Wings - Opening Credits

[peacefuljeffrey]

Is that lighthouse at 0:27 really a lighthouse on Nantucket? I wasn't aware that there was one on top of such high bluffs. Besides, did the show "Wings" EVER have a scene that made clear that they were on Nantucket? I always felt that the location was INCIDENTAL on that show.

[MegaHillview]

Such beautiful music.Timeless.

[Etrigan2112]

The show creators gambled by choosing a piece of classical music as the theme for their new program. They chose wisely though with this Schubert sonata. It's a beautiful, lifting song that really captures the thrill of flight. The way the piano escalates as the plane takes off, the mellow strings that come in while the flight's soaring majestically over the ground... perfection. It was a choice that could easily have been labelled too high brow, but it worked, and amazingly well at that.

[warandcheese]

schubert: genius but how they orchestrate it............oh well.

[tritonrocks]

Agreed - one of the top 5 TV openings. Taxi is right up there as well.

[MikeAM78]

These days, you'd NEVER have a TV show with an opening sequence that takes its time like this, especially for a sitcom. Opening sequences are pretty much a lost art nowadays. :(

[Dil1300]

I love wings

[eliasgamer]

I grew up in Nantucket, but live in Boston now.

[mbenzsl2000]

@eliasgamer is "tom nevers" field the same one they used on the island?

[eliasgamer]

@mbenzsl2000

Yeah it actually resembles a lot of what you see in the show, but it isn't named Tom Nevers our airport was named the Nantucket Memorial Airport. I fly to to it here and there to see my parents ahh the quiet days of Nantucket.

[MashBananaPirate]

I credit this show for me working at a small airport

[mbenzsl2000]

this is kinda cheating tho.....seeing as they using a nice masterpiece like this as their opening credits, lol. of course its one of the best intros and themes.

but nonetheless....it works well for this show..very well.

[CrudelyAnimated]

Yeah I got your first reply message back to me, you don't need to keep going off like an anal retentive nut-job just because you don't know how to express yourself properly. Thanks.

[coolwafferman]

@CrudelyAnimated You're just mad because you were wrong sending me a comment thinking I didn't know what I was talking about saying someone is high. I knew what I was talking about all those months ago. You're wrong so you have to keep insulting someone to make yourself feel better. Learn to overcome from your embarrassment. It was never any point in insults to begin with. (SMH)

[CrudelyAnimated]

@coolwafferman Back at ya, Bitch. Your original post speaks for itself. We both know better, but if it makes you feel smarter to say I was wrong keep it up, it's VERY entertaining. LMAO! BTW, I love that part when the piano just jumps in at 0:01 and then again at 0:02, and again at 0:03, and 0:04, and 0:05, then 0:06, and...

[coolwafferman]

@CrudelyAnimated You really show your ignorance. It doesn't make me feel smarter to say you was wrong, it makes me the bigger person. I knew what I was talking about 10 months ago, and if you had paid attention to what I mentioned at 0:17, the music goes to the bridge. My advice to you is to watch your comments, you say that stuff to the wrong person elsewhere, and you will get messed up. Going back and forth with you is pointless, and a waste of time. Goodbye!

[CrudelyAnimated]

@coolwafferman I love that you think I was wrong, that just makes your responses so much more HiLaRiOuS! BTW, it always shows a persons class and upbringing when they resort to making idle threats because they can't admit when they are a fuck up. Buh-bye bitch.

[Asinglefrito]

@CrudelyAnimated I read the whole conversation that you and wafferman had and Crudely, you come off as a fucking smart ass. You didn't have to start pulling this shit. Just like many people say, fighting on youtube is like the special oylmpics. Even if you win you are still a retard. You my friend, are a fucking reatard.

[SnickleFritz79]

I rmember this sitcom on tv... it debuted in the early 90s. This is such an ELEGANT piece of music for a silly comedy!

[vertigobates]

I was only a kid when this show was on but I remember my parents watching it and I remember the opening theme.

[snooterpuff]

This WAS and IS a GOOD show!Not the greatest...but still,a GOOD show.Not like crap that's on TV today.This was a show in the end of an era,a GREAT era.Respect it for what it is and was.

[breda83]

this show was crap

[jedispy]

@breda83 You're crap. Jedispy:1 breda83:0

[breda83]

@jedispy It was a crap show pal get over it

[ORCHaDORK4ever77]

Tony Shalhoub in it makes it worth watching :)

[coolwafferman]

I remember from time to time my mom watching this show. I was a kid then and didn't care too much for the show,but I always liked the theme. It goes hard. I ike how the piano just comes in at 0:17.

[CrudelyAnimated]

@coolwafferman Are you high? It's a Piano Sonata, the piano comes in at 0:00 and goes until the end.

[coolwafferman]

@CrudelyAnimated Uhh.. I know that. I'm talking about how it goes to the bridge, and the piano just goes to work. I like that part. You jerk!

[TheDudeYouHateToMeet]

that was the STUPIDEST SHOW EVER MADE!! Every time it came on, i wanted to kill myself with the nearest blunt object... or throw it at the TV screen.

[CrudelyAnimated]

@TheDudeYouHateToMeet I wish you had.

[beet31425]

I agree with manny2many: This is a very tasteful version of the Schubert sonata theme, and Schubert would have approved. I even like the jazzy closing theme (though Schubert would probably have been less certain about that one).

