Wings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Proposal

[stevearino]

Dear David Ellison,

I have a proposal for CBS Home Entertainment: to issue and release, for the first time EVER on Blu Ray, "Wings: The Complete Series," a loving showcase of all 172 half-hour episodes of the hit 1990-1997 sitcom "Wings" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each and every episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network, lovingly Restored from the NBC Network Prints.

Created by David Angell, Peter Casey & David Lee, "Wings" originally aired for 7 seasons on NBC from April 19, 1990 - May 21, 1997; according to an article located here at https://greensboro.com/church-sheds-...10638df19.html actor Thomas Haden Church appeared in a Season 8 "Cheers" episode titled "Death Takes a Holiday On Ice" as Gordie Brown, a dim-wit Hockey Player who came to the eponymous Cheers bar to inform Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) that her then-husband, Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas), Gordie's Hockey teammate, had just been killed in a Freak Accident involving an Ice Cream Truck, delivering a Posthumous Letter Eddie wrote to Carla.

5 months later, "Wings" debuted on NBC on April 19, 1990 as a spin-off of "Cheers," with Thomas Haden Church's earlier Gordie character as seen on "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" re-tooled into the Dim-Wit Airport mechanic Lowell Mather.

A similar situation 30 years earlier occurred with the '50s Adventure Series "Route 66," with that show's original Pilot used as an episode of the '50s Cop Show "Naked City" telecast on April 28, 1959 on the ABC Television Network; in that Pilot, George Maharis and Bobby Morris starred as Johnny Gary & Linc Ridgeway, 2 recent Army Grads who returned to New York City, New York to discover Johnny's younger sister, Cora (Rochelle Oliver), involved in a Shoplifting Ring; the next year, with Army References Dropped, a Revised Pilot was filmed as "Route 66," with Bobby Morris (who had died of a Massive Stroke soon after the "Naked City" Pilot was telecast) replaced by Martin Milner, while George Maharis' character was named Buz Murdock.

As with "Wings" spinning off from "Cheers," "Route 66" was likewise spun off from "Naked City."

Set in Nantucket, Massachusetts, an Island near Boston, "Wings" was set on the fictional Tom Nevers Field near Boston, where Joe Hackett (Tim Daly) ran a single-plane operation called Sandpiper Air; at the start of the series, after a 6-year Long Estrangement, Joe was reunited with his brother, Brian (Steve Weber), soon after their dad died and nearly 18 years after their mother Mae (played in a later appearance by Barbara Babcock) walked on them, after their dad's estate was settled.

At Pilot's end, Joe offered Brian a job at Sandpiper Air, and eventually the two brothers became Partners at the Airline; midway through the first season in November 1990, Joe was temporarily Grounded due to High Blood Pressure, but eventually regained his Pilot's License once his Blood Pressure was under control.

Other Principal characters were Roy Biggins (David Schramm), the owner of the rival Air Service AeroMass located at Tom Nevers Field; Faye Cochran (Rebecca Schull), a former stewardess who ran the ticket counter for Sandpiper Air; Antonio Scarpacci (Tony Shalhoub), an Italian Cabbie who appeared from Season 2 onward; Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard), Joe and Brian's mutual best friend who Joe dated during the first season and eventually married towards the end of the series; and Casey Chappel (Amy Yasbeck), who moved back to Nantucket from San Francisco after her divorce from her ex-husband (played in a memorable episode by John Ritter).

For most of its run, "Wings" aired on Thursday nights at 9 P.M. ET on NBC after "Cheers" until "Cheers" ended, after which in September 1994 it aired on Tuesday nights at 8 P.M. ET on NBC for 2 years (eventually as the lead-in to newcomer "NewsRadio" in March 1995) before moving permanently to Wednesday nights at 8 P.M. ET (later 9 P.M. ET midseason) on NBC for its 7th and Final Season in Fall 1996.

In the years since its NBC cancellation, reruns have aired on the USA Cable Network from 1993-2003 and from 2008-2011 and on Nickelodeon as part of its Nick at Nite lineup from 2003-2005 and as of 2024 air Sunday nights at 11 P.M. ET on Antenna TV and weeknights at 6 P.M. ET and Sunday Mornings at 11 A.M. ET on Rewind TV.

Tentatively, David, CBS Home Entertainment shall issue "Wings: The Complete Series" on Blu Ray on Tuesday, April 18, 2025, the 35th Anniversary Week of its NBC debut, at a cost of ONLY $39.99 wherever Blu Rays are sold.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino