Wings

A "Cheers" spin-off that started off mediocre (buried in a Friday, 9 o clock time slot) but soon found its wheels to become a truly sharp, perfectly written sitcom. If you catch the reruns on USA you might get lucky and see the show in the middle of its run. Then when you see the early, not so hot episodes you wont be so hard on it. Basically the premise was two brothers, reunited after years of bickering, decide to run an airline together. Tim Daly and Steven Weber were Joe and Brian Hackett, one straight laced, the other an outgoing goofball. Their daily life consisted of gabbing with their longtime friend Helen who worked at the lunch counter, played by the gorgeous Crystal Bernard, plus fending off insults and competition from David Schramms Roy Biggins, owner of the airline one counter away. Others featured were Thomas Haden Church's dummy mechanic Lowell, and sweet-tempered Fay, the brothers ticket agent. After the first season Tony Shalhoub was added as cabby Antonio, and in season 4 the lovely Farrah Forke was brought on for a couple of years as Brians love interest. Most of the time Joe found himself on again off again with Helen, with the rest of the cast dating a myriad of visiting characters. Must see episodes include "Joe Blows," when Daly deals with an unbearable amount of the casts problems, the one where Helen tries to get ready for a date as each of the cast keeps dropping by, and definitely the one where Brian and Joe lose the body of a bitchy rich lady's father. The final episode has some of the gang coming into money, but like its sister show "Cheers" does not give its characters big send-offs. But that last show is still decently written and provides fans with a decent payoff. So if you have the chance, hop on board "Wings," one of the more underrated sitcoms ever. (Biggest sign of that: not one Emmy that I know of to anyone involved with the show. Hissssss.)

I am so glad that USA Network continues to rerun the episodes of this great show. With one exception I found this to be among those shows with a once in a lifetime cast. The only exception was Farah Forke, an absolutely terrible actress, who has dragged down every series that she has been a part of. Her character Alex was contentious, had a constant chip on her shoulder, and constantly felt that she had to show everyone how tough she was. BUT, when the shows' producers saw the light and bounced her they hit a home run with the casting of Amy Yasbeck in the role of Helen's sister. IMHO this show was as well written as any sitcom ever was. I hated to see the character of Lowell leave but I can't blame Thomas Hayden Church for trying to make it as the star of his own series (sadly, the series was a dud). And, while I would never want to associate professionally or socially with Roy, he was played perfectly by David Schramm. The final two part episode did a superb job of wrapping things up. It was a real bittersweet moment for me as I imagined what life would be like for Brian who so abruptly gave up his dream life in the islands to keep Sandpiper going while Joe was in Europe with Helen. Who knows if he really got to fulfill that dream one year later. So many things can change in that time frame. This was a show that people like me could get involved in and it all seemed so real. I hoe that USA continues the reruns for many, many years.

I love Wings ... it was a real sweet piece of sitcom work ... Tony Shaloub was a stitch and the writing was top shelf ... the show managed to get it done without touching a lot of sensitive issues which can be a crutch for many modern sitcoms ... I liked the interplay between the brothers with their very different personalities ... Kaye, the employee, who ran the company ... Lowell, the good-natured knucklehead whose lone talent was the ability to fix airplanes and be a loving friend and family man ... Roy, the ruthless competitor and Helen, the ever self-effacing one who stepped up to the plate when the chips were down time after time ... I also like the adjustments over the years, Helen and Joe go from pals to lovers and marry ... Shaloub was so good as the maitre d' that he had to change careers so it was much easier to write him into the scripts ... he was my favorite character with his passionate Italian solilioquies

I believe this show got better as the years went by, except for the Farah Forke years (thought she was terrible & made the brothers look like fools). Even as I watch the re-runs on USA I believe this to be one of the best sit-coms ever made. I'm not sure any of these characters could have done a spin off and been successful but as a group I don't think you could get much better than this. I'd rather watch these re-runs than most of the new crap that's out there today.

IF anyone from Paramount is reading this, PLEASE release this sitcom on DVD!! You will make lots of $$$. IT will make up for the undeserved low ratings/advertising dollars that Wings generated in the 90's. I could never figure that one out. It was the BEST show on the air!! Talk about wacky but believable plot lines that had this viewer spewing milk out her nose at improper times.Better yet, Paramount, coerce the cast of Wings to reunite and do commentary on the goings on- if the old goats can remember that far back(just kidding). That would be priceless.Gawd I hope they all don't hate eachothers guts over trivial TV star stuff. Can't we all just get along? And make lotsa money!!