Wings was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom that ran on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
from April 19, 1990, to May 21, 1997. Starring Tim Daly and
Steven WeberSteven Robert Weber is an American actor.-Early life:Weber was born in Briarwood, Queens, New York; his mother was a nightclub singer and his father was a nightclub performer and manager of Borscht Belt comedians...
as brothers Joe and Brian Hackett, the show was set at the fictional “Tom Nevers Field” airport, a small
airportAn airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
in
Nantucket, MassachusettsNantucket is an island 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the...
, where the Hackett brothers operated Sandpiper Air along with Fay Cochran. Exteriors of
Nantucket Memorial AirportNantucket Memorial Airport is a public airport on the south side of the island of Nantucket in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The airport is owned by the Town of Nantucket and is located three miles southeast of the town...
were used for the show. Interior scenes were filmed on an expensive high-tech
sound stageA sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building or room, used for the production of theatrical motion pictures and television shows, usually inside a movie studio....
at
Paramount StudiosParamount Pictures Corporation is a Worldwide American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is the world's oldest existing American film studio; it is also the last...
in Hollywood, California, before a live studio audience.
Other regulars included
Crystal BernardCrystal Lynn Bernard is an American actress and singer, most widely known for her seven-year-long role on the situation comedy Wings. While her main work has been on television, she has appeared in some films, and also attempted to pursue a music career as a songwriter/performer.-Personal...
,
David SchrammDavid Schramm is an American actor. He is best known for playing Roy Biggins, the portly, curmudgeonly rival airline owner in the TV series Wings. He was a powerful J.J. Peachum in the Westchester production of The Threepenny Opera and starred as Mr. Mister in the John Houseman directed revival of...
,
Rebecca SchullRebecca Schull is an American film and television actress.Schull studied acting in the United States and in Dublin, Ireland...
,
Thomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
, and
Tony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is a Lebanese-American actor, best known for his role as obsessive-compulsive sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk.-Early life:...
.
Farrah ForkeFarrah Forke, sometimes credited as Farrah R. Forke , is an American actress known for her role as "Alex Lambert" on the NBC sitcom Wings, and "Mayson Drake" on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
later joined the cast for two seasons. When Forke left,
Amy Yasbeck-Early life:Yasbeck was born in Blue Ash, Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Dorothy Murphy , a homemaker, and John Yasbeck , a butcher and grocery store owner. She is of half Irish and half Lebanese descent. As a child, Yasbeck was featured on the package art for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven...
joined the cast for the remainder of the show's run from 1994-1997. Thomas Haden Church left the show in spring 1995 to star in the
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
sitcom
Ned and Stacey.
Wings was created and produced by
David AngellDavid Lawrence Angell was an American producer of sitcoms. Angell won multiple Emmy Awards as the creator and executive producer, along with Peter Casey and David Lee, of the comedy series Frasier...
,
Peter CaseyPeter Casey is an American television producer and screenwriter. He was a writer for the American sitcoms The Jeffersons, Cheers and Wings, as well as being a co-creator and writer for Frasier.-External links:...
, and David Lee, who had been writers and producers on the sitcom
CheersCheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, having been created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
. The trio would later create the sitcom
FrasierFrasier is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993 to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Paramount Television.A spin-off from Cheers, Frasier stars Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist...
. Characters from
Cheers occasionally made special guest appearances on
Wings. All three series were produced by
Paramount TelevisionParamount Television was an American television production/distribution company that was active from 1959 to January 17, 2006.Its successor is CBS Television Studios, formerly CBS Paramount Television...
.
In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Sky One and Paramount Comedy Channel from 1991 to 1997.
Joe Hackett
Joe is a highly responsible, compulsively neat pilot who owns the one-plane airline Sandpiper Air on Nantucket Island. He dreamed of becoming a pilot as a child, and became the de facto head of his family after his and his brother's mother disappeared and their father went insane. He had initially intended to launch Sandpiper Air with his fiancee Carol behind the ticket counter, but his brother Brian ran off with her, causing a falling out between the brothers. He was played by
Timothy DalyJames Timothy "Tim" Daly is an American stage, screen and voice actor, director and producer. He is best known for his television role as Joe Hackett on the NBC sitcom Wings and for his voice role as Superman in Superman: The Animated Series, as well as his recurring role of the drug-addicted...
