Wings - The Fifth Season (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, they have finally come to their senses and have started releasing the show on DVD. All I can say is it's about time. This was the funniest show of the 90's and it is my personal favorite sit-com of all time.
It just doesn't get any better. The characters are great; Joe, the anal and overly sensitive older brother; Brian, the flyboy (literally and figuratively); Helen, the quick-witted, smart-mouthed, lifelong friend; Fay, the (somewhat disfunctional) mother figure to everyone; Roy, the competition, a pain in the butt, but still always around causing trouble; and my personal favorites, Lowell and Antonio, Lowell being the village idiot that's good with a wrench but bad with everything else, and Antonio, the Italian cabby with a heart of gold but a long-fuse and a sarcastic, cynical outlook.
Season 5 was the second best season, # 4 being the best, in my ever so humble opinion.
The episodes were as follows:
1) Stop in the Name of Love: Brian decides celibacy is the best way to keep his relationship with Alex on the right track; a problem for Brian.
2) Terminal Jealousy: Roy plays pranks; Brian gets the idea that Joe and Alex have something going and Helen insults a health inspector.
3) Bye-Bye Bunny: Lowell and Bunny divorce, resulting in an unexpected twist; Antonio helps a woman upset about her cheating husband when he finds the mans cell phone in his cab.
4) Business or Pleasure: Joe asks Helen to entertain a potential investor, but Joe's idea of "entertaining" may be a little too much to ask, even if Helen likes the guy.
5) An Affair to Forget: Fay and Antonio try to help Roy change his look in order to impress a woman. Joe flies Alex, Brian and Helen to Vermont where the weather creates problems for everyone but Joe.
6) Black Eye Affair: Helen tries to create a perfect evening for her boyfriend Davis, but before he arrives everything goes wrong, from hair, to makeup, to the chef (Lowell is great in this episode), to the black eye. ***This was one of the best episodes ever***
7) Joe Blows (part 1): Joe takes off after a really bad day (everyone wants something from Joe and drives him crazy), and an irate passenger pushes him over the edge.
8) Joe Blows (part 2): Joe returns to find Brian has righted the airline, sort of, and they agree to be partners (sort of).
9) 2 Good 2 B 4 Gotten: Joe is scared when the girl from high school that had a crush on him returns to Nantucket. No one believes him when he explains her obsession. ***Another one of the best episodes***
10) Come Fly with Me: Fay, Antonio and Roy get together to try and win a radio contest. Joe, Brian, Helen and Lowell go to Boston and end up at a strange party.
11) Happy Holidays: A not so happy Christmas with Fay and Helen fighting over the party, Antonio hooking up with Lowell's ex-wife.
12) Ready, Teddy, Go: Helen finds some lingerie in Davis' luggage which sparks a problem; is it for her or is it for someone else. She doesn't like it either way.
13) Oh Give Me A Home Where the Mathers Don't Roam: Brian and Joe kick Lowell out of the house after they grow tired of his strict behavior.
14) The Faygitive: A stranger is looking for Fay and hires a PI to assist, and Antonio gets free cable from Roy's friend.
15) Say Uncle, Carlton: Antonio take a job as a chauffeur for an annoying old man, and then the annoying old man's annoying nephew shows up.
16) Hey Nineteen: Joe dates a 19 year old for fun, but Helen is annoyed (and used to be her babysitter); Roy and Antonio find (and fight over) a dog that women can't resist.
17) Exclusively Yours: Brian commits to Alex only to have Joe fly in models to Nantucket; Helen names items on her menu after people at the airport (Lowell-slaw), but the people take offense at the comparisons.
18) Moonlighting: The gang reminisces about second jobs to help Alex feel less ashamed of her second job.
19) Sleepless in Nantucket: Joe helps Brian move in (and out and in and out) with Alex as the couple try to get accustomed to each others habits.
20) Boys will be Girls: Joe and Brian play a prank on their returning coach who torementd them; but when he dies in the night and is discovered dressed as a woman, Joe and Brian must make things right, sort of.
21) Roy Crazy: Roy's ex-wife, who he has told everyone had died, shows up on the island and Roy wants to get back together. Too bad thats not what she wants. Helen has a not so secret admirer from The Crab Shack.
22) Long Distance Lament: Joe has 2 dates, and lies to get out of one, which backfires. Davis cancels on Helen again and Helen goes out with someone else, but Davis shows up after all.
23) Call of the Wild: Brian's old friend is a bad influence on Brian. Lowells' childhood idol shows up on the island, a little less than a superhero, but Lowell still worships him.
24) A Decent Proposal: Joe is trying to get a loan for the floundering Sandpiper airline while Helen gets an unexpected mid-week visit from Davis. The result of the two events is strange, to say the least.

