Pan Am: First Look

Nowadays air travel is a bit of a nightmare. If you’re not having to swipe a credit card before using the lavortory, you’re having to put up with the pretty useless steward service. Of course, we live in an age of Ryanair and Easyjet, an age of the so called ‘budget airline’. Pan Am deals with a time when flying was a nice experience, 1963 to be exact. Of course this was also a time when the Cold War was heating up and when people were still getting over the Second World War. This show deals with those things as well as showing us how air travel should be.
     It was billed as 'Mad Men in Flight’. I’ll admit with some shame that I’m yet to watch Mad Men and so couldn’t really to the whole comparrison thing between the two. What I will say though is that this show is excellent. I read a review by Richard Arnold in The People in which he heavily critisised the show and he couldn’t be more wrong. The man is an idiot, I’m going to leave it at that.
     Firstly, the 1960’s setting means that we get a great soundtrack of a lot of 60’s swing straight out of The Great American Songbook. We also get the classic 60’s glamour and there isn’t a swear word in sight. It’s really easy viewing. Of course it is a little far fetched at times. One of the stewardesses has been employed by the Secret Service for example. There are some really intelligent and touching moments too though. One of the stewardeses is French and has to go to Berlin on a flight in a more recent episode. Seeing her trying to deal with being on German soil when her parents were killed by the Nazis when they occupied her country was actually quite emotional.
     The show is currently airing every Sunday on ABC in the states and every Saturday on BBC2 over here.

Once Upon A Time: 2nd Review ***SPOILER ALERT***

     Around 4 weeks ago I wrote a First Look Review on this new American show and I guess that the time is right for a bit of a catch up. Firstly, I am loving this show. It’s a pity that it hasn’t yet been picked up by a UK broadcaster although I’m sure that it’s only a matter of time. I personally expect it to be on Sky 1 sometime next year.
     As of writing, it is currently 4 episodes in and it keeps getting better, episode by episode. The mysteries that were a big part of Lost are big in this show although we are finding out the answers pretty quick. That’s not a bad thing though as it gives us more time to enjoy the show. With Lost, the mysteries were used to drive the story whereas with Once Upon A Time, they are used as episode devices. The big thing with this show is the fairy-tale element. It’s great seeing the different fairy tales play out. The clever thing that the writers have done though is to show very little of what we already know. For instance, the only familiar bits of Snow Whites story we have seen are her receiving Prince Charming's kiss as she lays in that famous glass coffin and the wedding. The writers have shown more of the untold stories such as how Snow White and Prince Charming meet and the months after they got married.
     In the most recent episode we saw the Cinderella story. That story is perhaps the most famous of all. Who doesn’t know how Cinders is sent to the ball by her fairy godmother? It is a story that is so familiar, until the writers of Once Upon A Time got hold of it that is. In their version, Cinders is visited by her Fairy Godmother as normal until Rumpelstiltskin arrives and kills her! The Fairy Godmother that is, not Cinders. He then offers Cinders a deal in that he’ll send her to the ball if she promises to give him her first born child. We then cut to Cinders and her Princes wedding, cutting out the part we already know. It’s doing things like this that are keeping the show fresh.
     Another big Lost device was the use of flashbacks against the present story. More often that not, what we saw in the flashbacks mirrored the theme of the present day story. A similar thing is used in Once Upon A Time in that what we see in the Fairy Tale world is mirrored in the present day story. It is still a very clever way of telling the story.
     I know that I’m comparing it a lot to Lost but it is written by the same duo that wrote a lot of the early Lost episodes. Also, being a huge fan of Lost I find myself comparing every new show to it.
     I’m currently working on a number of year review posts and I’m sure that this show will work it’s way into some of them. Definitely a front runner for my Show Of The Year 2011 and definitely one to look out for in the new year.