Fall TV: Second looks, Part 2

Ok, so I started writing this blog like 2 months ago, but the problem was that I actually hadn't gotten around to giving some of these shows a second look, never mind writing about it. And um, I still haven't...and possibly won't.

Hart of Dixie - Predictable but cute. Lemon and Brick both grate but they have some moments of likability, especially around George. This doesn't seem like the type of show that will have them be antagonists forever but I am glad that Zoe is not a Rory Gilmore who instantly wins over everyone in town though. I'm sad that Nancy Travis had to leave the show (to go to Last Man Standing) though...she was a nice, sane grounding presence.
Status: Keeper.

Revenge - I know a lot of people (including my mom, of all people) are really loving this but I fell behind and just haven't really had the desire to catch up. The whole season is on Hulu Plus though, so I suppose if I'm ever bored...
Status: On the shelf.

Ringer - I tried, I really tried. The CW did give the show a full-season order but the few episodes I watched were just not good. Unless the buzz somehow becomes amazing, I think I'm done.
Status: Off the DVR.

Pan Am - I mean, I really genuinely liked the pilot. But then I just never watched another episode. And now apparently it's pretty much as good as cancelled so...yeah.
Status: Overcome by events.

Fall TV: Pan Am

Two network shows this fall appear to be trying to ride the coattails of Mad Men's success: NBC's The Playboy Club and ABC's Pan Am. Based partially on the subject matter and partially on bad reviews, I didn't even bother checking out the former but I did watch the latter and I was actually pleasantly surprised.

Judging by the pilot, this is a very different show from Mad Men. Mad Men has this rather brooding, contemplative and sometimes even sinister atmosphere to it while Pan Am starts off with, well, quite a lot of cheery fun. We are introduced to four young, beautiful stewardesses of the erstwhile airline, and while of course there are the indignities of being a female in that era (weigh ins, girdles, etc) and various complications in their lives (mainly romantic), they love their jobs and the opportunity to be independent and travel the world in glamorous fashion.

The biggest name in the cast is Christina Ricci, who plays Maggie, a beatnik type, but interestingly she had probably the smallest part in the first episode. Kelli Garner (who I liked in that show My Generation from last season that was awful but really watchable) is Kate, who is actually a spy on the side! And I didn't recognize the actresses playing the other two women, Laura (Kate's sister who was literally a runaway bride) and Collette (French? Or French-Canadian?) but they were both pretty likable as well. There are some men on this show, too, Mike Vogel as an optimistic, good-hearted pilot, and Michael Mosely as his womanizing copilot.

I'm not that clear on where the show is going to go moving forward -- it has some soapy elements but the premiere was kind of...feel-good, which is something kind of rare in dramas these days. While the show will clearly be incorporating some real-life history (there was this odd flashback of some of the crew rescuing people from the Bay of Pigs), I kind of doubt it'll be getting too gritty. Everything is pretty...glossy. But I don't necessarily have a problem with that, so I'm definitely interested to see how things progress.