Coming to ABC: ‘Mad Men Me If You Can’

Safety first!

ABC has obtained the right to use the defunct Pan Am brand for a drama set in the 1960s about stewardesses for the bankrupt airline. Ahh, finally! As “Mad Men” is in its fourth season, network television is finally making a copycat period drama.

“These were the world’s ambassadors,” [Sony Pictures TV production president Zack] Van Amburg said. “They were really interesting women at a time when a lot of things were happening, particularly for women in this country… and in terms for what Pan Am did for exporting American culture and importing the world, think about all the visuals of the Beatles landing at JFK on Pan Am.”

“Pan Am” will focus on the flight attendants and their underlying secrets. One of the characters, for example, is recruited by the State Dept. into espionage — something that actually happened in real life. Another character may hail from France.

Van Amburg said there’s also a bit of wish fulfillment and an aspirational quality to “Pan Am,” given how today’s air travel is seen as pretty miserable by most travelers. In the 1960s, jet travel was still considered exotic, and something people dreamed of experiencing. [Variety]

Ah yes, the 1960s: when air travel was a dream! Seats designed for smaller people, no in-flight television, and cabins full of cigarette smoke. Of course, that’s a pretty fair trade-off for hot, slutty stewardesses.