This is the first of a three-part look back at the powerhouse sitcom Wings.
NBC was once a master of the television airwaves, beginning in the mid-1980s and stretching all the way to the early 2000s. A laundry list of hit sitcoms live on in the memory of audiences and multiple streaming services. Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, The Cosby Show, Frasier, and The Office are but a few that captivated audiences (and in some cases, revered to this day).
There is one show, however, rarely mentioned among these behemoths. A show that was funny, witty, and endearing, star-making and delightful. This was a show that took the office workplace comedy to new heights. Quite literally. Wings was underrated in its time and remains so to this day.
Wings premiered on NBC in April 1990. Created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (all of Cheers fame), the show lasted eight seasons and 172 episodes. Given the time of the year when it first aired (kind of a wasteland in that era), there was a good chance it was given the "let's see if it sticks" treatment by ordering only six episodes for that first season. Surviving takeoff, Wings would make its final departure on May 21, 1997.
Over the course of Wings, we primarily followed the lives of brothers and pilots Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian (Steven Daly) Hackett. Along with Helen Chapel (Crystal Bernard), Roy Biggins (David Schramm), Fay Evelyn Schlob Dumbly DeVay Cochran (Rebecca Schull), Lowell Mather (Thomas Haden Church), Antonio Scarpacci (Tony Shalhoub) and plenty of guest stars to fill the terminal at Tom Nevers Field on the island of Nantucket twice over, Wings entertained from start to finish.
Wings: An overview
One of the things that make a sitcom great is consistency. Wings had this in laughs, character development, and storylines. True to tv trope form, there was also a "will they/won't they" laced in throughout the first five seasons.
Like many great sitcoms, too, there often comes a lull towards final seasons. Those shows that make it past five seasons find a way to not make a drop-off happen all at once. The top-of-the-line shows may never see that happen. And while Wings never quite reached the elite level of greatness, it wasn't until parts of episode seven and into season eight where storylines grew a little bit more wacky and outlandish, sometimes not in the name of good comedy. (It will be said, however, that the two-part series finale "Final Approach" was nearly perfect).
Comedies sometimes suffer when main characters end up romantically linked throughout (see Friends, when after the initial glow of Monica/Chandler wears off after season five and a baby is tossed in the mix with the Ross/Rachel love affair a few seasons later. The show was never the same.) The creators and writers of Wings initially teased a very brief love triangle with Joe/Helen/Brian but that never really materialized. And once Joe and Helen did end up together, fresh ways were thought of to keep the show rolling, with a baby never entering the picture.
Certain moments of what we see now as cringe were used as easy jokes that put down a demographic. It was true to comedy of that era but one now people can learn from. The amount of jokes alone about being gay as a putdown or to tap into characters' homophobia were prevalent. It was seen in Wings and Friends, among many, and even stretched into early episodes of The Office.
Despite these shortfalls, Wings mostly stands the test of time, thanks to solid writing, storylines, and a core group that (mostly) stayed around for the show's entire run.
Wings: Core cast
The Hackett brothers and life at the airport terminal is the main force behind this show. The brothers own Sandpiper Air, a one-plane operation that also shares the terminal with Roy's AeroMass airline and Helen's lunch counter. There is also a car rental place hanging out in the background but one that rarely gets any mention.
From the very first episode, we see how this dynamic is to play out, especially with the two brothers.
We have the straight-laced and uptight Joe juxtaposed with the freewheeling and carefree Brian. It's responsibility vs not. And of course, one brother (Brian) who stole his brother's fiancée just prior to the events where the series begins.
Daly and Weber were credited with appearing in all 172 episodes, as were Bernard, Schramm, Schull. Towards the later seasons, I believe a few may have fallen in the "credits only" category or may have only even appeared in the first and last moments of an episode.
Helen was in charge of the lunch counter, and was the oldest friend of the Hackett brothers, with a friendship going back to childhood. Thanks to going through childhood with a weight problem, Helen had a love/hate relationship with food. Early episodes had her turning to food to calm nerves as plot points and she had to live down nicknames like "Helen, Helen the Watermelon" (season 7, episode 8) and "Easy Casey's Fat Sister" (S8, E22).
Helen also loved to play a cello and the first four seasons have a focus on trying to achieve her dream. Failed audition after failed audition haunts her, as does a brief stay in New York. The cello is destroyed in a plane crash and she buys a new one eventually but it's not really discussed much after the middle part of season four. (Until the end, that is, but let's not spoil that.)
Roy and Fay were two characters also present from the beginning and a constant throughout the run of the series. These two were often used as part of the second and third storylines of each episode. Roy had some early character development, in relation to his son coming out of the closet. And while Roy's ex-wife and mother were mentioned multiple times over the years, usually as jokes, Roy's son was never mentioned again after the second season until season seven. (Roy's mother sort of filled a Vera from Cheers role and was never seen until season eight, episode 20.)
There was more focus on Roy taking the center of episodes in later seasons, as was Fay (though in those final two seasons, Fay was not present in a few episodes and was on vacation on more than one occasion).
Fay had the unique character distinction of having multiple deceased husbands, all with the name of George. She was loyal to the Hackett brothers as Sandpiper's desk attendant and dedicated friend.
In many ways, Lowell was the court jester of the show. As the mechanic for the two airlines, the dimwitted Lowell grew up on the island and was friends with Joe, Brian, and Helen from childhood. He lived on a boat for part of the run and loved to go to the dump to shoot rats.
Lowell was written off in season seven, episode four when a collection of events led to him being entered into the witness protection program. (Haden Church left the show to do Ned and Stacey over at Fox and never returned to Nantucket.)
Wings did attempt to bring in a new mechanic in Budd (Brian Haley). Budd never caught quite on and ended up appearing in only eight episodes.
Shaloub's Antonio first made an appearance as a waiter in episode three of the second season. He would return later that season in episode 17 as a cab driver and would remain so the remainder of the season. Antonio was down-on-his luck, always looking for love and rarely finding it.
Two performers who later joined the cast were Farrah Forke and Amy Yasbeck. Forke played helicopter pilot Alex, first arriving in the fourth season. Alex flew an Apache in Desert Storm and played a romantic foil for Brian (and initially, Joe). Forke was listed as a guest star throughout the fourth season and upgraded to series regular in season five. More could have been imagined for Alex going forward but was unceremoniously written out after season five. (Forke did make one final appearance in season six, episode 19 to bring some closure to her character.)
As Helen's sister Casey, Yasbeck arrived in season six. Over her three seasons with the show, it did seem at times Casey was an afterthought in storylines. Still, Yasbeck's portrayal brought plenty of comedic chops to the table and had some dalliances with Brian but mostly was in search of a career during her time on the island.
Many more stopped by the island over the course of eight seasons. Some appearances were brief while others stayed a little longer. Guest stars and recurring characters, and more about the show, will be discussed in part two of this series.
For now, let it be said that Wings will live on forever in our hearts. (Though be careful out there. For one reason or another, 22 episodes of the series currently aren't available on Hulu, as explained in this post from 2015.)
photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
See what the cast of "Wings" is doing now (as of June, 2021)
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