DVD available at Amazon.com
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Release Date: May 23, 2006
Number of Discs: 4
Number of Episodes: 28
Running Time: 642 Minutes
MSRP: $38.99
Creators:
David Angell
Peter Casey
David Lee
Cast:
Tim Daly……….Joe Hackett
Steven Weber……….Brian Hackett
Crystal Bernard……….Helen Chappel
David Schramm………Roy Biggins
Rebecca Schull……….Fay Evelyn Schlob Dumbly DeVay Cochran
Thomas Haden Church……….Lowell Mather
Tony Shalhoub……….Antonio Scarpacci
The Show:
Welcome to Nantucket. Just off the coast of Massachusetts, this island is not the type of place that is characteristic of a sitcom. Most take place in cities like New York City or Los Angeles. But Nantucket is a non-pretentious place with lots to offer. It’s down-to-earth, friendly, and is a great destination for a little R-and-R.
Some may remember the island as the summer destination retreat for “Hoops” McCann and his friend George in “Savage” Steve Holland’s ’80s comedy One Crazy Summer. TV viewers would have to wait a couple of years until Nantucket became a mainstay on the NBC network.
On April 19, 1990, a late-season sitcom called Wings made its debut. The show focuses on two brothers, Brian and Joe Hackett (Steven Weber and Tim Daly), as they attempt to run Sandpiper Air – a Cape Cod-based airline out of Tom Nevers Field – along with Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard), childhood friend to both brothers.
At first glance this doesn’t seem like a show that could last more than a couple of seasons on the air. Critics and audiences probably said the same thing about Cheers as well. Especially since the barroom comedy almost got the ax after its first season. Borrowing from that comedy’s setup, in which the action takes place in mostly one space, this comedy succeeds because it focuses on normal people (okay, maybe Brian is a bit eccentric) working at a small airport.
Joe is the older, more responsible brother. When his mother left the family, and his father’s mind slowly deteriorated, Joe became the de facto head of the family as he looked after Brian. Although he is straighter laced and neurotic, Joe and Brian are similar. They like to remember the good old days where they were quite the ladies men in their youths. Except Joe grew up and achieved his dream: To be a pilot one day. He launched Sandpiper Air, a charter flight business from Nantucket to Boston. Brian is a goofball who still acts like he’s 12 years old. He’s outlandish, but affable.
As the show begins, it has been six years since Joe and Brian have talked to one another; they had a falling out after Joe’s fiancé Carol left him for the younger Hackett. Brian returns to the island, making a grand entrance as he insults Roy Biggins (David Schramm), the owner of Aeromass airlines, because of his experiences on the flight to Nantucket. “Getting rid of the life jackets is inspired. Sure, tell them they’re under the seats, but no one ever checks so why have them?” “Oh, and getting a pilot fresh out of flight school must have saved you some serious coin. I had a few drinks with him before the flight.”
In their youths the Hackett brothers hung out with the cello playing Helen Chappel. She was a tad overweight, being compared to the size of a whale and called names like, “Fat fat the water rat.” So cruel kids can be. But as she grew up, Helen lost a hundred pounds and became this petite blonde with a Texas drawl. Instead of ingesting mounds and mounds of salty food and pastries, she serves it to patrons at her lunch counter inside the terminal. Though, she has been known to fall off the wagon from time to time.
Other regulars for the first two seasons of Wings include Fay Evelyn Schlob-Dumbly-DeVay-Cochran (Rebecca Schull), an ex-stewardess who runs the ticket counter for Sandpiper Air. Fay has had three husbands (all with the same first name, George) and acts like a motherly hen to the Hackett brothers. Genial that she is, Fay has little patience for Roy Biggins as the two sling contemptible insults at each other.
And what about Roy Biggins? Fashionably loud in his sans-a-belt slacks, he is a portly man who is arrogant and unappealing. His cleaning habits are also less than desirable, probably because he can’t find the time. What with running an airline and remembering to get his porno movies (ahem, I mean rent a dates) back to the video store on time, where is Roy going to find the time to shower and clean?
The last two regulars are the scene-stealers in mostly every episode. Antonio Scarpacci (Tony Shaloub) is an Italian immigrant who runs a taxi service to and from Tom Nevers Field. He was used sparingly the first few seasons, but in later years this mild-mannered, hopeless romantic, would be essential to the show.
And then there’s Lowell Mather (Thomas Haden Church). A dim-witted, Jack-of-all-Trades mechanic, Lowell helps out wherever he’s needed. He lives on a houseboat and, as the pilot episode teaches us, his hobbies include saving his toenail clippings (Howard Hughes would be so proud) and shooting rats at the junkyard.
I was a late lover of Wings, having never watched any of episodes during its seven year run on NBC. My memories are from the syndicated broadcasts on the USA Network, which ran for several years. During the summer I couldn’t get enough of Joe, Brian, Helen and the rest of the gang. Nothing beats seeing back-to-back episodes as well as the Thomas Haden Church comedy Ned and Stacy every weekday morning. But as the suits at the USA Network were changing their demographic – hence switching to showing Walker, Texas Ranger – the airplane comedy got shuffled around. It moved to a prime-time slot on Nick at Nite, then to TV Land. Now the only time it reruns is right before the dawn breaks at 4:30 a.m.
More could be said, like must see episodes and the creative geniuses behind them, but there’s only one thing that really needs to be said about the first and second seasons being on DVD.
It’s about time.
Score: 8.5/10
The DVD:
THE VIDEO
(Presented in 1.33:1 full screen)
Considering it has been 16 years since the show premiered, the video transfer is okay. You can definitely notice the problems in the quality. The first season was plagued distorted images and grain. The second season is much better, but problems still exist.
Score: 6/10
THE AUDIO
(Dolby Digital 2.0)
Brian’s quick insults and Helen’s Texas drawl come in clearly through the 2.0 audio track. Not a pulsating experience, since Dolby Digital 2.0 is essentially TV quality, the sound is decent. The jibber-jabber and repartee between the characters is a good enough reason to tune in and listen.
Score: 6.5/10
SPECIAL FEATURES: No bag of roasted peanuts. No pilot’s wings.
Paramount Home Entertainment has a reputation for not including extras with its TV on DVD releases. That is, unless the show is Star Trek. The first disc does include an accessible preview option. It includes ads for The Brady Bunch, Charmed, and MacGuyver. Not really an extra, but it’s there.
Score: 0/10
| InsidePulse’s Ratings for Wings | |