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Created by the same production team responsible for the hugely popular series Cheers, Wings has a similarly homey, familiar feel. Replacing the Boston bar is a small airport on Nantucket Island. The denizens of the bar are replaced with pilots and airport personnel. What the viewers are left with is a delightful show revolving around Sandpiper Air Service, a tiny charter airline co owned by two handsome, charming brothers, a rival airline, Aeromass, and a lunch counter run the brothers' life-long friend, Helen.

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TV Sets: Holiday Treats Review

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(More customer reviews)Holiday Treats is a wonderful idea that speaks volumes about TV sitcoms and their eagerness to note the Christmas season in a merry, fun, and ever so slightly poignant way. I only hope it inspires other studios to broaden their horizons and attempt other creative compilations instead of just repackaging the same popular movies or imploring people to buy them again in high definition.
A few observations specific to this compilation are easy to make. For instance, almost all of the selected episodes are from the shows' first seasons and thus have the feel of sitcoms still finding their way. The eldest ones, "Lucy" and "Honeymooners" revel in simplicity, keeping themselves close to the radio program format that often guided early TV. Later works such as "Taxi" and "Frasier" offer more complexity in characters and circumstances. The two centering on nuclear families, "Brady Bunch" and "Family Ties", tend to succceed largely due to their settings and group dynamic.
Regardless of how much you've seen of these eight shows in the past (and I'd imagine nearly everyone has seen, or at least knows, a bit), each becomes abundantly familiar in the course of its featured episode. You don't need context or full character backstories. This is just television comedy. It went down smoothly upon first airing and, for the most part, continues to do so today.
Here are synopses and information on the eight episodes of Holiday Treats:
1. I Love Lucy: "I Love Lucy Christmas Show" (26:04) (Originally aired December 24, 1956)
In between familiar sources of holiday laughs (Little Ricky's questions about Santa Claus, Fred's errant tree-trimming), clips from past episodes are broadly cued. The featured flashbacks are: Lucy (Lucille Ball) giving Ricky (Desi Arnaz) news of her pregnancy, Lucy's tuneless performance as part of a barbershop quartet, and the group's delivery room rehearsal and run.
Introductory text screens announce that this special was missing for 33 years before CBS found it and aired it in 1989.