.
Brian Hackett
Brian is the more carefree of the Hackett brothers. His irresponsibility is often a source of consternation to older brother Joe: he had a "free ride" to
PrincetonPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
and dropped out, was accepted into the
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
training program at
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
and was soon expelled, and has lost other lucrative opportunities due to his chronic irresponsibility. He moved to the island of
MustiqueMustique is a small private island in the West Indies where the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet. The island is one of a group of islands called the Grenadines, most of which form part of the country of St Vincent and the Grenadines.The island covers 1,400 acres and it has several coral...
in the
CaribbeanThe Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts...
and ran charter flights there after he eloped with Joe's fiancee, Carol, which caused a rift between the brothers. When Carol left Brian, he returned to Nantucket, and Joe was eventually persuaded not only to allow him to move into his house, but to give Brian a job at Sandpiper Air. Brian is a shameless womanizer for most of the series, but has two significant relationships: the first with helicopter pilot Alex Lambert, and then with Casey Chapel Davenport, Helen's older sister (see below). He was played by
Steven WeberSteven Robert Weber is an American actor.-Early life:Weber was born in Briarwood, Queens, New York; his mother was a nightclub singer and his father was a nightclub performer and manager of Borscht Belt comedians...
.
Helen Chapel Hackett
Helen is a petite blonde who, despite having lived on Nantucket for most of her life, speaks with a
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
drawl. In real life, this is due to the actress being Texan. In the series, it is explained that Helen's family moved to the island from Texas when she was a child. Though Helen dreams of playing the
celloThe cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
in a large symphony orchestra, she runs the lunch counter in the airport terminal and never really manages to get a music career off the ground until the final episode. Occasionally Helen would also earn money teaching children the cello. A running gag in regards to her music is that bad luck would always seem to follow her in her playing. Examples of this bad luck included her having to join a
string quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments — usually two violins, a viola and cello — or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
of
neuroticNeurosis refers to a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, where behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...
individuals as that was the only group at the time who would accept her. Other instances were: Helen getting accepted to a state-run symphony, only to soon learn the state legislature eliminated the funding; the
Boston Symphony OrchestraThe Boston Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays the majority of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the...
appreciated a cassette of her cello playing, but they lost the label and had no way to contact her; when she finally got a chance to play for the BSO, the plane crashed en route. Helen also constantly battles a compulsive eating habit that caused her to be morbidly obese in her youth. Though successful at losing the weight sometime after Brian eloped with Carol, it is still a specter in her life and a blight on her self-image. She has been a lifelong friend of both Hackett brothers and dreamed of marrying Joe from a young age. She was briefly married to Antonio to prevent him from being deported, but divorced early when he won the Green Card Lottery (they were supposed to be married for three years) and finally married Joe at the end of the sixth season. She was played by
Crystal BernardCrystal Lynn Bernard is an American actress and singer, most widely known for her seven-year-long role on the situation comedy Wings. While her main work has been on television, she has appeared in some films, and also attempted to pursue a music career as a songwriter/performer.-Personal...
.
Fay Evelyn Schlob Dumbly DeVay Cochran
Fay, Joe's only employee besides Brian, is a
flight attendantFlight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety but also the comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights as well as on select business jet aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant ultimately derives from that of similar...
who handles the ticket counter, baggage check, and flight announcements for Sandpiper Air. Fay has buried three husbands, all with the first name George, and half-jokes of a curse in which, if she marries a man named George, he dies. In one episode she almost marries another man, until she finds out his real first name is George (he went by a nickname) and she couldn't make herself marry another George. She is a generally sweet and motherly, though slightly batty, woman who looks after the younger members of their circle as her own children, with the possible exception of Roy Biggins, for whom she often has little patience due to his generally contemptible behavior. She can, however, be sweetly manipulative. She was played by
Rebecca SchullRebecca Schull is an American film and television actress.Schull studied acting in the United States and in Dublin, Ireland...
.
