Now that NICK will be re-starting the "Wings" series with the earliest episodes, I'd like to point something out....

As you watch these early episodes, take notice of how very different they are as compared to the later episodes when it comes to sexually-oriented gags and situations.

I'm no prude, but I find it very difficult finding "appropriate" episodes from the later seasons to show my 11-year old daughter who LOVES "Wings". Even if a later episode has a basically harmless premise as it's main plot, there's usually SOME raunchy reference made to unmarried people sleeping together, or someone's sexual relations, etc.

You just don't find this kind of stuff thrown at you as much in the early episodes...if at all. Sure, Brian may make references to "getting lucky" or something like that, but the show as a whole was MUCH more "G" rated in it's early years.

I'm not saying that the "squeaky cleaness" of "Wings" early seasons is necessarily a BETTER thing, but the series DID make a radical change in sexual emphasis, and lose a good deal of it's early innocence during the course of it's 8 season run.

That's kind of strange because Wings started in 1990. Cheers started in 1982 and the sexual references or jokes were all there all eleven years....

Originally posted by DianeChambers87
That's kind of strange because Wings started in 1990. Cheers started in 1982 and the sexual references or jokes were all there all eleven years....

Yes, but Sam Malone was a LOT hornier in 1982 than Joe Hackett was in 1990! :grineyes:

lol very very true! but the references in general not including Sam's were pretty abundant. Not overly just enough to be sufficient and funny.

Sam: Ok I admit I am not a sad guy..I am a happy horny guy!

I never realized that earlier Wings episodes were a lot ore G rated than later ones. I didn't actuallt see many episodes from season one though, and I only saw half of season 2. but now that I've seen seasons 3-8, once they go back to season one, I bet I will notice that.

~Krista
:)

Pilotguy, you're absolutely right. Actually I was thinking the same thing recently.

I count this as one of the reasons I like the earlier seasons better. Honestly? I think it's easier to write sex-related jokes, and much harder to write "G" rated stuff that is truly funny.

Bathroom humor sort of fits into the same category - you don't have to put much thought into it, and people will still laugh at it.

But somehow they accomplished hysterically funny situations in the earlier seasons without talking about sex all the time.

Love,

Wing<><

I've noticed that too. It's like the writers or someone wanted Wings to fit more into Seinfeld, Friends, and the other sitcoms that NBC was airing at the time and decided to add more sex jokes and stuff. I'm surprised they didn't move the airport to New York City.

Personally, I've never been one for bathroom humor, sex jokes, and a lot of sexual situations. Call me a prude if you want, but I prefer my TV shows and movies to be G- or PG-rated. If people like to watch that kind of stuff, I respect that. Just give me clean entertainment please.

i dont mind some sexual jokes in a sitcom (o.k...I admit it, I LOVE sex and the city), but one thing i dont particularly like in a US sitcom is Slapstick humour.

I think its stupid and unfunny and as I live in Great Britain, this type of humour like Monty Python and Benny Hill is common in British sitcoms and that is why our sitcoms suck big time!!!!

I don't mind slapstick humor as long as it is used sparingly. Too much slapstick and jokes about body parts and bodily functions are things I can definitely do without.

i agree, I remember watching a Frasier episode from last season "daphne does dinner" and i thought it was dreadful. 1/2 hr of pure slapstick..horrible episode from another great show.

Yeah, I don't really like slapstick either, unless it's very well-placed & well-done... then it can be very funny.

But you know what, Peter? Although I don't like most British humor, I absolutely adore this British sitcom called "As Time Goes By." I've rarely laughed so hard!

I remember also when I was a teenager watching a British show called "Bless Me Father" that I thought was hilarious.

Love,

Wing<><

On the topic of British sitcoms, my father and grandmother both love this show called Keeping Up Appearances. They think it's hysterical, but I don't like it at all. I like some Monty Python sketches.

"This parrot is no more!" :lol:

i actually like some of Keeping Up Appearances, but its rarely on TV over here in the UK. A show which is shown constantly in reruns on the BBC is "only fools and horses".

am i the only Brit on the wings board??

Personally, I thing that the "Wings" cast member who was able to pull of physical slapstick humor the best was Crystal Bernard.....

Helen did a lot of counter-jumping and people-beating over the course of those 8 seasons, and for some reason she was always able to pull it off....probably because of her small stature, which made her physical tirades all the more funny!

Originally posted by peter may
i dont mind some sexual jokes in a sitcom (o.k...I admit it, I LOVE sex and the city), but one thing i dont particularly like in a US sitcom is Slapstick humour.

I think its stupid and unfunny and as I live in Great Britain, this type of humour like Monty Python and Benny Hill is common in British sitcoms and that is why our sitcoms suck big time!!!!

lol I HATE slapstick humor!!!
most of the time anyway. there are some rare exceptions.

Originally posted by pilotguy
Personally, I thing that the "Wings" cast member who was able to pull of physical slapstick humor the best was Crystal Bernard.....

Helen did a lot of counter-jumping and people-beating over the course of those 8 seasons, and for some reason she was always able to pull it off....probably because of her small stature, which made her physical tirades all the more funny!

would you really call that slapstick though? I don't really know what exactly would count as slapstick. I just know that in TV or movies when someone's falling on the floor or something, and it's done in an overly-flamboyant (for lack of a better word) way, it just seems stupid.
Because I think that's really funny on Wings when Helen leaps over the counter, and stuff like that. For example, I remember in the episode "Ladies Who Lunch" whe Helen got so ticked off at Gail, and she leaped over the counter at her, and Joe caught her in mid-air. I thought that was hilarious.
There have been a couple of other moments of physical comedy on Wings that I thought were really funny. Like one of the first episodes with Alex, Joe and Brian were both trying to get to her first and they both went running through the airport, and Joe tripped over something and went flying on the floor, and then got up and stepped on a row of chairs and leaped over them, and they went flying across the floor. Now I thought that was really funny.
and then there was that time in the episode "The Puppetmaster" after Joe and Helen kissed, Joe went to leave, and he tripped over the chairs behind him, fell on top of them and rolled off onto the floor. I thought that was sooo funny! hehehe I love that.
So if that stuff would count as slapstick, then it's done very well, and I think it's funny.

and someone mentioned Monty Python... the only Monty Python stuff I saw was the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", and I love that movie. Most of the slapstick in that is actually really funny.

so I guess I'd have to change my statement to: I hate slapstick comedy unless it's done very well.
lol!