The Third Season

Wings is a fun sitcom that first aired in 1990 and ran for eight seasons until 1997. The show was about the daily lives of several neurotic airport employees who worked at Tom Nevers Field, a small airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The series was created by the same individuals (David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee) who were responsible for the hit television series Cheers and Frasier. In fact, Cheers characters guest star in occasional episode. For season three, Dr. Frasier Crane makes an appearance in the small Nantucket airport. Overall, I found this season to be a blast. It has been many years since I have watched Wings, but I found the content and the characters delightful, although it was not nearly as rich as I remember. For more details about this series, please refer to DVD Talk's review of seasons one and two.

Season three stands out amongst the rest because it includes a notable addition to the cast and characters. Tony Shalhoub officially joins the series playing the character Antonio Scarpacci, an Italian taxi cab driver. Antonio is not a particularly strong character. He adds a few funny moments to the series, but nothing compares to what he provides to the series Monk. I thought this was slightly disappointing because I remember him being a great character. (I think after seeing him in Monk, my expectations have skyrocketed.) Still, while I didn't find him as funny as remember, it was nice to see him once again in his earlier work.

The season three episodes offer a couple story arcs that trickle throughout the season in addition to episodic, fun storylines. One of the funnier story arcs deals with Joe and Helen's relationship. At the end of season two, Helen had left Nantucket to pursue her dream being a cellist in New York City after Joe had poured his heart out to her. During their time apart, Joe started dating a new girl named Gail when it was apparent Helen wasn't coming back. The storyline focuses on Helen getting accustomed to the fact Joe moved on and includes several fun stories with Helen's temper getting the best of her. The small situations that come from this story arc are a blast.

One of my favorite episodes included Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth guest starring as Dr. Frasier Crane and Dr. Lilith Sternin in "Planes, Trains And Visiting Cranes". In this episode, Frasier and Lilith pass through the small airport and run into Helen. Helen blames Frasier for ruining her life after she attended one of his seminars in New York City. He offers Helen a chance to attend his Nantucket seminar for free. Lowell, Joe, Brian, and Roy go along for the ride, and the result is a shout-fest that is too hot for Frasier to handle! It is a fun episode that includes one of my favorite sitcom characters.

Another fun episode is "Marriage, Italian Style". Antonio is on the verge of being deported from the United States. Luckily, he finds a U.S. citizen who is willing to marry him so that he can remain in the country. Unfortunately, she chickens out and Helen, thinking it is a temporary marriage, takes her place. Things get sticky when Helen finds out they have to be married for three years! In the following episode "Divorce, American Style", the story is concluded. Helen's problem is solved when she finds out that Antonio is eligible for a green card lottery. Or is it? It is a kooky story about Antonio, where he shined and showed off his comical skills.

Other fun episodes in this season include "Try To Remember The Night He Dismembered", Brian hypnotizes the gang and it is a pretty fun segment, "The Bogey Men", Brian takes Roy, Joe, and Lowell on a dream vacation that is ruined by timeshare salesmen that gets hilarious when the four are forced to share a small room, "Four Dates That Will Live In Infamy", Antonio, Joe, Brian, Helen, and Lowell experience the magic that is video dating, and "As Fate Would Have It", an ironic ending to a season when Helen's dream comes true only to have her dream come crashing down.

Overall, I had a good time watching season three of Wings. It has been many years since I have seen the series, but I have always enjoyed the light natured humor the episodes offered. And after watching season three, I still feel I enjoy the comedy. While the show is not nearly as funny as I remember (sometimes the content is too formulaic), the general nature and chemistry of the cast is good.

Episode Guide

1. The Naked Truth: After finally tracking down Helen in New York City, Joe and Brian high-tail it to the Big Apple to break the news to her: Joe has a new girlfriend. When the brothers find Helen working as a waitress in a strip joint, they keep this relationship a secret so that she will move back to Nantucket. She returns, but the truth can't hide forever--and neither can Joe.
2. Is That A Subpoena In Your Pocket?: After Helen rams her jeep through Joe's office in a fit of jealousy, he decides to take her to a small claims court...if only he could find someone to serve her the subpoena. She doesn't think that Joe has a case, but after he wins the courtroom showdown, the wrath of Helen comes crashing through again.
3. The Taming Of The Shrew: The gang convinces Helen to attend a transition group to resolve her ongoing bitterness over her break-up. Although it turns out to be a senior citizens' group, Helen learns that old wounds die hard. Meanwhile, Brian hijacks the group to talk about Carol, and drives everyone crazy.
4. I Ain't Got No Bunny: Lowell's paranoid that his wife, Bunny, is flirting with other men. But when Brian steps in to prove him wrong, he only proves that Bunny does have a wandering eye...and it's wandering over in his direction!
5. If Elected, I Will Not Live: The gang's campaigning for all-out laughs when Joe runs against Roy for town council. How far will Roy go to win? You might be surprised...
6. My Brother's Keeper: When millionaire Mimsy Borogroves arrives on the island, everyone sets their sights on her wealth...while she sets her sights on Brian. Brian reaps the benefits of her dollars, and promptly loses all sense. Now, it's up to Joe to keep his brother from becoming a kept man.
7. Create Expectations: On Joe's birthday, laughter is a special delivery! After Joe mistakenly thinks the gang is going to throw him a surprise birthday party by jumping out of a crate, his friends decide to surprise him for real by hiding in the hangar's next shipment...until a mix-up traps them all on a ferry to the mainland!
8. Ladies Who Lunch: Joe tries to defuse the feud between Helen and Gail, his girlfriend, by suggesting the ladies go to lunch together. But he soon eats his words when the two become best friends. Confronting Helen about the odd triangle they created only leads to a bitter argument...followed by reignited passion.
9. Try To Remember The Night He Dismembered: When fog shuts down the airport, everyone kills time in the terminal. Brian hypnotizes Roy, who promptly reveals how he stole $250,000 and buried it in his backyard. Hoping to return the money to its rightful owner, the gang digs to uncover the loot...only to find that Roy's been shoveling more than dirt. They've unwittingly just dug the hole for Roy's new hot tub.
10. The Late Mrs. Biggins: Roy reveal s that his late wife, Sylvia, is not dead, but deserted him years ago. Brian accompanies Roy to Boston to win her back, only to find that Mrs. Biggins has a new life she has no intention of leaving.
11. The Bogey Man: A weekend of golf falls way below par when Joe, Brian, Roy, and Lowell get sucked into a timeshare nightmare. Meanwhile, new guitarist Antonio sounds like a broken record, entertaining airport commuters with the one and only song he knows...over and over.

