Long before he was a fan favorite as Sheriff Jim Hopper on “Stranger Things” and she starred in the billion-dollar “Barbie” movie, David Harbour played MI6 agent Roger Anderson alongside Margot Robbie on a short-lived airline-themed TV show.
The series, “Pan Am,” failed to capitalize on the 1960s nostalgia stirred up by “Mad Men,” and the 2011-2012 show lasted just 14 episodes despite a cast that also included Christina Ricci, Michael Mosley, and Kelli Garner.
“Pan Am” revealed the glamorous — and tedious — aspects of working as a flight attendant or pilot during the dawn of the jet age in the early ’60s. Over the course of the show’s single season, personal and professional struggles mingled mid-air amidst a backdrop of perfectly executed set- and costume design; the pilot episode picked up three Emmy nominations in 2012 for music, special effects, and cinematography. The show marked was Harbour’s first recurring role since a five-episode arc on “As the World Turns,” and Robbie’s first time as a series or film star.
Harbour’s secret agent appeared in only six of the 14 episodes, but Robbie was an essential part of the flight crew and appeared in every installment. Ricci told The Hollywood Reporter in 2012 that the show’s low ratings didn’t reflect the size or passion of its fanbase. “When I fly, all the flight attendants love the show,” Ricci said. “I know friends and family love the show. Most of them didn’t watch it during its time slot. Most of them watched it online or TiVo’d.” (TiVo was a digital video recording system that took over from analog video tape recorders in the early 2000s; the technology was eventually displaced by on-demand streaming video.)
Poor ratings led to an early overhaul of Pan Am
In a 2016 interview with The Washington Post, Robbie blamed an early tonal shift for the demise of “Pan Am” (the series that is; the airline went under in 1991 due to financial problems). Robbie said that disappointing early ratings led to a staff shakeup and thematic changes. “As soon as it went on-air, they were like, ‘No, we didn’t get the ratings we want — let’s get a whole new crew of writers and make it more like ‘[Real] Housewives. “And you’re like, ‘What? That’s so not what the show was going to be.'”
If you want to see the change in direction and amazing set and costume design for yourself, you can stream “Pan Am” on Amazon Prime or buy the complete series on DVD. With “Stranger Things” all wrapped up, Harbour is currently starring in “DTF St. Louis” on HBO, and Robbie is working with Jay Roach and Ryan Gosling on an “Ocean’s Eleven” prequel set in the 1960s.