‘Pan Am’ Is Doing Great

So far, “Pan Am’s” biggest contribution to the TV landscape has been providing hacky writers with an excuse to use airplane metaphors while discussing the show’s ratings. After debuting with a solid 10.8 million viewers, the ratings have gone into a nosedive, and the show’s in danger of being grounded, thus canceling future flights. But ABC isn’t going to let the show crash on autopilot; it’s hired “Lost” producer Steven Maeda to get “Pan Am” out of its tailspin before it crashes into the World Trade Center and sparks a decade-long war on terror that includes a poorly executed and unnecessary invasion and occupation of Iraq. Okay, maybe that last one is a little bit of a stretch.

Maeda, whose credits include Lie to Me and Lost, will serve as showrunner and EP, joining creator and EP Jack Orman and director/executive producer Tommy Schlamme behind the scenes of the Christina Ricci drama about the mysterious lives of the airline’s pilots and stewardess.  ABC has yet to make a decision on whether or not the pricey drama will receive a back-nine order…

Behind the scenes, the studio and network are making an extra push of late in promoting the series, which has continued to shed viewership. [THR]

Part of the reason ABC doesn’t want to drop the series is because it spent an extravagant $10 million to get it made, and according to one source I have on the show (I have sources!), a lot of that cost comes from filming in New York instead of Los Angeles. Apparently, it can get costly to make Brooklyn streets look like markets in Rangoon (or wherever), when it would be way cheaper to use a set on a Hollywood lot. TV executives are crazy smart.