TV is mad about the '60s

The Emmy-winning, chattering, class-buzzing success of AMC's "Mad Men" has not gone unnoticed by rival networks. Consider that at least three projects set in the early 1960s are now in the works:

MAGIC CITY (Starz) - The show is set in a glitzy Miami hotel of that era; its story begins as Fidel Castro is taking power in Cuba. "Miami in the early '60s was a tropical crossroads, America's Casablanca," series creator and Miami native Mitchell Glazer told Deadline.com. "The Rat Pack, CIA, the mob, JFK and anti-Castro warriors, all hanging out in the same Collins Avenue nightclub."

PAN AM (ABC) - This drama will focus on the pilots and flight attendants working for that legendary (now defunct) airline company. Sony Pictures TV production president Zack Van Amburg described Pan Am's flight attendants (we called them stewardesses back in the day) as "the world's ambassadors," telling Variety: "They were really interesting women at a time when a lot of things were happening, particularly for women in this country . . . and in terms of what Pan Am did for exporting American culture and importing the world, think about all the visuals of The Beatles landing at JFK on Pan Am."

PLAYBOY (NBC) - One of "Mad Men's" most memorable episodes last season was set at the Manhattan Playboy Club, so why not a whole series set in one of those 1960s fantasylands? This drama will focus on Playboy Bunnies at the original Chicago club and will be set against the era's political and moral changes. Wonder if 84-year-old Hugh Hefner might consent to do a cameo as a senior citizen with an eye for the cotton-tailed waitresses?