Roy Biggins
Roy is the owner of Aeromass, the only other airline on Nantucket, and with seven planes a larger business than Sandpiper, although Roy had been unable to break into the lucrative business of charter flights. Generally competitive, arrogant and unpleasant, Roy often belittles Joe for having a small-time operation and mocks Joe's business skills. Despite this, Roy feels threatened by Joe's presence as a competitor, and makes numerous attempts to either buy Sandpiper or put it out of business. Roy was married to a woman named Sylvia; for several years he claimed that she died, but it was later revealed that actually she had left him and is now living in Boston and married to a wealthy plastic surgeon. Sylvia was played by
Concetta TomeiConcetta Tomei is an American theatre, film and television actress.-Early life:Tomei was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She is not related to actress Marisa Tomei...
. The couple had one son, R.J. (Roy Junior), who is a homosexual. Roy is a dishonest man. Examples included him forcing a customer on a plane who just ordered a large meal from Helen. The customer leaves his meal and the money for Helen; Roy promptly steals both. He also established false charities to include one for his "late wife" and using the proceeds for fly-fishing trips or to subscribe to the Playboy Channel. He has an autographed picture of
Richard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and is the only president to resign the office. He was also the 36th Vice President of the United States ....
in his office and was once arrested for trying to sneak aboard
Air Force OneAir Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States...
to have a picture taken of himself shaking hands with President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush was the 41st President of the United States . He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence....
. Also, in his office he has a poster of a woman wearing a thong bikini riding on a unicycle. His comment was, "If that was Paris and she was holding a loaf of bread, they'd call it art." While normally conniving and arrogant, Roy does have a sense of fun: Since his birthday was on February 29, 1948, a
leap yearA leap year is a year containing one or more extra days in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year....
, he celebrates it only once every four years as if he were only a quarter of his real age. He drives a purple
El CaminoThe Chevrolet El Camino is a coupe utility vehicle produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1959 through 1960, with production resuming in 1964 and continuing through 1987. El Camino was produced in response to the success of its rival Ford Ranchero...
, to which he claims he can disconnect the brake lights in order to engage in
insurance fraudInsurance fraud is any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain payment from an insurer.Insurance fraud has existed ever since the beginning of insurance as a commercial enterprise. Fraudulent claims account for a significant portion of all claims received by insurers, and cost billions...
by being unintentionally rear-ended by people in luxury cars. He was played by
David SchrammDavid Schramm is an American actor. He is best known for playing Roy Biggins, the portly, curmudgeonly rival airline owner in the TV series Wings. He was a powerful J.J. Peachum in the Westchester production of The Threepenny Opera and starred as Mr. Mister in the John Houseman directed revival of...
.
Antonio Scarpacci
(Season 3-8) An
ItalianThe Italian people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common Italian culture, descent, and speaking the Italian language as a mother tongue...
immigrant who provides taxi service to and from the airport, Antonio is mild-mannered, deferential, and hopelessly romantic; he falls head-over-heels for Helen's older sister Casey when she returns to Nantucket, though his feelings are not reciprocated. Antonio was originally a waiter, and made a guest appearance in the second season in this role before becoming an official cast member in the third season (by which time he had changed professions). He was played by
Tony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is a Lebanese-American actor, best known for his role as obsessive-compulsive sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk.-Early life:...
.
Lowell Mather
(Season 1-6) Lowell is a dim, eccentric mechanic/handyman who works at the airport and is available to everyone when repairs are needed. He claims that, while he is not an orphan, his brother is. He was married to a woman named Bunny with whom he had several children, but they
divorceDivorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...
d when Lowell learned that Bunny was sleeping around. After Brian sank the
houseboatA houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
Lowell lived on, Lowell lived with Joe and Brian for a time, where he revealed a surprising talent for cooking. After about a year, however, his eccentricities became unbearable to the Hacketts, and they kicked him out to find his own place. Eventually, Lowell is forced to leave Nantucket and enter the Witness Protection Program after witnessing a
mob hitContract killing is a form of assassination in which one entity hires another entity to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for some kind of remuneration, monetary or otherwise...
. Although it was hard for him to leave Nantucket and the people he knew all his life, Lowell decided he would prefer to go into hiding rather than let a guilty man go free and possibly murder again. He was played by
Thomas Haden ChurchThomas Haden Church is an American actor. After co-starring in the 1990s sitcom Wings, Church became well known for his film roles, including his Academy Award-nominated performance in Sideways and his role as the Sandman in Spider-Man 3.-Early life:Church, the fourth of six children, was born...
