Here is something that's worth being shocked about: The 1990s NBC sitcom Wings was NEVER reran in broadcast syndication!

Usually, most major broadcast-network scripted serieses go into broadcast syndication after their fourth or fifth seasons. Wings was an exception to the standard television model as it almost entirely bypassed traditional local broadcast syndication. Instead of selling reruns of it to independent television stations, distributor Paramount Domestic Television chose to send Wings directly to mass-circulation cable networks, starting with the USA Network in the fall of 1993.

So, ultimately, was withholding Wings from broadcast syndication and making its syndicated reruns exclusive to cable a good move, or a bad move?

No wonder I never saw Wings before I had cable like I did see several other 90s sitcoms. Caroline in the City and Cosby with much shorter runs of 4 seasons made it onto my affiliates. Clueless even was weekdays at one point with only 3 seasons. Probably a bad move not to put Wings in broadcast syndication. But it was such a crowded market with 90s sitcoms, unlike what they have turned into today.

I haven’t been so shocked since I stuck my finger in that electrical outlet.