I think they could have made it to 11 seasons if Lowell hadn't left, Joe and Helen didn't get married, and they kept up with the quality of writing the show had during seasons 1 through 6.

i think they could have aswell

The would have had to make a big change at some point.

On Cheers, the departure of Diane really prolonged the series' life. In a way, so did the death of Coach.

On Frasier, getting Niles & Daphne together after 7 years caused a big change.

Wings could have lasted, but something needed to be shaken up, without taking the series away from what it was meant to be.

I think it could have lasted 11 seasons, even without Lowell. Like Barwars mentioned Cheers. Diane leaving, gave them a chance to bring in Rebecca and give the show a new character and a few more seasons because of that.

The problem wasn't in Joe and Helen being married. It wasn't in Lowell leaving. It was the way they seemed to give up. They didn't even bother to give Lowell a proper replacement. I read in an old article, the same one where Thomas Haden Church was talking about his "new" show, Ned & Stacey. It said that "Wings" had a two season contract. Maybe the producers decided that that was all they wanted and didn't work real hard to make it the show it used to be. The last two seasons seem to be more care-free than the rest.

I loved the "Wingless" three-parter. Maybe that could have last all season. This, of course being if the show was coming back for another year.

Romance always seems to be a plus for sitcoms. Although Joe and Helen were the main couple of the show, they had gotten married. Yes, still focus on them, but now they should have found a new couple to also focus on. The Brian-Casey thing didn't work for me. It's been said before, but I think Antonio and Casey should have gotten together.

It was reported that Tony Shalhoub was leaving "Wings" after the 8th season. So even if it had come back for a 9th year, it would have been sans Antonio. I can't picture the show without Lowell and Antonio.

I think what saved the cast changes in "Cheers", and helped prolong the series' life, was that when a cast member left, they replaced him or her with someone who was very different. When Diane left, they didn't replace her with another intellectual type....they replaced her with Rebecca who was a tough, "earthy" businesswoman. When Coach passed away, they didn't replace him with another elderly guy...they replaced him with a young, innocent farm kid. These "very different" types of character replacements keep the viewer from making "old character vs. new character" comparisons, and the new character is more easily accepted.

"M*A*S*H" did some of this too....Replacing laid-back "nice guy" Henry Blake with "Old Army" tough-guy Sherman Potter, and the philandering, party-animal Trapper John with level-headed family man B.J.

With "Wings", characters like Lowell and (if he had left) Antonio would have been missed, but their departures could have been handled much better, and the series could have survived a lot longer, if they had been replaced by entirely different types of characters.