THE "PAN AM" THREAD

[gregg75]

Really, I thought it was on ESPN.

 

[landtuna]

Really, I thought it was on ESPN.

Maybe it should be. It could compete with the Swimsuit Edition.

 

[RadioStarOne]

Pan Am: How long before the girls welcome The Beatles onboard along with Ed Sullivan? I was surprised with the James Bond storyline but the cold war was really in the news then. And when do they tackle the Kennedy Demise? Spy VS. Spy what a laugh! Slap a lady in the butt today to see if they're wearing the proper underware today and you'd be toast! Funny!

 

[1st of 5]

What is this nostalgic infatuation with the 60's? Obviously, this show is attempting to ride the ratings wave created by "MadMen". Is this show going to portray the REAL 1960s that I grew up in? Are they going to have episodes dealing with the overt institutionalized racial segregation which didn't go away until around 1968? What about the DRAFT, (yes boys and girls there was a draft even before Vietnam flared up. The wealthy and privileged were exempt as well as college students, as long as you kept up your GPA)? What about the overt sexism and sexual discrimination where women were fair game as sex objects, where the women's place was in the home, with the exceptions of stewardess, nurse and teacher? What about the cars, with no crumple zones, cushioned dashboards/steering wheels, seatbelts, safety glass, etc? What about the only 3 choices we had for TV, which went off the air after midnight, even on weekends, (so did most radio stations. Imagine life without 24/7 cable.)? And the SMOKING, back then everybody SMOKED, EVERYWHERE, even inside hospitals AND INSIDE AIRCRAFT. Yes after a while, the smokers were banished to the rear of the cabin, but sometimes you reeked like a strip joint bar when you reached your destination. As was previously posted, the target audience's parents probably weren't even conceived in the 1960s, so to them its just another fantasy alternative reality show with the usual shallow simple story line, flashy shiny pictures and filled with the propaganda of the current ruling regime.

 

[searadiofreak]

What is this nostalgic infatuation with the 60's? Obviously, this show is attempting to ride the ratings wave created by "MadMen". Is this show going to portray the REAL 1960s that I grew up in? Are they going to have episodes dealing with the overt institutionalized racial segregation which didn't go away until around 1968? What about the DRAFT, (yes boys and girls there was a draft even before Vietnam flared up. The wealthy and privileged were exempt as well as college students, as long as you kept up your GPA)? What about the overt sexism and sexual discrimination where women were fair game as sex objects, where the women's place was in the home, with the exceptions of stewardess, nurse and teacher? What about the cars, with no crumple zones, cushioned dashboards/steering wheels, seatbelts, safety glass, etc? What about the only 3 choices we had for TV, which went off the air after midnight, even on weekends, (so did most radio stations. Imagine life without 24/7 cable.)? And the SMOKING, back then everybody SMOKED, EVERYWHERE, even inside hospitals AND INSIDE AIRCRAFT. Yes after a while, the smokers were banished to the rear of the cabin, but sometimes you reeked like a strip joint bar when you reached your destination. As was previously posted, the target audience's parents probably weren't even conceived in the 1960s, so to them its just another fantasy alternative reality show with the usual shallow simple story line, flashy shiny pictures and filled with the propaganda of the current ruling regime.

Immitation, or copying is the sincerest form of flattery. But beyond that, it is about success. Of course, a cable show that has been successful will be copied on the networks. Just depends on the quality of the look and the script. Jury still out on Pan-Am.

 

[ixnay]

the women's place was in the home, with the exceptions of stewardess, nurse and teacher?

Don't forget bank teller. My mother was one throughout the 1960's.

ixnay

 

[landtuna]

People today might not know that airline stews of the 60's were not allowed to be married. By 1972 Eastern Air Lines had changed their rule but it didn't fully expire until later in the decade.

 

[secondchoice]

And the SMOKING, back then everybody SMOKED, EVERYWHERE, even inside hospitals AND INSIDE AIRCRAFT. Yes after a while, the smokers were banished to the rear of the cabin, but sometimes you reeked like a strip joint bar when you reached your destination.

One positive angle of the smoking was the mechanics could "spot" a small air leak (before it turned into a "sudden lose of cabin pressure" by simply looking for brown streaks on the side of the fuselage!

 

[formeraa]

And smoking lasted on airplanes into the 90's on longer flights. As an airline employee, I got to sit in the smoking section of a Dallas to Honolulu flight in the early 90's. At that point, we had to wear a suit on the plane (yes, the idiot wearing the suit on the Hawaii flight was an airline employee)!

 

[Silkie]

Can't be any worse than some knucklehead arriving at O'Hare from L.A. in his Hawaiian shirt, shorts and sandals. LOL

Improvement on the second episode, I must say.

 

[gregg75]

Ratings were down 19% on episode 2, but down ratings were pretty much across the
board Sunday night. I guess those who didn't like it bailed and this should be almost
their weekly number going forward.

 

[Silkie]

They should have consulted with us before the first episode, in addition to paying attention to those who were there. Can't blame the real stewardesses of Pan Am or us. It might have worked out better for them the second episode.

 

[LibertyNT]

I guess if Pan Am Doesn't work out they can always switch to ValuJet.

 

[Silkie]

Or People's Express with the anti-trust shenanigans at O'Hare.

 

[vchimpanzee]

As a 6 year old boy, I still vividly recall flying on PSA from LAX to SFO one afternoon and my dad bringing me up to the cockpit of the 727 to meet the captain and crew! They were very nice, showed me the various instruments and sent me off with a set of metal wings as a souvenir.

They didn't ask you if you liked movies about gladiators, did they?

Someone predicted a November episode would deal with the Kennedy assassination. You don't suppose they'll have an upcoming episode about a certain English rock and roll band coming to America on Pan Am...

I've already heard they will.

 

[formeraa]

Last night's episode had a thread about the young captain "skipping" seniority. Skipping seniority?!? Really?!? Anyone heard of pilot's union with strict seniority based on years of service.

 

[landtuna]

Last night's episode had a thread about the young captain "skipping" seniority. Skipping seniority?!? Really?!? Anyone heard of pilot's union with strict seniority based on years of service.

There were no "young captains" in Pan Am's fleet. Because Pan Am was an exclusive international carrier they flew the largest aircraft and carried the most passengers per plane. Those flights also accrue the most flying hours and are the most coveted by crews (cabin and cockpit). Therefore, it would have been extremely rare for a young officer to fly Pan Am routes and virtually impossible for them to hold a line.

I guess the cabin crew diddling the graying cockpit crew was off limits to the writers, eh? ;D

 

[Silkie]

They haven't gotten there yet, so they haven't figured out that the old stuff doesn't wear out.

 

[secondchoice]

I guess the cabin crew diddling the graying cockpit crew was off limits to the writers, eh? ;D

Most crews then and now might "kid" around some, but even in bad situations like some of the mergers the crews "try" to get along. Just image being in a less than 300 square foot room with somebody you detest for 12 hours. Unless "on call" for someone who call in sick, there is no such thing as "skipping seniority". The closest thing to this was Eastern counting some USAF and Navy / USMC POW time as flight time for hiring at the end of Vietnam.

 

[formeraa]

I guess the cabin crew diddling the graying cockpit crew was off limits to the writers, eh? ;D

I'm waiting for the storyline on the graying cockpit crew having multiple families -- say, one in the US and one in Rangoon! (I joke but it's unfortunately true in more than a few cases.)