A high-flying, nostalgic concept show that faltered and was cancelled because it was on network television instead of a cable network such as HBO or Showtime. There's a lot of good and enjoyable plot lines, characters, and visuals in Pan Am. Released a decade after 9/11 altered how air travel functioned and was perceived, this was a welcome look back at air travel's golden age. What could have been a 5-6 season show was cutoff at the legs by the strictures of network television at the time. Many of the critiques I have of the show come from where it holds back on authenticity and deeper dives into the topics and motifs it can only hint at. Smoking was prevalent in society everywhere in the Sixties and yet no characters smoke in this show. While I don't ask to see tobacco use in shows, it's conspicuous by its absence here. The overt but accurate portrayal of its role in society of the time in the concurrently airing "Mad Men" on cable network AMC dictates a restriction of network TV that impacted Pan Am. Many other storylines and character depth stories are hamstrung by having to settle to network audience sensibilities of the time. Pan Am still excels in many ways, especially with female empowerment and a focus on the stewardess' primarily as the fulcrum of the plot. Their influence fades as the season moves into the back half of its 13 episodes. The intrigue into their chara…

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