One of the jobs for the top executive at a broadcast TV network is to set his company’s tone and philosophy for capturing the elusive viewing audience.

Speaking to the gathering of TV critics for the summer press tour, Paul Lee, president of the ABC Entertainment Group, claimed that “empowered women is (sic) definitely a theme of the network.”

Lee was answering a question from a critic about the ABC TV network having more dramas with women characters than any other network.

Undeniably, the fall schedule has several female-driven new dramas like “Revenge,” and “Charlie’s Angels.” Never mind the debatable sexist element to “Pan Am.”

Critics have been falling all over themselves about “Pan Am,” drawing analogies to NBC’s “The Playboy Club,” and most of all to AMC’s “Mad Men.”

The inevitable question is about the sudden interest in shows with the early 1960s storylines. We know that “Mad Men,” the gold standard for drama in this era, draws the kind of numbers that would sink a show on a network.

To his credit, Lee said he is willing to take “some risks in broadcast” and that he’s been in the business “long enough to know that you stumble as much as you succeed.”

There may not be many among us who remember that air travel once represented the height of luxury and Pan Am was the biggest name in the business.

“Pan Am” recaptures some of the glory and the excitement of the emerging Jet Age, when people showed up for a flight wearing business suits and dresses.

ABC describes the show as one where the “stewardesses are the most desirable women in the world.” Boy, that’s no longer true.

The last time I recall attractive flight attendants was when the ones working for now-defunct PSA wore brightly-colored hotpants.

Anyway, I digress. The stewardesses on “Pan Am” are not just good looking but also refined, educated and cultured, resulting in a combination of obligatory qualities for international travel.

A rebellious bohemian, Maggie (Christina Ricci) turns into a buttoned-up professional for work so she can see the world.

Kelli Garner’s adventurous Kate is joined by her beauty queen younger sister, Laura (Margot Robbie), a runaway bride, who recently fled a life of domestic boredom to take to the skies.

“Pan Am” involves its share of sexy entanglements, particularly for hot-shot pilot Dean (Mike Vogel). An espionage element is also tossed into the mix when one of the stewardesses carries out assignments for the government.

For reasons I am unable to fathom, “Charlie’s Angels” is being revived and updated to a modern setting in Miami, which seems like a good place to put three hot women.

You already know the set-up. This time around the angels include Rachael Taylor’s Abby, a Park Avenue princess who became a world-class thief.

Annie Ilonzeh’s Kate is a Miami cop who fell from grace, losing both her career and her fiancé. Rounding out the trio is Minka Kelly’s Eve, a street racer with a mysterious past.

It is possible that the pretty women of “Charlie’s Angels” are just as much “empowered women” as those working as Bunnies in “The Playboy Club.” But I could be wrong.

One of the more promising new dramas is “Revenge,” a conclusion reached after watching the pilot and immediately hankering to know more about the characters.

Emily Van Camp’s Emily Thorne arrives in the swanky, ultra-rich Hamptons and starts to make new friends, while blending into the town.

But something is a little odd about a young girl living in a wealthy town all on her own, and the truth is that Emily isn’t exactly new to the community.

In fact, this was once her old neighborhood, until something bad happened that ruined her family and their reputation.

Disguising her true identity, Emily is back and she’s returned to right some of the wrongs with vengeance. The title of “Revenge” says it all.

The last new drama is “Once Upon a Time,” dreamed up by the producers of “Lost” to create a bold new imaging of the world, where fairy tales and the modern-day are about to collide.

Jennifer Morrison is a bail bonds collector who ends up in an alternate world trying to help her estranged son. To be honest, the whole fantasy business was lost on me.

ABC also has several new comedies, the most hopeful of which, at least to me, was the one bringing Tim Allen back to television.

In “Last Man Standing,” Tim Allen is literally that, at least in a household full of women. As the marketing director for an outdoor sporting goods store, Allen does not cope well with the demands of his wife (Nancy Travis) and three daughters ranging in age from 14 to 22.

Tim Allen’s deadpan humor shines once again as he battles a household of agitated women while also fending off trouble at work.

“Suburgatory,” the cleverest title for a new comedy, also shows promise because Jane Levy’s 16-year old Tessa is a precocious city girl moved by her single father (Jeremy Sisto) to a house in the suburbs.

Tessa misses the chaos of New York and is horrified by the over-manicured lawns and the neighborhood moms with the big-hair and obvious boob-jobs.

The third and last new comedy series is “Man Up!,” in which three modern men try to get in touch with their inner tough guys and redefine what it means to be a “real man.”

Haven’t men suffered enough in other comedies where they bond with other men, trying to figure out where they fit in?

“Man Up!” may not provide the answers, because my guess is that it may be one of the first casualties in the war that is called the “ratings game.” Again, I could be wrong.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.