) will doubtless be less intelligent. The Playboy Club in particular makes me gag because from the promos it seems that, instead of pointing to the sexism of the times, they're saying being a bunny gave you some kind of special power. Ugh. I've been rolling my eyes over both that and Pan Am since I first heard about them.

But that's the cycle of TV. Something's successful, and it gets imitated to death (see also: all the crappy Lost wannabes).

[jsrocks]

Or that one show, "Off The Map," where Grey's Anatomy meets Lost. ;)

[eevilalice]

Lol, oh Lordy.

You know what we need? Mad Men...IN OUTER SPACE.

[jsrocks]

Mad Men meets Battlestar Galactica

[ceebeegee]

In other words, Start Trek TOS :)

[eevilalice]

Er, huh?

[itsumoganbaru]

I think any space show from the 60's qualifies as that, lol.

[eevilalice]

I was thinking a show literally like MM--as in, contemporary and critical of attitudes in the '60s--versus those that were actually sexist, racist, etc.

Although mostly I was joking, of course.

[ninety6tears]

I'm kind of getting a similar impression about Pan Am, in the way it looks like it's all about how fun and adventurous it is to be a stewardess and yay everything is so quaint, without really acknowledging what women's issues were during the time period. I'll probably watch it just in case it offers anything more, though.

[spikewriter]

At the Television Critics Association meeting earlier this month,the producers of "Playboy Club" said it was "empowering" to women. More than one critic said that if they hadn't heard those words before they saw the episode they were shown,they would have been kinder in their reviews.

"PanAm" -- there is something to be mined there, I think. I remember in the early 70's seeing books on what to if you were a woman traveling without a man. Most of them advised against traveling alone -- and we're talking exotic places like London, Paris, New York, Minneapolis. And a woman working as a flight attendant? Folks knew she had ti be "fast" -- why else would she be jetting around the world I stead of staying home and catching a husband? They could easily do what MM does; show the sexist attitudes and how women struggled against them.

[eevilalice]

We'll see w/PanAm; that's why I singled out The Playboy Club with my remark because it's the show whose promos I'd seen. I'm not saying the former couldn't do something interesting. Mostly I was commenting overall on the MM-rip-offedness of the two.

Still, a major network show that has to appeal to a broader audience in contrast to a show that airs on a cable channel like AMC will likely dial down its social commentary and go for flashiness for the sake of flashiness.