.
Alex Lambert
(Season 4-5) Alex is a
helicopterA helicopter is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter achieves lift with the...
pilot who moves to Nantucket to start her own helicopter tour business. She had previously flown U.S. Army
Apache helicoptersThe AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with reverse-tricycle landing gear, and tandem cockpit for a crew of two. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the AH-1 Cobra...
in Desert Storm. Though she initially rebuffs the amorous attentions of both Hackett brothers, she eventually falls for Brian's boyish charms. She and Brian live together briefly, but after Brian spends a wild night in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with Joe and an old friend, Alex throws him out of the apartment and leaves Nantucket for good. She returns a season later to resolve some of the bitterness in their breakup; she and Brian briefly get back together before they both finally decide it best to go their separate ways. Alex was played by
Farrah ForkeFarrah Forke, sometimes credited as Farrah R. Forke , is an American actress known for her role as "Alex Lambert" on the NBC sitcom Wings, and "Mayson Drake" on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman...
.
Casey (Davenport) Chapel
(Season 6-8) Casey is Helen's older sister. She returns to Nantucket after being abandoned by her husband, Stuart Davenport, but despite having grown up there she has difficulty adjusting her
upper crustThe phrase upper crust may refer to:* Upper Crust, a chain of sandwich restaurants* "The upper crust", a colloquialism referring to the wealthy or privileged classes...
tastes and sensibilities to a
working classWorking class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
life on the small island. Though Antonio falls madly in love with her, Casey takes little notice of him. After she and Brian spend the better part of a season sniping at each other, they end up having sex the night before Joe and Helen's wedding. Afterward they find themselves unable to stay away from each other, having a passionate affair; while Joe and Helen are on their honeymoon, Casey's bra lands on the hearth of the lit fireplace and leads to Helen's house burning down. Her relationship with Brian cools after that, but they maintain a friendship. When she first appears in the show, Casey goes by her married name of Davenport, but after she and Stuart divorce at the end of season seven, she reverts to Chapel. She was played by
Amy Yasbeck-Early life:Yasbeck was born in Blue Ash, Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Dorothy Murphy , a homemaker, and John Yasbeck , a butcher and grocery store owner. She is of half Irish and half Lebanese descent. As a child, Yasbeck was featured on the package art for the Betty Crocker Easy-Bake Oven...
.
Budd Bronski
(Season 7) Budd is a retired US Marine who is hired to replace Lowell. He is extremely jumpy and insecure, and haunted by an incident in his past in which an aircraft he worked on crashed, resulting in his facing a court martial. Though the military cleared him of charges, Budd continues to blame himself for the incident until Brian convinces him to let it go. Occasionally Budd would astonish everyone with magic tricks, but otherwise had difficulty adjusting to the social scene. After being introduced early in the seventh season, Budd disappears toward the end of the season and is never mentioned again. He was played by
Brian HaleyBrian Carlo Haley is an American actor and stand-up comedian. His stand-up act is characterized by playing his all-American looks against manic outbursts and absurd situations...
.
Recurring characters
Bunny Mather: Lowell's wife at the beginning of the series, from whom he separates and eventually divorces when he learns she sleeps with other men. Bunny's promiscuity is her primary gag; she flirts with nearly every man she encounters (including, at one point, Joe and Brian [her fantasy is to sleep with two co-workers]), and ends up sleeping with many of them. Not even the divorce was enough to convince Bunny to stay away, as the episode that showed the divorce had Lowell and Bunny sleeping together that very same night. Bunny was played by
Laura InnesLaura Elizabeth Innes is an American actress and director, probably best known for her role as Dr. Kerry Weaver on ER.-Career:...
.
Carlton Blanchard: He is an old man with a high-pitched nasal voice whose outwardly meek yet privately demanding behavior causes everyone who meets him to shudder at his coming. He is also known for asking bizarre questions such as "If you were to carpet
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, how long would it take to vacuum it?" and "If a monkey were to bite you, what kind of drugs do you suppose they'd give you?". He annoyed Joe, Brian, Lowell and Antonio when he won a
charityIn modern usage, the practice of charity means the giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas...
contestA contest is an event in which two or more individuals or teams engage in competition against each other, often for a prize or similar incentive.Contest may also refer to:Literature* Contest , by Matthew ReillyPlaces...
sponsored by Sandpiper and demanded he be flown to
Las Cruces, New MexicoLas Cruces is a city in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,267. The population was estimated at 91,865 as of July 1, 2008, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the center of an agricultural region...
