ABC Cancels "Pan Am"
5/11/2012
by Lesley Goldberg


ABC grounded period drama "Pan Am" in late November, when star Karine Vanasse let the news slip that the network would only air one of the additional five scripts it ordered just weeks prior before benching the series until January.

Despite a promising bow in September, the Sony Pictures Television drama starring Christina Ricci lost more than 3 million viewers and sliding from a 3.1 to a 2.6 in the demo in its second airing.

The big bet -- the studio is said to have spent $10 million on the pilot for the 1960s airline drama -- also faced behind-the-scenes drama, replacing showrunners after a month on the air.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-renews-private-practice-body-323608

That's a shame. It was good to see Christina Ricci back in something at least.

I hate that they don't give some of these shows a chance to find an audience. I personally think they should let shows run at least a season before canceling them. Pan Am sounded kind of promising since it seems to be a little similar to Mad Men.

Margot Robbie finally explains what went wrong with 'Pan Am' (https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Webu-EB89U4J:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/07/06/margot-robbie-finally-explains-what-went-wrong-with-pan-am/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

In Vanity Fair, Robbie — who played Laura, a new flight attendant who had left her fiancé at the altar — explains that the show suffered from an affliction we like to call Early Ratings Panic.

"As soon as it went on-air, they were like, 'No, we didn't get the ratings we want — let's get a whole new crew of writers and make it more like 'Housewives,'" Robbie said. "And you're like, 'What? That's so not what the show was going to be.'"

In other words, ABC may have been looking for another hit to replace the aging "Desperate Housewives," the long-running drama series that would end in May 2012. Ultimately, Robbie implies, the quick change-up in direction tanked the show.

"After the fifth episode, you see this abrupt change in content. If they're rehiring writers, it's obviously not doing well," Robbie said.

I haven't watched it since it originally aired. I don't remember much, but I remember them trying to make it a sort of spy thriller.

I do own the DVD as I found it cheap at a thrift store. I may watch it again at some point.