What If

[Helen Chapel]

If the network had not interferred, the original plan was to have "High Anxiety" as the pilot episode and Joe/Helen were supposed to be twice married and twice divorced. And that Helen was a greek decendent played by Peri Gilpin. How different would the series have been?

[Chocoholic]

Where would Carol have fit in? They probably would have had to find a different explanation for Joe and Brian's estrangement, unless Brian cheated with Helen.

Here's another what-if: What if the writers decided to make Kenny a series regular in season 3 instead of Antonio?

[Helen Chapel]

That's interesting about Carol. They really didn't mention her much after the first season or two much though, did they? But if it were Helen, maybe that would've created a more everlasting tension with the brothers, seeing as she was series regular and not just a guest shot.

I don't think Kenny would've brought as much to the show as Antonio did, not that I dislike Kenny. I just don't know what more they could do with him.

Other what if's.

Originally, there was no Lowell. Thomas Haden Church tried out for the part of Brian but lost out to Steven Weber. The producers, however, were impressed with THC's comedic timing and created the part of Lowell for him.

Originally in "Try to Remember the Night She Dismembered", the gang was supposed to dig up Roy's "dead" wife. That ended up being change for obvious reasons, but the title of the episode remained the same.

Originally, Alex was only supposed to be on for three episodes to create tension between Joe and Brian.

[Chocoholic]

I didn't know that about Alex. I know Antonio was originally only supposed to appear once.

I'm glad they created the Lowell character. He brought so much to the show.

What if Joe went to get his and Helen's marriage license instead of Helen and found out Helen and Antonio were still legally married?

[Kristen]

I didn't know that about Alex. I know Antonio was originally only supposed to appear once.

I'm glad they created the Lowell character. He brought so much to the show.

What if Joe went to get his and Helen's marriage license instead of Helen and found out Helen and Antonio were still legally married?
That's something I wondered about. I'm sure Joe would've had a cow, he was always so wound up about the wedding preparations. (Remember the wedding binder?) He never did find out about that, did he?

Oh, and if Helen had been played by Peri Gilpin, that would've meant she wouldn't have been around to do Frasier, and that would be bad. As a newfound Frasier fan, I just cannot imagine Roz being played by anyone else!

- Kristen

[Chocoholic]

That's something I wondered about. I'm sure Joe would've had a cow, he was always so wound up about the wedding preparations. (Remember the wedding binder?) He never did find out about that, did he?


Lowell did tell him at the end of the episode what Helen and Antonio were doing, but I don't think Joe believed him. "Help me with the bats, Joe." :lol:

Joe definitely would have had a heart attack and screamed at both of them.

[Kristen]

Lowell did tell him at the end of the episode what Helen and Antonio were doing, but I don't think Joe believed him. "Help me with the bats, Joe." :lol:

Joe definitely would have had a heart attack and screamed at both of them.
You're right, I forgot about that. Yeah, Joe definitely didn't believe him. I would not have wanted to be around when he found out. At least they did get their divorce and Joe and Helen were able to marry. I'm sure a bathroom wasn't exactly their ideal choice of wedding location, but it worked out OK! ;)

[Helen Chapel]

Other What If's/Trivia:

The Hackett brothers were almost played by The Cassidy brothers, David and Shaun.

[ Warning: the following is patched together from several
sources of information and may not be completely accurate ]
Tim Daly and Steven Weber were cast in the lead roles partly due to
their performances in _Diner_ and _Kennedys of Massachusetts_,
respectively. NBC exec (at the time) Brandon Tartikoff suggested that
Crystal Bernard be chosen for the role of Helen, but due to previous
commitments, she was unable to start on time. Unable to settle on
another actress, Angell, Casey, and Lee decided to wait for Bernard to
become available before starting _Wings_ [ perhaps explaining its
mid-season start? ] . (People Weekly and Houston Chronicle)

When interviewed about their choice for the location of Wings, the
producers mentioned that they really only had two legitimate
candidates: the northeastern US or the northwestern US. (TV Guide)
Interestingly enough, Angell, Casey, and Lee have situated their
other sitcom, Frasier, in Washington state...

The Italian restaurant Pontrelli's (in "Looking for Love in All
the Wrong Places") appears to be named after one of the assistants
to the producers, Gina Pontrelli (?).

In "If Elected, I Will Not Live," when the TV news broadcaster is
announcing the results of the various electoral races, the names
Ackerman and Casey appear on the screen behind him.

David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee and Dave Hackel appear at backgrounds in the airport in the final episode.




A post I found from an old usenet group that talks more about the "original" Helen. Her original name was to be Helen Troyankis!

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.wings/browse_thread/thread/8ffefec1295f7423/98bdc695e64b8b82

You are right to think of Crystal Bernard as Helen on "Wings". But that's only because the "Helen" that you may have seen for seven and a half season was re-designed for Crystal by the good folks at Grub Street.