, way beyond the scope of Sandpiper's routes. In another episode, he tricked Helen into throwing him a birthday party and then fell down her stairs in order to force her to take care of him for a week. Though none of the regulars care for Carlton, he is especially disliked by Antonio, a situation made worse by the fact that Carlton repeatedly calls him by the wrong name, "Angelo". Carlton was played by
William HickeyWilliam Edward Hickey was an American actor. He was known for his Oscar-nominated role as Don Corrado Prizzi in the John Huston 1985 film Prizzi's Honor.-Early life:...
.
Lewis Blanchard: Carlton's equally irritating nephew. He is very rude and abrasive, and makes only the slightest of attempts to hide his wish for Carlton to die so he can inherit his money. He seems to have crushes on Casey, Helen, and Alex, who are all completely repulsed by his lewd remarks. Lewis was played by
Gilbert GottfriedGilbert Gottfried is an American stand-up comedian and actor whose trademark is a distinctively loud, obnoxious, rasping, grating voice...
.
Davis Lynch: Davis is a businessman whom Joe flies to Nantucket to invest in the airline. Though he rejects Joe's offer (and ends up investing the money in Roy's airline), he ends up dating Helen, and eventually proposes to her. Helen accepts, but ends up leaving him for Joe. Toward the end of the series, Helen reveals she never broke off the engagement. She had figured he was gone after he was skirted off to Burma in the wake of a
coup d'etatA coup d'état , or coup for short, is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a legitimate government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another, either civil or military...
to salvage major investments he had in the company. He was then placed under
house arrestIn justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
by the
military juntaA military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors...
. Upon his release, Davis returns to see Helen, but while she is trying to work up the courage to tell him she has married someone else, Davis announces that
he will be unable to marry
her, having fallen in love with a lady who worked for the State Department and had risked her life to secure his release. Davis was played by
Mark HarelikMark Harelik is an American television, film, and stage actor and playwright. He has appeared in the films Election, and For Your Consideration; He was the voice of Rogers in The Swan Princess, and he has played parts on the television sitcoms Seinfeld, Wings, Will & Grace, and The Big Bang Theory...
.
Sandy Cooper: Sandy is a friend of Joe, Brian, and Helen from high school. She has an insane, obsessive crush on Joe, but he is unable to convince anyone else of this because she acts completely normal except when she is alone with Joe, who gives her the nickname "Psycho Sandy". She would appear on Nantucket periodically, and carefully plan her fantasy life with "Joey Bear" at moments when the two of them were alone. Such fantasies included a re-enacted high school
promIn the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is held at the end of senior year. In the United Kingdom, the term is more widely understood to be in reference to a season of classical concerts, or "proms," which have been...
; the couple's wedding and honeymoon; and the birth of their first child. In one episode, Sandy is shown to be dating Brian, but the relationship was ultimately never pursued by the show's writers. Sandy was played by
Valerie MahaffeyValerie Mahaffey is an American actress who won an Emmy Award for her work on Northern Exposure. She later won fame through her portrayal of extroverted and friendly but ultimately insane women on the television shows Wings and Desperate Housewives...
.
Roy Biggins, Jr. (a.k.a. R.J.): Roy's only son, and the pride of his life and he is gay. Roy had trained R.J how to do "guy stuff" such as playing
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
. The first time he is shown is when he is a
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
student taking cello lessons from Helen as an extracurricular activity. R.J. reveals to everyone he is a homosexual. Roy does not take this news well and challenges him to a game of one-on-one
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
on the condition that if R.J. wins he is allowed to be homosexual, but if Roy wins R.J. is not allowed to be homosexual. R.J. wins game after game against Roy, but Roy refuses to give up. R.J. would return much later in the series after being estranged from Roy for a long time. He had since graduated from law school and was looking to take the Massachusetts Bar Exam. Roy is proud of R.J and his accomplishments, but only so long as R.J.'s homosexuality isn't discussed. R.J. was played by
Abraham BenrubiAbraham Rubin Hercules Benrubi is an American actor known for his regular appearances as Jerry Markovic on the long-running U.S...
