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Pan Am: Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 25, 2011
  • Season #: 1
Pan Am Image
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 74 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
Rate this:
  • Summary: The lives of the flight attendants and pilots of the airline Pan Am is the focus of this 1960s-set drama.
  • Genre(s): Drama

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 28
  3. Negative: 1 out of 28
  1. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Sep 22, 2011
    91
    A gorgeous production, though the story sometimes keeps it on the tarmac.
  2. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Nancy Franklin
    Sep 26, 2011
    60
    The new shows are more concerned with hitting their marks and getting the sociology right than with character, but Pan Am has a bit of style to it, and a note of darkness, and the formula might just work.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    Sep 23, 2011
    30
    It has neither the exactitude of the times nor the talent of the writers to get at the issues, ala Mad Men, that illuminate the issues of the day.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 26
  3. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. Ben-Bopper
    10
    Pan Am is amazing, cute, retro, tearjerking, awesome, cool, romantic, nice, sentimental...good, entertaining...and more...and that's all I can say about it.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. JennetP
    4
    As a state department brat who flew hundreds of Pan Am flights back in the day (first class until mid-60s budget cuts sent us to coach), I should be a complete sucker for this show. But, aside from the uniforms and the logos, the show gets most things wrong. The actors, for starters, are all too young and/or unsophisticated; the women lack elegance, and the men lack distinction. I can no more imagine a Pan Am stewardess hiding in the galley from her mother than I can imagine Jackie Kennedy flipping off a reckless cabbie. Despite near-constant girdle checks, the stewardesses are clearly products of a women's movement that hasn't happened yet; the pilots shave their chests, and the set design (clubs, restaurants, hotel rooms) are proudly postmodern. Even the aircraft interiors, which would be so easy to get right, succumb to the anachronizing impulse, appearing much more airy and uncluttered (very 21st-century Zen) than their mid-century models. So what? Well, this show is much more about style than about characters, stories, or ideas, so it ought to have done a better job. It's either going to need MUCH stronger writing and a few new cast members or a style makeover. Or an audience that doesn't care, of course.… Expand
    • 2 of 3 users said yes
  3. TruthBeTold
    1
    The BEST thing about this show is the uniform! The Cast is HORRIBLE! The Writing is weak! I can't believe this show is still on TV! Charlie's Angels was much better than this show. If they intend to be around next Season, the Writers must step their game up and they need more Crew on-board the flights ,,, at least 10 Crew members. It's just a STUPID show!… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes

See all 26 User Reviews

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