As I recall the story David Lee told in the "Wings" NG, Peri Gilpin was the first choice for Helen on "Wings". But that Helen character had little resemblance to the final product. Joe and Helen were supposed to have been not only lifelong friends, but former Husband and Wife (twice married!!!). Helen was a Greek-American, raised in Nantucket. This is the "Helen" that Peri would have played.


The main characters lives and relationships, would have been a little grittier, more complex, in my opinion, sort of like Cheers with a bit more edge. This must have been the opinion of NBC's Entertainment Execs, who did not like some of the concepts at all. At some points, they asked to change the setting (the Airport), the marital history of Joe and Helen and finally suggested Peri be replaced by Crystal Bernard. The Grub Streeters saved the Nantucket Airport location (Thank you!), but Joe and Helen became never-married and Helen had to be re-done to fit CB. I believe the accomondations made were:


1. Helen moved from Texas at 10, to explain CB's accent.
2. Brian stole Joe's fiancee, to explain why a straight arrow small town guy like Joe was never married
3. Helen was grossly overweight until just before the start of the show, to explain why Joe ignored a stunning beauty like Helen until he was 30 years old


Wing is one of TV's little "what-ifs". I loved the show as it was, but it most likely would have been much more of a critical favorite if the original concept was followed.....


....then again it may have been cancelled after seven episodes.

-------------


>I guess there is a point where the creative team runs out of things to say about the situation. I
>also don't thinsk having the two main characters getting married is a great idea, either. It takes
>a lot of the interest out of the relationship.


>Here is where we really differ. Joe and Helen's will they or won't they pose
>had just run it's course after five seasons. Of all the sitcom couples you can
>think of in the last 10 years who have done this routine, who were more logicl
>candidates to be married? Here we have a rather old fashion small town twosome
>who had known each other for over 20 years. They had compatible backgrounds
>and never really dated anyone else for MOST of the shows. In all the other
>uses of the "sexual tension" bit, (like Moonlightin') you could honestly
>say that the couple involved should NOT be married. It did not make sense for
>Joe and Helen to keep the status quo from season one.

>From what I have heard in the past, the original concept for Joe and Helen
>was as twice divorced ex-spouses. Since (NBC or who ever) did not like that
>idea (only to resurrect it for Hope and Gloria), it became much more difficule
>to see how the writers could keep two such obvious candidates from marrying
>forever. These were not big city slickers like Seinfeld, but small town
>American folks.

> >I also don't thinsk having the two main characters getting married is a great idea, either. It takes
> >a lot of the interest out of the relationship.


> Joe and Helen's will they or won't they >pose had just run it's course after five seasons. Of all the >sitcom >couples you canthink of in the last 10 years who have done this >routine, who were more logical candidates to be married? Here we have a >rather old fashion small town (snip)


> Again, it's your opinion, and it might be a coincidence- but I think
> they were WAY more interesting as a couple when you didn't know what the
> future held for them with such concrete like certainty that you do now.
> Sure, they might have those Lucy/Ricky type pratfalls- but basically, a
> lot of the interest has been sucked out of it for me.


> It's true, in real life, sure, you would want those crazy kids hitched
> (of course, if this was real life, I'd propose to her myself! Fat
> chance she would accept.) In a comedy/dramatic situation, it's
> different.



I agree
with you that the uncertainty
of the future of the couple is part of the reason for watching. But the
setup for
Joe and Helen of Wings did not allow this to go on for very long with
out it being forced.

As some one said in another post to this thread, the great thing about
the Joe and Helen's relationship was that TV showed the depth of feeling
for a man and woman in more than a sexual level, they were really
FRIENDS!!! Rare indeed. But this presented a big
problem. Childhood playmates, Schoolmates, Co-workers, Confidants,
Social running mates,
and finally Lovers. What's the next logical step?


The writers/producers of Wings tried to fight their way out of this bag
for years. David
Lee has said in the past that they had foreseen this trap in the
beginning and tried to
make Joe and Helen divorced co-workers, which would have given them a
reason NOT to
want to re-marry. I believe NBC's big execs did'nt like the idea. This
led to them having to give them strange (IMHO) reasons for not being
lovers in the beginning ("I
DON'T DATE PILOTS!") and then when they had their first
relationship/break-up they
just sort of settle in a netherworld of "just friends". We had to just
accept that Helen, who we would latter find out had always wanted to be
married to Joe, would
spurn chances to re-united twice ("Ladies who Lunch" and Mathers of the
Heart").


I, like you, enjoy sexual tension story that are well done. But, with
Wings, Joe and
Helen's end was inevidable. I just happen to believe they stumbled on to
a gem of a
romance.