.
Kenny McElvey: Kenny is an 18-year-old who becomes Sandpiper's backup pilot during a second season story arc where Joe is grounded for
hypertensionHypertension is a chronic medical condition in which the blood pressure is elevated. It is also referred to as high blood pressure or shortened to HT, HTN or HPN. The word "hypertension", by itself, normally refers to systemic, arterial hypertension.Hypertension can be classified as either...
. The comedic focus of the character was his youth and relative inexperience, but he was the most qualified out of the applicants for Joe's replacement (which did not consist of a very large pool). When Joe began flying again in the third season, Kenny disappeared from the series without explanation and was never mentioned again, although it is assumed that given his young age, Kenny attended college in order to prepare himself for a better paying airline job. One episode showed Kenny also working at a
fast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form...
joint to supplement his meager income from Sandpiper. Kenny was played by
Michael ManasseriMichael Manasseri is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Wyatt Donnelly in the TV series Weird Science . He also had a recurring role in the second season of the NBC sitcom Wings as young pilot Kenny McElvey.He directed his first film, Babysitter Wanted, in 2007...
.
Mr. Hackett: Joe and Brian's deceased father who had taken it hard when his wife, and the boys' mother, walked out on the family. He was committed to a mental institution and had died just prior to the beginning of the series. He had a good sense of humor, and in the series premiere had his will required to be read to both Brian and Joe together, which required them to reunite after their six year estrangement. He willed them a key which opened up the lockbox to another key, then another, which had Joe and Brian go to
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
then back to Nantucket airport where they ended up finding a suitcase full of spring snakes and a photograph of them as children, encouraging them to always value their kinship. After Brian and Casey burn down Joe's house, Joe, fed up with Brian's string of irresponsible behavior, fires him from Sandpiper and orders him never to speak to him again. The ghost of his father appears and uses
reverse psychologyReverse psychology is a persuasion technique involving the false advocacy of a belief or behavior contrary to the belief or behavior which is actually being advocated...
to convince Joe to make peace with Brian. Mr. Hackett was played by
Don MurrayDonald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.Murray was born in Hollywood, California. He attended East Rockaway High School in East Rockaway, New York where he played football and track, was a member of the student government and glee club and joined the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Omega Gamma...
.
Gail Scott: Joe's girlfriend during the first part of Season Three. They began dating while Helen was in New York. When Joe persuaded Helen to move back to Nantucket when she was unhappy in New York, he did not tell her about his relationship with Gail because of his worry that it would prevent Helen from moving back to Nantucket. Helen, convinced that she and Joe would pick up right where they left off, did come back, but soon discovered the truth about Joe and Gail. Believing that Joe intended to hurt her by not disclosing his relationship with Gail, Helen drove her jeep through Joe and Brian's office. Gail is in three episodes, but is mentioned in several others, including phone conversations. She is a journalist who constantly travels. She and Helen eventually become friends briefly, but Gail leaves Joe when she catches Joe and Helen kissing in his kitchen. Gail was played by
Gretchen GermanGretchen German is a Canadian born American actress who has appeared in both film and television. She is best known for her guest roles in an episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld and in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Filmography :...
.
Lou: Lou is a feisty old man who is introduced in Season Seven's "The Lyin' King". In that episode, Joe, in order to assuage his guilt over going to a strip club later, volunteers at the senior citizens' home, where he is assigned to spend time with Lou. After spending a moment complaining about how lousy nursing home life is, Lou manages to guilt trip Joe into taking him to the strip club with him. Though Joe is somewhat tolerant of Lou, Brian is decidedly less so, referring to him derisively as
YodaYoda is a character in the Star Wars fictional universe, appearing in the three prequel trilogy films as well as the second and third original films. Yoda dies in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he is around 800 years old. He is widely considered to be the greatest Jedi of all time...
(due to Lou's shrivelled physical appearance). Lou, in return, makes it clear he does not care for Brian either. Lou is also prone to talking about a rift he had in the past with his brother Harry, prompting his catchphrase, "He screwed me blue!" Lou was originally intended as a one-shot appearance, but proved so popular that he was brought back in the show's final season, where we are also introduced to his brother Harry, played by
Abe VigodaAbraham Charles "Abe" Vigoda is an American movie and television actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Detective Sgt...
