Could ABC’s Pan Am return?

Here’s the deal.  Shows premiere, they air for a few years or a few weeks, then they leave.  It happens.  Sometimes your favorite shows don’t survive as long as one would hope.  Sometimes the dreck and dross of the latest police procedural or convoluted sitcom stays on for DECADES.  GRR.

And then there’s the ABC drama Pan Am.

Remember Pan Am?  That 1960’s period drama about the lives of the flight crew of the Pan Am Clipper Majestic jet?  The drama with the convoluted plotlines and “no one’s gonna believe it” spy story and the “oh wow is that Andy Warhol?” fake cameo appearances?

Yeah, that show.

The series lasted for only 14 hour-long episodes before ABC mercifully grounded the show.  Yeah, some episodes aired out of sequence, and some of the plotlines were about as subtle as a flying hammer – but the show apparently had its fans.

And most of those fans were in Europe, where Pan Am actually received awards for Best Television Drama series. I guess when these promos are in foreign languages, the show might actually sound better.

And now… there’s rumors that Pan Am might come back for another season.

Not on ABC, mind you… but on Amazon’s streaming video service.

According to Deadline.com, Sony Pictures TV – the movie studio that produced Pan Am – has shopped the series to various online networks, and Amazon sounded interested in the idea of resurrecting the drama.  There’s precedent here – Netflix is currently filming new episodes of Arrested Development, while the show Friday Night Lights earned three more seasons thanks to a partnership between NBC and DirecTV.

And we are in the 21st century, where CGI and special effects are now cost-effective.  Cut a few superfluous cast members and their salaries, focus on just a couple of plotlines, and maybe Amazon could resurrect the show and make a profit from it.

Of course, then we have one final question.

WHY BOTHER?

Listen, I watched Pan Am as much as anyone else did.  And trust me.  The show was not that entertaining.  Yeah, it was visually stunning – I do give credit to the wardrobe crew for getting those blue stewardess uniforms spot-on – but really, what would another season bring for the series?  The stewardesses get to meet the Beatles?  And then what after that?  Nothing.

And let’s face it.  Arrested Development aired for three seasons, and it took Netflix what, six or seven YEARS before they could get the cast back together for a new season?

Okay, maybe there’s a plotline or two that still needs resolution – there’s a question as to whether one of the pilot’s girlfriends might or might not be expecting; the parentage of one of the stewardesses was revealed in the final episode, including the possible existence of a long-lost brother; and one of the flight attendants plans to further her career as an international spy courier.

Okay, that’s enough for a two-hour movie – but really, it’s not enough for a new season of episodes.

Here’s a simple message.  Let Pan Am fly off to the sunset.  It was a decent idea that got completely mired in goofy soap-opera plotlines and overtly prescient dialogue.  It was an attempt to replicate the 1960’s savoir faire of Mad Men and it couldn’t even do that.

And bringing it back for a second season won’t change anything.  Besides, if ABC’s going to bring back ANY cult drama… I’m still holding out hope for new episodes of Max Headroom, and I don’t care that it’s been nearly 25 years since the last episode.