Sitcom junkie that I am, I've been watching WINGS each night to fall asleep to. It's an amusing series from the creators of the FRASIER that never found the popularity of that show (or its predecessor), but I've grown to really enjoy it. Yes, it may not have been edgy or boundary pushing, and the differences between the characters were sometimes ill defined (or subtle?), but whatever its faults may or may not be, it's still a very underrated and enjoyable show, and I was a little miffed when I discovered that Netflix doesn't have every episode on its service.
In fact, it turns out that 23 episodes are missing, an entire season's worth(!), and unfortunately, due to music licensing issues, there's very little chance of them being added. The biggest shame is that they frequently feature important story-changing episodes (and WINGS was mostly very careful about keeping its backstory -- although don't ask what happened to Budd, or Lowell's kids).
While watching on Netflix, did you wonder where Helen's sister, Casey, suddenly appeared from? How Brian, Casey and Antonio got a house together? Where Helen got a new cello from? What Brian did with his insurance money? It's all explained in episodes that were cut. You also missed Craig Bierko's cameo in Season 2, Kirstie Alley's "Rebecca Howe" from CHEERS in Season 4, and The Monkees's Peter Tork in Season 7 (if that's your bag). Often these were some of the best episodes, too.
So here's a list of each of the episodes missing from Netflix:
Season 2
01 - The Puppet Master
11 - A Terminal Christmas
15 - My Brother's Back and There's Going to Be Trouble
Season 3
09 - Try to Remember the Night He Dismembered
Season 4
11- Exit Laughing
15 - The Gift: Part 1
16 - The Gift: Part 2
17 - I Love Brian
21 - Another Wedding
Season 6
02 - Twisted Sister
07 - All's Fare
18 - Gone But Not Faygotten
21 - The Love Life and Times of Joe and Helen
Season 7
06 - She's Gotta Have It
06 - She's Gotta Have It
10 - 'Twas The Heist Before Christmas
17 - Lynch Party
20 - A Tale Of Two Sister Cities
23 - Life Could Be A Dream
Season 8
03 - Maybe It's You
07 - Olive Or Twist
15 - Fay There, Georgy Girl
16 - Escape From New York
17 - House Of Blues
Unfortunately the only place these appear to be now available is on the DVD releases. Shame! (It's especially a shame because sometimes the music in question is only incidental and could be changed to anything else.)
30 comments:
Ha, I have it on every night to fall asleep to also. Sometimes the theme song puts me sleep before the show even starts. Thanks for sharing.
Ha. I just finished watching the whole thing last night. Nice the way it tied into the beginning at the end. I can usually make it through one episode before I fall asleep.
YES!!! thank you!
I freaking loved this show when it was on & I still do. In fact, seeing it show up on my Netflix search is the reason I decided to get a subscription. I hate that there are missing episodes. So mad. I will have to head to Amazon to purchase the series on DVD.
My whole family loves this show. I'm annoyed that a music issue is the problem when they figured out the licensing for the dvds...
Great list. I think you missed one. Insanity Claus from Season 7.
Insanity Clause is a season six episode, and is available on Netflix. Thanks for the kind comment!
As of yesterday. Wings no longer available on Netflix. I hope this changes soon...
Many of the missing episodes are on YouTube. Netflix just removed Wings from their library so I'm going to buy the DVD. It's just a good show!
I got Netflix so I could watch Wings. I wish it could come back.
Thanks for this list! As I am watching the missing episodes on youtube, I am noting these episodes all have cast members singing parts of songs as part of the plot. Very difficult to fix I imagine without butchering the scenes. The rest of the episodes are now on Hulu instead of Netflix, btw.
Just checked this list against the Hulu stream. Everything listed above still missing, with the exception that Season 7, Episode 10 - 'Twas The Heist Before Christmas is now on Hulu.
Thanks for checking, Luke!
Just bought this series on dvd today because I knew some were missing on Netflix (and none of them are available there now). Thank you for this post, oughta make a fun Saturday playlist!
Go to CBS.com under TV classics and there are always a few Wings episodes available free - you don't have to get the CBS All Access trial. It's not much, but at least it's something that will give you your Wings fix.
Thanks so much for this list! As someone else noted, a few of these are now on Hulu, and I was able to find a few of the DVDs at my local library, so the list of missed episodes is getting shorter!
I don't think it's coming back to Netflix any time soon... certainly not Netflix UK. I've just ordered my DVD boxset so I will have a copy whenever I want it! :)
Nope Netflix dropped wings and coach however you can still watch wings on huluplus I'm re watching and coinsedently I'm in bed watching lol.. Same eps are missing but at least we can watch most! Still sad about Coach tho 😦
If you have CBS all access you can watch all episodes of wings or on huluplus you can watch minus the list above
You can't even get all the episodes on CBS all access. Annoying.
I loved Wings back in the 90's! I think it's one of the most underrated shows of all time. The chemistry between the characters was excellent. I want to buy the entire series on DVD but it hasn't been updated and the set doesn't include any extras of any kind. I wish they would update it to Blueray maybe do some interviews with cast members etc.
Amazing! Sometimes I feel sad that a lot of shows are not available on Netflix, which is why we have to look for it online like this. I am happy about one thing, the kids’ content on Netflix. I watched the shows by Andy Yeatman there and am simply in love with it.
Thanks for the info! I'm watching Wings on Prime right now and realized there were missing episodes after watching the high school reunion ep when the lady Brian was seeing told Joe that her kid might be his and then it was not continued in the next ep I watched!
I was wondering about this, Googled & found this post. So many people in my life act like I'm weird for using TV to go to sleep. Glad to know THEY are the freaks & WE are normal!
I thought I was only one who watched these to go to sleep; funny, looks like Im not alone. I agree, very underrated TV show and they tie in with each other across seasons. One of my favorite episodes was the Clint Black guest star, found this post and explains why it is not on HULU. Didnt realize so many were missing.
Thanks for the curated list. In Scrubs there is a lot of music licensing issues instead of omitting the episode they changed the music, which ruined many of the scenes.
Not edgy or boundary pushing? I thought it was overly boundary pushing. It’s the first mainstream show I remember growing up openly talked about sex, a lot. And they were one of the firsts to have shows about a kid coming out of the closet. It’s was boundary pushing if nothing else. Lol. And for what it’s worth, wings came before Frasier. Roz Doule was the producer of wings. But she passed away and that’s why they names Frasier’s producer, Roz Doyle.
Season 3, Episode 13 is missing. Has a favorite scene in Helen’s bathroom. Lowell ad Libs and you can see Brian and Antonio struggling not to laugh!
LOVE THIS SHOW...Still watch it every week. I have it on DVD so I have all the missing episodes.
@anonymous Edgy? Talking opening about sex? Wings barely talked about sex, and certainly no more than other shows of the time. Hell, Cheers had a main character talking about sex in 1982. Also, a gay character in a sitcom episode? M*A*S*H did that in 1974.
Wings was extremely MOR and safe. It didn't push a single boundary. It wasn't that kind of show.
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