Enough with the Dead Celebrities...Let's Fly Away

Man, they are dropping like flies, aren't they? Things are so bad I'm forced to lighten things up with a blog post I was originally planning way back in September 2011 - when PAN AM was the hottest thing on TV. Remember PAN AM?

Well, I for one was very excited about this show. When I first heard about it, I thought it would be right up my runway. After all, I've been a fan of Pan Am - the vintage airline - since as far back as I could remember. In fact I've been crazy about flight attendants since I was a wee lad.

After all, what's not to love about Pam Am stewardesses?

Well, after watching about 2.5 episodes of PAN AM...I realized I'd rather look at old ads from the 60s than watch a painfully annoying show about bland characters.

Like this one.

Other TV shows and films tried to capture the thrill of the airline experience.

Films like COME FLY WITH ME (1963).

How great is this poster? Even in French...

And then there's BOEING, BOEING (1966)...

And the awful Gwyneth Paltrow vehicle VIEW FROM THE TOP (2003). What a stinker!

.

A much better film which used Pan Am as production element was Spielberg's CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002), which I believe is currently having a second life as a big splashy Broadway musical.

On TV, there was the adaptation of the saucy novel COFFEE, TEA OR ME? (1973)

The ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK version was a bit tamer.

Starring Karen Valentine and John Davidson.

Looks like the original book has been re-issued by Penguin. Didn't they used to publish classics?

Another attempt by network TV to capture the stewardess experience was the CBS dramedy FLYING HIGH (1978-79).

Starring Connie Selleca, Pat Klous and Kathryn Witt.

It was called a "jiggle show" or "CHARLIE'S ANGE:LS in the air."

Looks intense.

Apparently it's still popular somewhere...

Years later, FOX gave us THE CREW... 

 Yes, THE CREW (1995-96) from Marc (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) Cherry starring soap icon Lane Davies.

A little more racy was the British series MILE HIGH (2003-05)...

Which was kind of a throw back to the sexploitation flicks like...THE STEWARDESSES (1969)...which was in 3D.

 Or STEWARDESS SCHOOL (1986) featuring Donny Most, Judy Landers and Sherman Hemsley!

I'm not gonna go into the AIRPORT series of films, but I really must mention that the all-time best Airplane movie is, of course AIRPLANE! (1980).

But by all means, avoid the sequel...

...and avoid PAN AM. Is that show still even on?

Celebrity Deaths Update

I've missed a bunch of celebrity deaths over the past month or so. After Liz Taylor, we lost a whole slew of talented folks including Loleatta Holloway (born 1946), Lanford Wilson (born 1937), Farley Granger (born 1925), Sidney Lumet (born 1924), Sol Saks (born 1910), Marie-France Pisier (born 1944), Phoebe Snow (born 1950), Yvette Vickers (born 1928), Poly Styrene (1957), Marian Mercer (born 1935), Jackie Cooper (born 1922), Arthur Laurents (born 1917), Dolores Fuller (born 1923), Norma Zimmer (born 1923) and Sada Thompson (born 1937).

I remember this gripping episode of FAMILY in which Sada's character awaits the results of a biopsy. A strange marketing decision by ABC shows an inappropriately whimsical logo for the series in an otherwise grim TV GUIDE ad. Notice the guest appearance by NANNY & THE PROFESSOR's Kim Richards.

Before blu-ray, dvd, vhs, laser disc and betamax there was...

My family didn't have a projector, but I often dreamed that we did. Imagine watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons, EXPO '67 or CLEOPATRA on your living room wall? What a thrill to create the movie-going experience in your very own home. I recall neighbors having a 8mm set-up and watching some Betty Boop cartoons in their garage. Now that was living! The closest I ever got to that was when my parents bought me a View-Master projector and I invited friends over to watch stills from THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE and KING KONG (these were both preceded by Disney shorts in the true tradition of the cinema). Nowadays with our big-screen TVs and instant access to all sorts of media, we can watch basically anything we want 24/7 from ALIENS to ZARDOZ, but doesn't it make you long for the days when the movie-watching experience was a special occasion?