Finding Comfort in the Past
Retreating to “better times” of the past is a fairly standard strategy for Hollywood (there’s a reason the comforting family fare of Happy Days, The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie were such big hits during the aftermath of the sexual revolution). Several shows this season look backwards with ABC’s Pan Am longing for the days when you could simply walk onto a plane (without removing your shoes), light up a cigarette, and hit on a stewardess without fear, while NBC’s The Playboy Club longs for the days when objectifying women was nothing to be ashamed of, both taking a page from AMC’s runaway success Mad Men.
