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Steve Arino
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- Joined
- Feb 12, 2019
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Hello Everyone,
I'd like to start a General Discussion about a long-running spin-off of the hit '80s sitcom "Cheers."
First off, I'd like to say "Cheers" had 3 different spin-offs: besides Kelsey Grammer's "Frasier" (which aired on NBC from September 16, 1993 - May 13, 2004 for 11 years starting right after "Cheers" ended), there was also the short-lived 1987 13-week spin-off "The Tortellis" (starring Dan Hedaya as Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick, now married to Loretta, as played on both the parent and spin-off show by Casey Kasem's real-life widow, Jean), and the much longer-running '90s sitcom "Wings."
The genesis of "Wings" began in late 1989, when actor Thomas Haden Church appeared on an episode of "Cheers" called "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" as a dim-wit Hockey player who gave Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) the news that her then-husband, Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas), had just been killed by an Ice-Resurfacing truck.
The following year, Thomas Haden Church spun off into "Wings," with the dim-wit Hockey player (Gordie Brown) re-tooled and re-named Lowell Mather, a dim-wit Airport Mechanic in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where "Wings" was set (although like parent show "Cheers" was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California).
"Wings" began its regular run on the NBC Television Network on April 19, 1990, initially for a 6-week trial run before becoming a regular series in September 1990.
The series Pilot, titled "Legacy," began with a reunion of brothers Joe and Brian Hackett (Tim Daly and Steve Weber, respectively), reunited after a 6-year-long Estrangement that began with Brian marrying Joe's ex-Fiance Carol; after Carol left Brian for another guy, Brian returned to Nantucket at Joe's co-Pilot for the fictional Sandpiper Air at Tom Nevers Field in Nantucket.
Other principal characters on "Wings" included Roy Biggins (David Schramm), the owner of the rival air service AeroMass (also located at the airport); the aforementioned Lowell Mather (as played by Thomas Haden Church), the character spun off from "Cheers"; and Faye Cochran (Rebecca Schull), a former stewardess who handled the ticket counter for Sandpiper Air. Joining the show (after an initial 1st-season guest appearance as a waiter) at the start of the 2nd season was Tony Shalhoub as Italian cabbie Antonio Scarpacci (FYI: Though he played an Italian cabbie on "Wings," Tony Shalhoub is actually Lebanese via Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Tony was born on October 9, 1953; coincidentally, Tony's actual parents were named Joe and Helen, AND his paternal uncle's name was Brian--just like the main principal characters--a fact Tony didn't know until his first "Wings" audition).
Besides spinning off from "Cheers," a number of "Cheers" characters made one-shot guest appearances on "Wings," among them George Wendt and John Ratzenberger as their "Cheers" characters Norm and Cliff going on a Nantucket fishing trip; Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane (before spinning off into "Frasier" over a year later), who went on a working vacation to Nantucket during Season 2 of "Wings"; and Kirstie Alley in a cameo as her "Cheers" character Rebecca Howe in Season 3 of "Wings."
In a 1995 article about Thomas Haden Church leaving "Wings" for the unrelated FOX Network sitcom "Ned and Stacey" (the article located here at https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-07-18-9507170199-story.html), the article stated that Church had been playing the character Lowell than most people realize, with Church quoted as saying about Lowell "The character was directly upon a guy I played in Cheers." Hence why "Wings" qualifies as a spin-off of "Cheers," similar to how the Disney sitcom "Empty Nest" was spun off from the Disney show "The Golden Girls."
"Wings" ended its run on NBC on May 21, 1997 after 7 successful seasons, and in the years since, reruns continue to flourish via cable networks such as USA Network, Nickelodeon (as part of its Nick at Nite lineup in the 2000s), TV Land, and most recently Antenna TV; in fact, next month, April 19, Antenna TV will be airing a 12-hour 30th Anniversary "Wings" marathon in celebration of 30 years since the show's debut.
"Wings" was produced by Grub Street Productions & Paramount Domestic Television and Distributed for Syndication by CBS Television Distribution.
