Characters

[HaskellGirl]

Hi!

I love this show!!! I used to watch it all the time, but I haven't seen all the eps before. I noticed in last night's episode, Brian said he went to Princeton. I never realized he was so brainy. Did they ever say where Joe went to college, or is Brian the "smart one" of the two?

Does anyone know any more interesting facts about the characters?

[nantucket_wings]

"Wings" Takes Flight For Final Episode
By Scott Teeman

A grip strikes a spotlight which blasts me in the eyes, blinding me temporarily. As I stumble around the "Wings" set, trying to regain my sight, the assistant director barks at me to get out of the way. I step into the corner and try to imagine if this set is always so crazy. My guide through this jungle of a set, a very nice NBC executive, smiles and tells me just to stay alert. I decided to take his advice rather than getting run over by a camera dolly.
When "Wings" first aired on the Peacock network on April 19, 1990, it was promoted almost exactly the way that NBC pushes its new shows today. Place it at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday nights. The past few seasons have seen NBC launch "Suddenly Susan," "Caroline in the City," "The Naked Truth" and "Fired Up" in this time slot. These shows usually do quite well , but then again, a test pattern would do well in this dream slot. The true test is when the show in question is moved to another night. "Wings" originally aired between "Cheers,", and "L.A. Law." When it was moved to Friday the following season, few expected it to last. But, despite moving from Thursday to Friday, then to Wednesday and losing two characters, "Wings" remained on the air for seven seasons. When the show taped its final episode on March 18th, UltimateTV was not there covering the dreaded cancellation ending that many had predicted years earlier. We were reporting on the fitting "flight into the sunset" episode that few had predicted for the underdog sitcom.
"Wings" was created by David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee, who were are all TV veterans that had worked on "Cheers" and have since created "Frasier" and the less successful 1994-95 sitcom "The Pursuit of Happiness" in addition to "Wings."
The show that they created was about the staff of a small airfield on Nantucket. The regular gang included brothers Joe (Tim Daly) and Brian Hackett (Steven Weber), both pilots who ran a single plane airline called Sandpiper Air. The supporting characters were their lifelong friend, Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard), Faye Cochran (Rebecca Schull), an ex-stewardess who ran Sandpiper’s ticket counter, Roy Biggins (David Schramm), owner of a competing airline and an oddball mechanic named Lowell (Thomas Haden Church). Lowell and Alex (Farrah Forke), one of Brian’s girlfriend’s, left the show earlier, but the rest of the cast stayed for the duration.
When the night of the show’s final taping finally arrives, things appear to be business as usual at Stage 19 of Paramount studios, the show’s home. However, there are a few things that give away the fact that something special is going on. Everyone in the audience has a cellphone glued to their ear, giving away the fact that they are all industry people. The NBC pages could be mistaken for students at a boy’s prep school, dressed in their blue blazers and khaki pants. One grip is concentrating so hard on setting up a light that he doesn’t notice his "plumber’s crack" is visible to the entire studio audience. I am tempted to "accidentally" drop my pencil in it, but refrain in the name of good taste.
A tape is shown of the cast discussing their prediction for the show which was taped when the series first premiered. Just one look at Weber’s afro-like hair shows just how long this show has been on the air. As this tape rolls, members of the cast watch it with slight grins on their face, chucking occasionally. It is slowly sinking in exactly how long this show has been on television.
"After reading the pilot for this show, I knew that we would be a hit." Says Crystal Bernard, who played Helen Chappel for the duration of the series, from her Beverly Hills home. " When I was offered this part, I had spent the last five years on "It’s a Living" and "Happy Days." I really wasn’t looking to do another sitcom, but I fell in love with Helen and the other characters in the script. So, here I am seven years later."
Even the producers of the show are intent are making their mark on this final episode. A close look at the extras will show the show’s creators and producer in there somewhere. If you can pick them out, move to L.A. immediately and get into the TV business, because you know more than most people already.
After showing the first half of this hour long episode to the audience, director Jeff Melman, who directs several of NBC’s sitcoms, is ready and the assistant director shouts for quiet. They begin taping the first scene of the episode which takes place in the Sandpiper office between Joe and Brian Hackett. Steven Weber, who plays Brian, enters the room and slams the door on cue. The slam of the door is too much for one of the bookshelves which breaks and sends its articles crashing to the ground.
"Now you’ve done it!" kids Daly and everyone watching is in hysterics. It was just what the night needed to take the edge off and lets everyone have fun with this final offering from "Wings."
As the night rolls on and the end draws near, the cast slowly stops chatting and are sticking with their fellow cast and crew members. Before the final scene, Daly and Weber watch in the wings (no pun intended) with their arms around each other like real brothers. Even former cast member Thomas Haden Church, who played Lowell, has returned to cheer on his former collegues.
As Rebecca Schull, who has played Faye since the series premiere, speaks the closing line of the final scene, a thunderous applause shakes the room. Everyone from the top level NBC executive to the stage janitor has a lump in their throat and tears in their eyes. The emcee introduces the cast members for their curtain calls, but the most the audience can see is their backs as they proceed to hug everyone on the set. Although, no one is hugging me, but I don’t mind at all. I am glad to that I got to witness an event that this cast will remember fondly until their final royalty check rolls in.

The final hour long episode of "Wings" will air May 21 on NBC at 9PM EST/PST .


***************************************************

Pics included in the story:

[blackbeard]

Thanks for the story NW that was good and interesting reading

[nantucket_wings]

youre welcome ... Im happy to post it for everyone to read ... ... the pics aint that bad looking either, lol ... j/k ... all the pics of the cast are cool looking

Originally posted by blackbeard
Thanks for the story NW that was good and interesting reading

[Chocoholic]

Thanks for posting that, Stacey

I think Wings had some of the best and most realistic characters.

[nantucket_wings]

youre welcome Kristen

Originally posted by Snoopy
Thanks for posting that, Stacey

I think Wings had some of the best and most realistic characters.

[HaskellGirl]

That's very intersting, but does anyone know where Joe went to college, or if he went to college, and is Brian supposed to be the smart one? Thanks!

[Chocoholic]

I think it was said in one episode that Joe went to Boston College.

To me, Brian seemed like one of those people who was a lot smarter than he wanted to admit.

[HaskellGirl]

Thanks for the info!