“Pan Am” Pulls In 11 Million, But Is It Any Good?

“Pan Am” Reels In 11 Million On Premiere

“Pan Am,” ABC’s new drama centered on the lives of four stewardesses working on a 1960′s airline, drew a crowd of roughly 11 million viewers on the Sunday premiere. As is turns out, this is more than twice the amount of viewers who tuned in to see the premiere of “Playboy Club,” NBC’s also 60′s-set drama, and their answer to AMC’s “Mad Men.” Only an estimated 5 million viewers tuned in to see “Playboy Club,” most of which were handed in from its lead-in series “The Sing-Off.”

“Pan Am” Outperforms Lead-In

“Pan Am” actually drew 1.4 million more viewers than its own lead-in, “Desperate Housewives.” “Housewives” saw about 3 million fewer viewers than they had at the start of the season last fall. ABC has officially made the announcement that the upcoming season of DH is to be the last, but regardless, their viewship has declined.

Reviews For “Pan Am” Lean Toward The Negative

While there may have been a large turn-out for viewers, will they be returning next week? “Pan Am” stars Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robbie, and Karine Vanasse. Responses from critics ranged from introspective to disappointed. While it has been admitted that the show has potential, said Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter: “Pan Am seems most intent on making the idea of the ’60s and stewardesses and ‘the jet age’ more glamorous than real.” The New York Times reported that Pan Am’s heroines give viewers a glimpse of the burgeoning of the women’s movement in action, but that the characters themselves are not fully formed.

In this article you learned about the premiere of “Pan Am,” ABC’s new drama starring Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robie, and Karine Vanasse. While the show managed to pull in 11 million viewers, the reception from critics has not been entirely positively. Could the writing grow to be better in time? Will viewers even stick around to find out? We’ll have to watch the numbers next Sunday.