[carver1717]

Schubert must be spinning in his grave. It takes a very special talent to take such a beautiful piece of music and turn it into something so clunky and ugly. I'd never heard this before and I wish I still hadn't. Yuk.

[manny2many]

Are you kidding? Schubert would have been so honored to be a part of pop culture some 170 years after his death. An entire generation of people know his music because of this show.

[carver1717]

'An entire generation of people know his music because of this show'. Yes, in the same way that they would know Paris if they'd been to see the replica of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas.

[manny2many]

you ought to actually listen to the piano sonata this comes from--they did a great job of honoring the music. Your analogy is apples and oranges.

[wheimer2]

@manny2many

Here's the original:

[wheimer2]

@manny2many

Here's the original: couldn't post the url but Youtube has it as

Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata D. 959 part 4-1

[acrttdriver]

Sounds to me like someone is in dire need of a blowjob! It's amazing how some people think "their" standards are just a cut above everyone else's.

[carver1717]

Thank you for so eloquently proving my point about standards. But I will pass on your much appreciated suggestion to the appropriate department!

[meh97]

easy there snob nod' the song is used to capture the simplistic rural beauty of the show...have you ever even watched it?

[jmarquar]

SCHUBERT!!!!!!!

[kingofthe90s]

The show also had cast members from the shows Cheers & Frasier have appeared as guest stars, which they play

the same characters.

[kingofthe90s]

Steven Weber also plays Charlie Barkin

on All Dogs Go To Heaven the series.

[kingofthe90s]

I remember this show, I use to watch this

when it first aired on NBC in 1990 to 1997

(which that's same year when The Disney

Afternoon aired and then got terminated

after that.)

[yittums]

Im a pilot because of this opening,,,most effective

[bythedog]

This show was very well written and the casting was fantastic! 10 out of 10! Sadly, they don't make 'em like this anymore.

[peekabooviewer]

Tell me about it. It's my favorite series from the 90s and is actually still my favorite now. They really don't make them like this anymore. Sometimes, when I can't find anything to watch on tv b/c of all of these reality tv stuff I just get out my Wings dvd and all is right with the world.

The opening just really set the tone for the show. It was a well written funny show that had a lot of heart.

[tubinal07]

That's true, I do the same thing!! Now if I can find seasons 6-8 in a value pack.

[peekabooviewer]

I seen some deals on the net for all 8 seasons but I don't think it's the Paramount version because Paramount has not officially released the 8th season so be careful because you don't want to pay for bad quality.

[tubinal07]

Thanks for the advice, Paramount and CBS television are the best kind. I'd rather shell out the money instead of trying to get a "deal" for bad quality.

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

Me too - I'm waiting for the 8th season to complete my collection.

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

Sounds like what I do on most mornings.

The credits were effective in that there was no need to show the actors during them (though I would like to create a version showing clips with the actors, but it wouldn't look right). It's like saying "The Sandpiper plane is the star, follow its journey." I just like watching it pass by windows and as a shadow.

[bigman10101]

Do you watch How I Met Your Mother? It's as close to the traditional sitcom as you can get these days.

[tvincent1978]

Definately one of the top five best TV openings ever

[BriarRose149]

Does anyone know the piece this music is from? I know it's Schubert, but that's it. My brother used to play it on the piano all the time.

[VascadaDomini]

This is a lovely tune, isn't it? It's Schubert's Piano sonata No. 20 in A Major, D. 959, the 4th movement.

[foulsociety]

Visually stunning. Serene. Nice music. The producers were crazy for dropping this opening after season 3.

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

I think it had something to with advertising time - I do like the jazzy opening, but this was soothing.

It was actually shorter-lived than that - it was dropped in January 1992, which was only halfway through season 3.

This is the 8th season variant credits (Tim "Don't Call me Timothy" Daly changing his name, no Thomas Haden Church, add in Tony Shaloub and Amy Yasbeck). It was used for the final episode, which was a fitting way to go out, the same way it came in, dramatic credits & all.

[tubinal07]

I agree, it was a great way to end the show, although I wish Thomas Haden Church actually came back for the final ep instead of being in the audience.

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

Yeah, but since he was in the Witness Protection Program (I wonder where Lowell wound up since he revealed he was going to Hawaii), it probably couldn't happen. At least he was there though, as was Tim Daly's sister Tyne.

[tubinal07]

That's true. Hey, is his sister Tyne Daly from that show Cagney and Lacey?

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

Yes she is - she is 10 years older than him (his DOB: 3/2/1956, hers 2/21/1946). They've acted together professionally twice - on Wings in 1991 and Judging Amy in '03 - they had scenes together and everything - amazing to watch them work together.

[tubinal07]

I knew she was on Wings, but I never knew he was on Judging Amy...cool.

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

She played Maxine Grey, Amy Grey's (Amy Breneman) mother.

[tubinal07]

I knew that. I meant who did Tim Daly play on Judging Amy?

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

Oh!! Sorry bout that. He played a sleazy lawyer named Monty Fisher, who had his nose broken in a courtoom fight. I am going to send you the clip of him talking with his sister.

[tubinal07]

Thank you!!! =)

[AllisonTheSNLGuru]

You're welcome!

[tubinal07]

I added you to my buddy list.