Wings was a 90s sitcom that ran for 8 seasons (though the first season was very short, with just 6 episodes) from 1990 to 1997. It was created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee, who also worked on Cheers and would later create the series Frasier. Although Wings is not a direct spin-off of Cheers, it is set in the same universe, and several members of the Cheers cast made appearances on Wings. The series starred Tim Daly, Steven Webber, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, and Tomas Hayden Church. It is set in a small airport on Nantucket Island. In it, Daly and Webber play brothers Joe and Brian Hackett, the co-owners of a small charter airline. The two have completely opposite personalities and often clash and bicker with each other. Bernard plays Joe and Brian's childhood friend, Helen. She runs the lunch counter in the airport and has dreams of playing the cello in the orchestra. Schull plays Faye, who runs the ticket counter for the airline. Thomas Hayden Church plays Lowell, a dimwitted mechanic, and Schramm plays Roy, the owner of a rival charter airline that also operates out of the airport.
Like many sitcoms, this one is mostly a story-of-the-week procedural, but there are some ongoing storylines. The first season, which aired in the spring of 1990, was mainly about character development and setup. Megan Mullaly was the most notable guest star during the first season, in a hilarious role. The 22-episode second season aired during the regular 1990/1991 TV season. The show found more of a footing in the second season, and the biggest ongoing storyline involved a relationship between Joe and Helen. The guest stars in season 2 included John Ratzenberger and George Wendt, playing their characters from Cheers, Cliff and Norm, David Ogden Stiers, Craig Bierko, Tony Shalhoub (who would later join the cast in a different role), Abraham Benrubi, and Maury Povich.
The DVD set is a three-disc set. It is a very bare-bones release. The episodes are not captioned, and there are no bonus features. The series very much has the feel of a dated sitcom. There are definitely some funny moments, but some jokes wouldn't work if the series were made today. It is well-written and acted. Hayden Church steals nearly every scene he is in, and the episode Murder She Roast is hilarious. Ultimately, it is a good sitcom that was still finding its footing in the first couple of seasons. It was not as good as either Cheers or the original Frasier series (at least in its first couple of seasons), but it is still worth checking out.
