Deadline has reported that Mike Vogel, of Cloverfield and more recently Blue Valentine, has been brought on as the male lead of Pan Am, ABC's new Sony-produced period drama. For those of you who aren't familiar with the new show, Pan Am will focus on a group of flight attendants and pilots from the early 1960s. Vogel will be taking up the role of Dean, a young, charismatic, and recently promoted pilot who has landed his dream job, flying an iconic Pan Am Clipper. The role was played by Jonah Lotan in the show's pilot.
The 1960s setting for the show is still probably the most exciting detail that we have available to us at this point. The now dead Pan Am Airline played a huge role in growing and shaping the international airline industry and in addition to being recognized world-wide, was a cultural icon of the United States in the 20th century. The airlines' circular blue logo was, itself, an icon of the 20th century as well. The fame and popularity of the airline was likely never stronger than it was during the sixties, the setting for the new drama. Pan Am Airlines was extremely common in popular culture: the airline and its planes have been featured in many films and was a part of a number of iconic moments and images from the time period, such as The Beatles' famous arrival at JFK airport in 1964. The infamous con artist Frank Abagnale, whose shenanigans spawned books and also the film Catch Me If You Can, was famous for masquerading as a Pan Am pilot.
We can only hope that Pan Am leans heavily on sixties culture and the airlines' place in that culture for its content, as they stand to play off the same time period that AMC's fantastic workplace drama Mad Men has done, and done so well. Among others Vogel will star with Christina Ricci, Kellie Garner, and Margot Robbie. Pan Am begins on September 25th on ABC, after the premiere for the new season of Desperate Housewives.