It's presented in full here, even leaving a Sanka commercial message intact. The episode is followed by another long-lost-but-rediscovered item: 1951 excerpt "Jingle Bells" (3:18) from Season 1's "Drafted" that was recreated nearly shot-by-shot in the special's 5-Santa finale.
2. The Honeymooners: "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (26:00) (Originally aired December 24, 1955)
Gift exchanges are in order, as Ralph (Jackie Gleason) tries to sneak a glimpse of what wife Alice (Audrey Meadows) has gotten him. When he learns that his present for her is neither special nor unique, he does his best to correct it with no money and time running out. The episode ends with the cast wishing its audience a Merry Christmas, which is sometimes cut in syndication.
3. The Andy Griffith Show: "Christmas Story" (26:01) (Originally aired December 19, 1960)
Grouchy storeowner Ben Weaver (Will Wright) threatens the merry mood at Mayberry's police station. Meanwhile, sheriff Andy (Andy Griffith) enlists deputy Barney (Don Knotts) to play a skinny Santa.
4. The Brady Bunch: "The Voice of Christmas" (25:31) (Originally aired December 19, 1969)
Just days before she's due to sing at Church, Carol (Florence Henderson) comes down with laryngitis. While she's reduced to whispers and wearing a stinky neck wrap prepared by Alice, the other Bradys carry on with Christmas traditions: setting up the tree, a sit on Santa's lap, and presents talk.
5. Taxi: "A Full House for Christmas" (24:31) (Originally aired December 12, 1978)
Louie (Danny DeVito) is excited to have his estranged brother Nick (guest Richard Foronjy) visit for Christmas, but soon is angered by Nick's disregard of their mother.
To make things right, Louie bankrolls Alex (Judd Hirsch) in a high-stakes poker match against Nick. This is easily the disc's least Christmassy episode and probably its least mirthful one too.
6. Family Ties: "A Keaton Christmas Carol" (24:07) (Originally aired December 14, 1983)
Severely lacking in seasonal spirit à la Ebenezer Scrooge, Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox) is visited by sister-ghosts (Tina Yothers, Justine Bateman) and shown a cheery Christmas past and gloomy potential Christmas future. They serve to adjust his outlook on the holiday.
7. Frasier: "Miracle on Third or Fourth Street" (22:12) (Originally aired December 16, 1993)
After an argument with his father, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) opts to spend Christmas Day not at the family log cabin but at work on his call-in radio show. It's a sad, lonely, and (in the "Frasier" tradition) not particularly funny holiday, despite guest callers including Mel Brooks, Rosemary Clooney, and Ben Stiller.
8. Wings: "A Terminal Christmas" (22:58) (Originally aired December 21, 1990)
The employees of Nantucket's tiny Tom Nevers Field airport all show up for work on Christmas only have to snow and a passenger cancellation keep them from their plans. Instead, they make an unannounced visit to Fay's (Rebecca Schull) house, where they help her get over the still-fresh death of her husband.
VIDEO and AUDIO
I'm fairly certain that the episode presentations here are identical to their appearances on earlier season set DVDs. Paramount may not be the best studio at bonus features or pricing, but their audio/video usually doesn't leave much to be desired. That's truer of movies than TV series, but the shows still look and sound quite good here, especially considering the age of the older ones. Of course, this isn't a disc you get to show off the picture and sound. But if you've ever bought a $1 DVD of vintage television in the public domain, then you'll be quite pleased by how much easier on the eyes and ears the content here is. Disappointingly, no subtitles whatsoever are provided, but closed captions are.
BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN
No designated bonus features are included here. While it would have been nice to get some kind of discussion of the holiday episode and its significance in sitcom production, the disc is quite filled to the brim already with 3 and a half hours of content.
And as even the best short featurette is likely to have less appeal than a popular TV show episode, the void of extras makes sense.
As does the lack of an insert, since the case back provides show and episode titles, synopses, and even original airdates.
It's worth mentioning that a couple of animated CBS holiday greetings spots fron the early 70's are scattered about. A one-minute one involves birds and a woodsman with a saw, while a 30-second one features an obviouly poverty striken girl's visit to Santa and her desire for his red coat ('tis better to give than receive). The prominent hiss of their soundtracks suggests they're old, but beyond that they're of indeterminate origin. Their inclusion is a very nice touch, but it would have been nicer with a few more similar promos being used instead of the same two being alternately repeated between each show change.
Though the static, silent menu is limited and fairly no-frills, it is cued by a very cool minute-long introduction that helps explain what this is with animation and the featured show's title logos.
Not everyone will see the value in Paramount's Holiday Treats DVD, but I think it's a pretty brilliant collection. The disc surveys forty years of TV sitcoms, provides eight distinctly different yet similar observations of Christmas, and entertains heartily doing both. I'd even encourage a buy by those who might already have two or more of the featured episodes in a DVD set. Note to studios: more DVDs like this, please. And let's not forget those great holiday variety show specials, too!

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TV SETS:HOLIDAY TREATS - DVD Movie

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Wings - The Complete Third Season (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Joe: Does the world have to revolve around your love life?
Brian: Wouldn't it be a magical place?
The addition of Alex, a perfect foil for Brian's noncommital character, infused terrific new storylines in this 3rd season...the episode that introduces her is just the perfect portrayal of how silly guys get when a pretty girl is in the picture. I am nuts about Joe, but boy does Brian steal this show, in the scenes at the gym where they're trying to outdo each other in trying to impress Alex.
Alex: (sarcastically, aware of what they're doing) You're in that machine wrong.
Brian: (a little haughtily): This is how they use it in Europe.
It somewhat scares me how easily watching ANY episode of "Wings" gets me to that "happy place," and helps me forget my troubles/stresses...but it's a lot cheaper than antidepressants!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Wings - The Complete Third Season (1990)

Created by the same production team responsible for the hugely popular series Cheers, Wings has a similarly homey, familiar feel. Replacing the Boston bar is a small airport on Nantucket Island. The denizens of the bar are replaced with pilots and airport personnel. What the viewers are left with is a delightful show revolving around Sandpiper Air Service, a tiny charter airline co-owned by two handsome, charming brothers, a rival airline, Aeromass, and a lunch counter run the brothers' life-long friend, Helen.

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