Sincerely,
Steve Arino
I'd like to start a General Discussion about a long-running spin-off of the hit '80s sitcom "Cheers."
First off, I'd like to say "Cheers" had 3 different spin-offs: besides Kelsey Grammer's "Frasier" (which aired on NBC from September 16, 1993 - May 13, 2004 for 11 years starting right after "Cheers" ended), there was also the short-lived 1987 13-week spin-off "The Tortellis" (starring Dan Hedaya as Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick, now married to Loretta, as played on both the parent and spin-off show by Casey Kasem's real-life widow, Jean), and the much longer-running '90s sitcom "Wings."
The genesis of "Wings" began in late 1989, when actor Thomas Haden Church appeared on an episode of "Cheers" called "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" as a dim-wit Hockey player who gave Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) the news that her then-husband, Eddie LeBec (Jay Thomas), had just been killed by an Ice-Resurfacing truck.
The following year, Thomas Haden Church spun off into "Wings," with the dim-wit Hockey player (Gordie Brown) re-tooled and re-named Lowell Mather, a dim-wit Airport Mechanic in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where "Wings" was set (although like parent show "Cheers" was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California).
"Wings" began its regular run on the NBC Television Network on April 19, 1990, initially for a 6-week trial run before becoming a regular series in September 1990.
The series Pilot, titled "Legacy," began with a reunion of brothers Joe and Brian Hackett (Tim Daly and Steve Weber, respectively), reunited after a 6-year-long Estrangement that began with Brian marrying Joe's ex-Fiance Carol; after Carol left Brian for another guy, Brian returned to Nantucket at Joe's co-Pilot for the fictional Sandpiper Air at Tom Nevers Field in Nantucket.
Other principal characters on "Wings" included Roy Biggins (David Schramm), the owner of the rival air service AeroMass (also located at the airport); the aforementioned Lowell Mather (as played by Thomas Haden Church), the character spun off from "Cheers"; and Faye Cochran (Rebecca Schull), a former stewardess who handled the ticket counter for Sandpiper Air. Joining the show (after an initial 1st-season guest appearance as a waiter) at the start of the 2nd season was Tony Shalhoub as Italian cabbie Antonio Scarpacci (FYI: Though he played an Italian cabbie on "Wings," Tony Shalhoub is actually Lebanese via Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Tony was born on October 9, 1953; coincidentally, Tony's actual parents were named Joe and Helen, AND his paternal uncle's name was Brian--just like the main principal characters--a fact Tony didn't know until his first "Wings" audition).
Besides spinning off from "Cheers," a number of "Cheers" characters made one-shot guest appearances on "Wings," among them George Wendt and John Ratzenberger as their "Cheers" characters Norm and Cliff going on a Nantucket fishing trip; Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane (before spinning off into "Frasier" over a year later), who went on a working vacation to Nantucket during Season 2 of "Wings"; and Kirstie Alley in a cameo as her "Cheers" character Rebecca Howe in Season 3 of "Wings."
In a 1995 article about Thomas Haden Church leaving "Wings" for the unrelated FOX Network sitcom "Ned and Stacey" (the article located here at https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1995-07-18-9507170199-story.html), the article stated that Church had been playing the character Lowell than most people realize, with Church quoted as saying about Lowell "The character was directly upon a guy I played in Cheers." Hence why "Wings" qualifies as a spin-off of "Cheers," similar to how the Disney sitcom "Empty Nest" was spun off from the Disney show "The Golden Girls."
"Wings" ended its run on NBC on May 21, 1997 after 7 successful seasons, and in the years since, reruns continue to flourish via cable networks such as USA Network, Nickelodeon (as part of its Nick at Nite lineup in the 2000s), TV Land, and most recently Antenna TV; in fact, next month, April 19, Antenna TV will be airing a 12-hour 30th Anniversary "Wings" marathon in celebration of 30 years since the show's debut.
"Wings" was produced by Grub Street Productions & Paramount Domestic Television and Distributed for Syndication by CBS Television Distribution.
Sincerely,
Steve Arino