12. Marriage, Italian Style: To keep Antonio from being deported, Brian finds him a girl to marry. However, when the Feds arrive, the future Mrs. Becomes a runaway bride. AT the last minute, Helen jumps into the wedding party...but the quickie divorce she expected is gonna take a little while longer than she realized.
13. Divorce, American Style: When she finds out that their "quickie" divorce will take three years. Helen resigns herself to life as Antonio's wife. But with news of a green card lottery, Helen hopes his number will come up. Otherwise, it's 'til death, or depression, do they part.
14. Stew In A Stew: Fay understands when Joe denies her a raise...but when she sees the brothers flaunting new leather flight jackets, she packs her bags and gets a job with a competing airline. Now, trouble's in the air at Sandpiper...can the guys get Fay back before their company crashes?
15. This Old House: When the boys find out the house they grew up in is abut to be demolished, they do everything they can to save it. But a rocky trip down memory lane convinces then that their childhood may have been just as wrecked as their old home is going to be.
16. Planes, Trains And Visiting Cranes: The gang is psyched when Frasier Crane visits to conduct a self-esteem seminar. But Helen accuses the good doctor of ruining her life when she attended his seminar in New York City. Frasier offers to make it up to her by inviting her to attend his Nantucket session for free.
17. Das Plane: Joe's flying high when he learns the ticket he donated to a children's hospital charity event raised $10,000. But his mood begins its descent when Brian's misprint on the ticket forces him to fly crotchety old Carlton Blanchard on a cross-country trip for a reunion with his brother.
18. Take My Life, Please: After her career in real estate falls out of escrow, Helen searches for a new goal. The gang convinces her to take a job placement exam, which determines she should pursue a career in music or food service. Her friends change it to law or stand-up comedy, but the joke's on them when Helen chooses the latter.
19. Four Dates That Will Live In Infamy: Joe, Brian, Helen, and Lowell meet their match, or at least they hope to, with a video dating service. Antonio's incredible success with the service sends the foursome looking for love...in all of the funniest places.
20. The Bank Dick: Brian pays the price for blowing his tax refund on vacation...turns out the windfall was a mistake. To pay off his debt, he gets a second job as a security guard. But when the bank is robbed, Brian's fired and ends up back in the pilot's seat. He's in for some real turbulence, though, when the robber who got away lands on his flight.
21. Say It Ain't So, Joe: The bases are loaded for laughs when Joe's old high school strikeout record is on the verge of being broken. Joe's old coach convinces him to fly the young, up-and-coming baseball star to the historic Game. But when poor visibility prevents them from landing, is Joe worried about protecting his passengers or his record?
22. As Fate Would Have It: Helen gets the break of a lifetime when the managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra gives her a job as a cellist. Her luck changes when everyone's commitments fall through, and the gang boards a plane to Boston. But fate has more twists in store as both engines fail on Joe's twin-engine Cressna.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality is rather good and only suffers from minor compression artifacts. However, there are a few occurrences of low frame rate, where the picture gets slightly choppy and more grain than usual.

Audio:
The audio track in this release is an English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound track. The audio in this release comes off fairly flat. However as found with most TV on DVD releases it's not necessarily bad, since the majority of the audio is spoken dialogue.

This release also supports closed captioning.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this DVD release.

Final Thoughts:
Wings is a television series about a small commuter airport in Nantucket, Massachusetts. In season three, actor Tony Shalhoub joins the cast and adds another character to the cast. While Shalhoub does not offer nearly as strong of a character to this show as he does in Monk, he is a fun character when the spotlight is shining on him. As for the rest of the cast, they all perform well and produce a fun dynamic together that will have you laughing yourself silly. The bottom line is that season three of Wings offers a fun, light-hearted sitcom with several likeable characters that has aged fairly well.