Hopping on the Mad Men bandwagon, ABC recently began airing Pan Am on Sunday nights. The network’s been searching for some new hot dramas to replace Desperate Housewives and their aging medical series. Have they found the solution in a show named after a defunct airline or will this one just crash and be cancelled?
Pan Am follows the pilots and flight attendants that work for the world-famous airline in 1963. Dean (Mike Vogel) is a young pilot who’s just been promoted to captain. His co-pilot, Ted (Michael Mosely), is hiding a secret. Stewardess Maggie (Christina Ricci) isn’t afraid to push the limits, Colette (Karine Vanesse) flirts too much, and Kate (Kelli Garner) has taken on a dangerous side-job after helping her sister, Lara (Margot Robbie), become a runaway bride. While traveling the world, the flight crew have interesting brushes with history.
The series debuted on September 25th to a 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 11.06 million viewers. Those aren’t bad numbers but they’re hardly impressive either. Pan Am was second in the timeslot, behind NBC’s football coverage. Looking at the breakdown for the show’s ratings in quarter hour increments, about 10% of the demo audience tuned out before the episode was finished. That’s not terrible but certainly not positive either.
The second episode dropped 16% in the demo to a 2.6 rating with 7.76 million viewers. That’s a pretty normal second week drop-off but Pan Am really didn’t have many viewers to spare. Week three is where things really got bad.
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The third episode saw the demo drop by an astounding 27%. Did the people who tuned in for the second episode decide that they’d seen enough or, was the third week just a fluke?
Apparently it was the latter because the ratings dropped by another 5%, to a 1.8 in the demo with 5.84 million. Last night’s numbers held steady according the fast affiliate numbers. That’s positive but a 1.8 demo rating is certainly not.
Pan Am is currently the lowest-rated new show on ABC with an average of a 2.2 rating in the demo and 7.36 million. Those numbers will keep dropping unless future episodes perform significantly better. Of the 14 scripted shows currently on the network, Pan Am ranks 12th, beating only Body of Proof and already-cancelled Charlie’s Angels.
While Pan Am’s fate seems all but sealed, ABC doesn’t seem ready to throw in the towel just yet.
They’re reportedly bringing in veteran writer and producer Steven Maeda as showrunner. He previously worked on Miami Medical for CBS and Lie to Me for FOX. ABC execs, who apparently still really like Pan Am, want to hear Maeda’s story ideas before deciding on whether they want to order additional episodes for a full season.
It’s very likely too late to pull this show out of its downward spiral but perhaps ABC will get lucky and beat the odds. Typically, once viewers reject a show, it’s nearly impossible to get them to take another look.
What do you think? Should ABC keep Pan Am flying for a full season or should they just pull the plug and cancel it now?
Image courtesy ABC.
It’s a good show
keep it
KEEEEEPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please don’t cancel this show. I really enjoy it. I love the way the characters and stories are developing. It’s a nice way to settle down on a Sunday night.
Love the show. It brings me back to a time when it was glamorous and it was something special to be a stewardess. I started on the 707 and am still flying. Just seeing all the room in the aisle made me giddy. I agree the pilots need more “seasoning”. I like the music and definately feel the story lines need more expanding. In my world.. all my coworkers are watching and have been enjoying the show thus far. Please keep it. If I’m at work being “something special in the air” while it airs, my husband will record it.… Read more »
Hot chicks, intrigue, espionage? It’s a keeper!
I loved the premiere show but couldn’t find it again to watch it.
Please don’t cancel now that I found it again !!!!!
In addition to my previous email regarding network competition and floating start times, Sunday night has competition from HBO and Showtime’s signature series which also drains viewers. Sunday night is death for new shows.
Sunday night is death with competition from football and CBS’ powerhouse shows. Also CBS shows start late meaning even if someone wanted to give Pan Am a chance, they would join the show in the middle, an unlikely scenario.
ABC, move the show and give it a chance.
Exactly…..if they move it the numbers will improve. I’ve seen em try to save worse shows than this one. Give it a chance.
I love this show (like, LOVE it) but I agree- the Sunday time slot is just a little bit too late for me to stay up and watch it. I imagine that if I’m having an issue with that others are as well, and it’s not getting a fair shake. I’ve been watching it on monday, which has become my official sixties glamour fix.
I watched the first one, part of the second one and that was it. Doesn’t hold my interest. I think the producers counted too much on the nastalgia angle. Espionage in this show doesn’t work because it isn’t really elaborated on, it jsut exists. Maybe if they did an espionage show taking place in that time period and had only ONE character a flight attendant on Pan AM, that might work. Then they could have an espionage show with Pan Am nastalgia, history, adventure, cold war, ONE pretty spy flight attendant etc..But face it flight attendants are just not that… Read more »
I do enjoy the show, and also I share the feeling that it needs some work in order to last. The show has so much more potential than it is displaying now. In my opinion, the scoring really needs work. The music is either too whimsical and lighthearted for the moment, or it reacts to the wrong cue or a moment that isn’t there. Give the actors a chance to breathe, you don’t need to coat them in cheesy music in scenes with critical dialogue. Also, I agree with other people when they say that the pilots are too young… Read more »
I haven’t watched a soap since I flew for Pan Am in the 70’s. I LOVE this show. It is very authentic and historically accurate. There were enough adventures and historical events to keep the show going for years.
it was going downhill – t he 4th episode got grit!
so perhaps getting better
KEEP IT, but make it more real. The writers have now made it into a “Love Boat” and it was and should be shown as so much more than that. There are a million stories to tell and so much of the world to show. People love travel….show more of the cities we all loved. HongKong, Sydney, Rio di Janiero are gorgeous from the air and on the ground, who doesn’t love Rome and Paris or dream of Asia and Africa? Being paid to experience the world was an unimaginable gift and meeting people from all around the world was… Read more »
right on Suzanne! more real location shots. and people’s life-stories contain more drama and poignancy than these script writers seem able to imagine. interview those who were there. this show should basically write itself. perhaps they should hire you. i’d like to here more of the events and places you’ve hinted at.
Suzanne, OMG! Google the link below and please send your comments to: abc.go.com/shows/pan-am/buzz/771594 ABC needs to see what you have written and, hopefully, they will pass it on to the “Pan Am” writers and producers. There are so many things that happened during the history of this great airline that needs to be shared with the public and your remarks are VERY important. What you’ve said, especially about the maimed children in Delhi, is heartbreaking. I also think a lot of people who see the show are not yet aware that the airline, being international, really did employ people from… Read more »
It’s perfect, keep it. It may show people how to behave LOL…I remeber those days, okay I’m a very old flight attendant and I long for the glamor, the politness, the charm all of it. It’s not like that now but maybe…ya never know
Please keep it! I looove Pan Am!