Margot Robbie, currently starring in Wuthering Heights, is one of the biggest stars of her generation, having racked up a number of financial and critical successes throughout her career. Things didn’t always work out quite the way the actor hoped, however, and before she had breakout roles in The Wolf of Wall Street or Suicide Squad, she appeared in some projects that were much more short-lived. For example, one of her biggest U.S. roles came as Laura Cameron in the TV series Pan Am, which debuted on ABC in 2011 and lasted a single season. Pan Am is currently streaming for free on Tubi. The drawback, though, is that the show was canceled on a cliffhanger, so be careful not to get too hooked.
The series, which also starred Christina Ricci, was set in the early 1960s and explored the lives of aircraft pilots and flight attendants. To say that the concept of air travel is currently much less glamorous than it was back in the ’60s would be a bit of an understatement, as airline travel was much more of a luxury at the time Pan Am was set, allowing the series to showcase how much the culture has shifted over the decades.
Consisting of 14 episodes, Pan Am makes for a relatively quick watch, and while it’s disappointing that the show only lasted a single season, Robbie had previously already scored success in Australia for her show Neighbors. Robbie appeared in that series for more than 350 episodes, so trying to catch up on that program would take a few months.
The ‘Mad Men’ Effect
While it’s currently regarded as an all-time great TV series, Mad Men was a bit of a gamble: it was AMC’s first original, scripted programming, it didn’t star any household names, and it focused on the advertising world of the ’60s. The series’ plot was intrinsic to the time and setting, though that was just a jumping-off point for character-driven storytelling. Even though Mad Men‘s success was due to its writing, direction, and performances, it inspired a number of imitators who hoped to tap into nostalgia for the ’60s.
Pan Am is arguably one of the more memorable series that maybe followed a bit too closely to the world of Mad Men, yet by airing on ABC, there was a lot more riding on its weekly success as compared to Mad Men‘s slow-burn following. It might have been seen as a Mad Men rip-off, but Pan Am stood somewhat on its own, as it earned relatively positive reviews. Interestingly, Pan Am premiered the same month as the NBC TV series The Playboy Club, which explored a similar time and place, though that series was canceled after three episodes.
Other period dramas, like Masters of Sex or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, explored similar eras as Mad Men, but seemingly took the right lessons away from that program to carve their own paths. AMC would also develop Halt and Catch Fire, which was similarly a period drama, yet one that took place in the tech world of the ’80s.
A Frustrating Finale
In addition to audiences being frustrated that Pan Am wasn’t renewed for a Season 2, denying more stories in this world, the season ended with a number of unresolved storylines. While various canceled TV series feel relatively self-contained in retrospect, Pan Am isn’t quite so lucky. Compared to The Playboy Club, though, which never even aired more than half of its episodes, Pan Am came out on top.
Shockingly, in an age where the lines between movies and TV have become more blurred than ever, as major movie stars appear in TV shows and TV shows have a production budget rivaling blockbusters, Robbie has yet to return to the small screen. She did, however, appear in an episode of Dollface, a series on which she was an executive producer. In fact, producing projects signals a shift in her interests, as Robbie has begun producing various movies and TV shows in recent years.
Pan Am
- Release Date
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2011 – 2012-00-00
- Network
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ABC
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