The 60s Are Back

It happened suddenly, and it seems like it's here to stay:

When MAD MEN debuted in July 2007, nobody could have predicted the impact that it was about to have on the TV landscape. It was an immediate success. Critics and audiences alike fell in love with not only the writing, directing and acting, but with the representation of a bygone era. AMC, the cable channel that broadcasts the show, managed to elevate its profile because of the show and, soon, the nation started getting swept away by 60s mania.

Five years later, the fascination hasn't died down. MAD MEN has received four consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series (one for each of its four seasons), ensuring that the world portrayed in the show remains in the public eye. With the praise received for its strong visual style, and the attention lavished on it, it was only a matter of time until more shows set in the 60s started popping up. Actually, it was a surprise it took so long.

On Monday, September 19, NBC debuted its new drama THE PLAYBOY CLUB, set in 1963, while a week later, ABC debuted PAN AM, also set in the 1960s, in an obvious effort to capitalize on the trend.

THE PLAYBOY CLUB focuses on four Bunnies, Maureen, Alice, Brenda and Jane, who go through your everyday murder cover-ups, secret sexual orientations, secret husbands, and aspirations to become a Playboy magazine cover girl. It's not really a bad show, even though the subject matter seems to have put off many people from the get go. The show actually avoids the chiche of trying to make the Playboy Bunnies sexy and oh-so-scandalous, and instead depends on the actors to project that sexiness that is expected of them. Furthermore, it writes strongly for women, clearly showcasing them as strong, ambitious and determined to achieve their goals and dreams.

Similarly, PAN AM is wonderfully shot and acted, featuring four main actresses who, in this case, work as flight attendants. The show mixes airplane humor with an international espionage plot, and it generally impressed, or at least much more than THE PLAYBOY CLUB. It did extremely well in the ratings and will probably have a good run.

However, both series fail on a very basic level: They do not evoke their era in any real way whatsoever. One of the things that makes MAD MEN so brilliant is the fact that, not only does it pay incredible attention to the clothing and hair style, the props and the sets, but the actors also have adjusted their mannerisms, their behavior, their speech patterns and their delivery of the lines to the best approximation of the 1960s as possible. Watching THE PLAYBOY CLUB, one gets the feeling that they're witnessing a bunch of people play dress up. Everyone walks, talks and acts like they live in 2012. There are swooshy camera moves and montages in both shows that serve to further subdue the feeling of another era. They pretend it's the past, instead of actually re-creating it.

Are the shows and plots still good? Yes, to a certain extent. PAN AM, directed by experienced director Thomas Schlamme, had an interesting visual style, and a fun, light tone, complimented by great music. THE PLAYBOY CLUB seems invested in creating a long-running arc for its characters over the course of the season. But, one has to wonder: If it feels more like Halloween dress-up, than real people living in a different year, do these shows remain topical? Or does the removal of the gimmick also remove any initial interest in them?