. Lou was played by
Phil LeedsPhil Leeds was a Hollywood character actor.He was born in 1916 in New York City, the son of a post office clerk...
.
Locale
The series takes place primarily at the fictional Nantucket airport Tom Nevers Field. Until 1976, the real-life island was the site of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
's
Tom Nevers Naval FacilityTom Nevers Naval Facility was a U.S. Navy submarine listening post active from 1955-1976. It later became home to the Nantucket Hunting Association. - History :...
, later the home of the Nantucket Hunters Club.
Cheers tie-ins
Although technically not a spin-off,
Wings takes place in the same universe as
CheersCheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, having been created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, and by extension, its
spin-offMedia spin-off is the process of deriving new radio programs, television programs or video games or even novels from already existing ones. Spin-offs work with varying degrees of success...
FrasierFrasier is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993 to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Paramount Television.A spin-off from Cheers, Frasier stars Kelsey Grammer as psychiatrist...
. Several episodes had tie-ins with
CheersCheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, having been created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
;
Kelsey GrammerAllen Kelsey Grammer , best known as Kelsey Grammer, is an American actor best known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC sitcoms Cheers and Frasier , and providing the voice of Sideshow Bob on the Fox animated series The Simpsons...
(who was nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearance),
Bebe NeuwirthBeatrice "Bebe" Neuwirth is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Dr. Lilith Sternin, Dr...
,
George WendtGeorge Robert Wendt is an American actor, best known for the role of Norm Peterson on the television show Cheers.-Early life:...
,
John RatzenbergerJohn Deszo Ratzenberger is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Cliff Clavin in the sitcom Cheers.-Career:...
, and
Kirstie AlleyKirsten Louise "Kirstie" Alley is an American actress known for her role in the TV show Cheers, in which she played Rebecca Howe from 1987–1993, winning an Emmy as the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for 1991....
all appeared on
Wings playing their
Cheers characters.
- Cliff Clavin
Clifford C. Clavin, Jr. is a character on the American television show Cheers, co-created and portrayed by John Ratzenberger.-Background:...
and Norm PetersonHillary Norman "Norm" Peterson is a character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by George Wendt. Norm's real first name was revealed to be Hillary, named after his grandfather....
visit Nantucket in the season two episode "The Story of Joe". Their goal is ostensibly to go fishing, but the two never seem to get any farther than the island's drinking establishments.
- Frasier
Dr. Frasier Winslow Crane, M.D., Ph.D., A.P.A. is a fictional character on American television sitcoms Frasier and Cheers. He was played by Kelsey Grammer for twenty years, tying the record for the longest-running character on prime-time American television, which was set by James Arness, who...
and Lilith Crane were the focus of the season three episode, "Planes, Trains, & Visiting Cranes." In the episode, Frasier and a skeptical Lilith come to Nantucket to put on a motivational seminar, but run into opposition from Helen Chapel, a dissatisfied former customer of Frasier's program. In the Cheers episode "License to Hill", which aired the same night as that particular Wings episode, Frasier even mentions that he and Lilith are going to Nantucket, foreshadowing their crossover appearance. (An additional note: Nine years later, at the beginning of the Frasier episode "Bla-Z Boy," Niles plays the Wings theme on the piano.)
- Rebecca Howe
Rebecca Howe-Sandtry is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Kirstie Alley. She is introduced after Shelley Long, who played overeducated barmaid Diane Chambers, left to pursue a movie career...
has a cameo appearance in the season four episode "I Love Brian", whose plot revolves around Brian's attempt to infiltrate a post-concert party in Clint BlackClint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks...
's hotel room. As Rebecca is seen being asked to leave by Black's bouncer, she begs Black to come to the bar in Boston where she works so she can prove to the others there that she knows him. Black responds, "Maybe next year", causing Rebecca to exclaim right before she is kicked out of the party, "But none of you know where we're going to be next year!", a reference to how Cheers was in its final season on television.
