Watching "Wings" On NBC

[pilotguy]

Tonight NICK will be showing "Duet For Cello and Plane", which breaks up Joe and Helen...at least for a few years.

I wasn't watching "Wings" during those original NBC years, but I can just IMAGINE the emotional roller-coaster that those viewers were riding back then!

When the Season 2 finale first aired, and Helen was leaving for NYC, I'm sure that more than one viewer felt the same as those viewers watching the Season 3 finale (where the Sandpiper was going down in the ocean during a bad storm with the entire cast aboard)...."Yeah, RIGHT....nothing bad is REALLY going to happen here...They're just trying to fake us out!".

I'll bet that most viewers thought that Helen leaving for NYC was only a temporary glitch in the Joe-Helen romance...they HAD to get back together, didn't they?

So Helen comes back to Nantucket and Joe has a new girlfriend...Well, nobody expected HER to last, did they?

So a few weeks later, viewers watch "The Ladies Who Lunch" episode for the first time...and after some passionate meat-slapping and kissing by Joe and Helen, viewers breath easier..."Ah, NOW they're going to get back together! It took a few weeks, but I just KNEW that it would happen!"....but NO!!!!

There were so many "false starts" for the rekindling of their romantic relationship during the next few seasons...."Wings" sure kept it's viewers on their toes!

It's no WONDER that you could hear a pin drop during the studio audience's silence after Helen accepted Davis Lynch's marriage proposal...and why the audience not only applauded but CHEERED when Helen accepted Joe's!

(Wouldn't you have LOVED to have been in the studio audience for the filming of the "Joe's proposal" episode? That must have been SOME party!).

[losthighway]

Being one of the few on here that watched Wings on its original NBC run I can tell you I was crushed when Helen left to go to NY.

Your're right, I knew she had to return for the next season otherwise I would of had serious Crystal withdrawls (and in all seriousness the show would NOT have been the same without her)....but I was also angry that she left Joe like that.....the guy just tried to do the right thing and not be the reason to keep her from her dreams with the Cello gig.....but once that had fallen through and she STILL left him.....how could she??!

But I give Wings alot of credit for not doing the easy thing and throwing the characters right back into a relationship. I think it helped to make the story line and the characters much more interesting.

[pilotguy]

I HAVE to ask you this, Losthighway...being that you actually experienced those prime-time, once-a-week NBC visits to Nantucket....

What were your thoughts during those "holding pattern" years of Joe and Helen's relationship (Seasons 3-6)?

Did you think that they would get back together, or did you think "Aw, it's over....ancient history....time for them to find other people!"?

Just curious...Don't forget, we "Rerun Watchers" all KNOW how things turned out when we're watching these episodes, but you didn't!

[losthighway]

Originally posted by pilotguy
I HAVE to ask you this, Losthighway...being that you actually experienced those prime-time, once-a-week NBC visits to Nantucket....

What were your thoughts during those "holding pattern" years of Joe and Helen's relationship (Seasons 3-6)?

Did you think that they would get back together, or did you think "Aw, it's over....ancient history....time for them to find other people!"?

Just curious...Don't forget, we "Rerun Watchers" all KNOW how things turned out when we're watching these episodes, but you didn't!

That's an interesting point to consider Pilotguy.....Truthfully, I still have a vivid memory of seeing the "Ladies Who Lunch" episode and when Helen and Joe shared that passionate kiss I thought that was it....they are back and everything is right in the world of Wings! I was STUNNED when Helen looked at Joe and said, "sorry Joe, but then there was one" and then turned and left. That really took me by surprise.

Then for about a year or so they never really dealt with the relationship so it was easy to coast along....you'd see little flashes where sparks would fly between them, but nothing much happened but that was OK because nothing much was happening in their love lives......and then....Davis showed up!

At this point in the series I really started believing that the writers just decided it didn't work with Helen and Joe to be together for the good of the series and they were just going to have the characters go in different directions. Kind of like Sam and Diane or even Sam and Rebecca, where there was some attraction but they never actually got together as a couple.

As a big fan of Wings, and especially feeling that Joe and Helen had a great chemistry together, I wasn't happy about it, but I was resigned to accept it. And Davis still wasn't a major issue because Helen was dating him, but it didn't seem that serious, and then they had the great finale for that season where Davis proposed and once again the writers took me completely by surprise with Davis's proposal. And I have to admit the writers also fooled me with that classic ending.....I figured when Joe came to her house and said his goodbyes that was petty much the end for that moment. I figured the series may pick up the following season with Joe going to NY and trying to get her back (again kind of like how Sam jumped on a plane and flew to Europe to stop Diane's wedding to Frasier).....but I thought Joe and Helen were done at the moment ....at least for a while.

When that final scene took place in the bedroom, the way it was shot I thought maybe somebody would be next to Joe and I was hoping, hoping, hoping that Helen would be next to him. I was estatic when Brian turned on the light and Helen was there.......it's like the romantic side of me wanted Helen to care for Joe because again, the characters just had such a chemistry together and it just felt right. It's one of those bizarre things that even though it is just a silly TV show it makes you feel better to see the characters come together. It's odd the way you invest time in a show and the characters and you want to see things turn out the way YOU perceive it should be. I always felt the writers did the right thing because even though the dynamic of the show changed, having Helen and Joe in love and together just felt right.

[pilotguy]

Many, MANY thanks for those thoughts, Losthighway....That's just about how I THOUGHT a first-run "Wings" viewer would react to the "on again-off again" Joe-Helen relationship.

While some viewers may complain about the later "Married Couple" episodes, I have NEVER heard of anyone complaining that Joe and Helen shouldn't have wound up together because they weren't right for each other!

I just COULDN"T imagine things turning out any other way...Imagine Helen saying, "I have to get home early tonight...Davis is taking me out for our anniversary!"......NAH!