'Pan Am' May (or May Not) Be Cancelled

So, is the "Pan Am" flight to hiatus Purgatory arriving on-time, or will it ultimately be delayed?

E! News reports one star of the ABC airline drama, Karine Vanasse, tweeted earlier Tuesday that she'd received "THE call" that ABC would be axing the show following one last post-Christmas episode.

An ABC rep then told E! that was a somewhat exaggerated claim.

"Nothing has changed. We are not canceling 'Pan Am.' We are still in production and will continue to be in production finishing the original 13 episodes plus one more additional one," the mouthpiece said.

"We have one more original episode this coming week, Dec. 4, and then will return in January with new episodes, airing all of them," the rep continued.

"'Pan Am' is still in contention for next season. We won't know about that until our upfront announcement in May."

The E! report further claims that sources close to the show say it's a matter of so many shows, so little time. There are apparently just "too many good shows" for "Pan Am" to have room at the table, but that it could make a late-summer or early-fall 2012 return. The show's pilot roared out of the gate, drawing 11 million viewers. Since then, it's averaged about half that, roughly 5-6 million viewers.

Actually, I stand corrected. "Cougar Town" and "Pan Am" at least have very rough timetables for a return. Fans of "Community," despite a swell of support via devout internet communities, still doesn't have an announced, ballpark timeframe for its return.