Awards
The
list of awards and nominations for
Wings
| Year |
Award |
Category |
Recipient |
Result |
| 1992 |
Emmy Award The Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards and Tony Awards .They are presented in various...
|
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.-Award winners:1970s*1975: Cloris Leachman – The Mary Tyler Moore Show1980s*1988: Beah Richards – Frank's Place...
|
Tyne Daly Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Lacey in the television series Cagney and Lacey...
|
|
| Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.-1980s:*1986: Roscoe Lee Browne – The Cosby Show*1987: John Cleese – Cheers*1988: no award*1989: Cleavon Little – Dear John-1990s:...
|
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer , best known as Kelsey Grammer, is an American actor best known for his two-decade portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane in the NBC sitcoms Cheers and Frasier , and providing the voice of Sideshow Bob on the Fox animated series The Simpsons...
|
|
BMIBroadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Film & TV Awards |
BMI TV Music Award |
Bruce Miller Bruce Miller may refer to:*Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller , born 1947, an infielder for the San Francisco Giants baseball team...
|
|
| 1994 |
BMIBroadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Film & TV Awards |
BMI TV Music Award |
Bruce Miller Bruce Miller may refer to:*Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller *Bruce Miller , born 1947, an infielder for the San Francisco Giants baseball team...
|
|
| 1995 |
American Cinema Editors Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
|
Best Edited Half-Hour Series for Television |
Darryl Bates |
|
| 1996 |
Emmy Award The Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards and Tony Awards .They are presented in various...
|
Outstanding Makeup for a Series |
Tommy Cole, Ken Wensevic |
|
| 1997 |
GLAAD Media Award |
Outstanding TV - Individual Episode |
|
|
| 2005 |
TV Land Award |
Favorite Airborne Character(s) |
Tim Daly, Steven Weber Steven Robert Weber is an American actor.-Early life:Weber was born in Briarwood, Queens, New York; his mother was a nightclub singer and his father was a nightclub performer and manager of Borscht Belt comedians...
|
|
| |
DVD releases
Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS DVD have released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|
| The Complete First and Second Seasons |
28 |
May 23, 2006 |
| The Complete Third Season |
22 |
October 24, 2006 |
| The Fourth Season |
22 |
May 15, 2007 |
| The Fifth Season |
24 |
November 6, 2007 |
| The Sixth Season |
26 |
March 25, 2008 |
| The Seventh Season |
26 |
September 9, 2008 |
| The Eighth Season |
24 |
April 14, 2009 |
Music
The theme was a short version of a
Franz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
piece, Piano sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959, IV. Rondo. Allegretto. Schubert received screen credit as the theme composer in every episode.
The opening theme heard during the first two and a half seasons was a fairly straightforward arrangement with piano and strings; a jazzed-up version of the theme was heard during the closing credits. The slow opening theme was dropped in January 1992 as episodes began using a
cold openA cold open in a television program or movie is the technique of jumping directly into a story at the beginning or opening of the show, before the title sequence or opening credits are shown...
, though it returned for the series finale in 1997.
The Frasier episode named Bla-Z-Boy opens up with Niles Crane playing the theme on the piano.
Series finale
NBC aired the final episode of the show on May 21, 1997. The episode's plot was a callback to the first episode of the series, in which Joe and Brian are left a suitcase by their father containing a picture of the two as boys and a note reading, "You're rich". In the finale, the brothers discover that not only does the lining of the suitcase contain money, but it sets them off on a treasure hunt which ends up making them $250,000 richer. They argue over what to do with the money; Joe wants to put it into the airline while Brian wants to use the money to retire and move away. Joe's resolve to stay on Nantucket is further tested by the news that Helen has been offered an opportunity to go to Vienna to study music.
The finale featured no guest stars. Most of the extras in the episode were writers and members of the production crew making cameo appearances.
In the final moments of the episode, Brian offers to run the airline for one year while Joe and Helen are in Europe. With Joe's portion of the money, they retire the mortgage on their first airplane, acquire a second airplane, and purchase access to more airline routes, thus doubling the airline's size and rebuffing Roy's desire to "tear down this lemonade stand of a business", as Joe had initially agreed to sell him Sandpiper Air. Helen leaves her lunch counter, while Casey, Helen's sister, having told off everyone on the island, has nowhere to work and no means of supporting herself. Helen steers her toward her old lunch counter, a fate Casey cannot believe, to which Helen says she felt the same way at first. The final scene shows Joe flying Helen to Boston so they can get a connecting flight to Vienna, Austria.