TV REVIEW : NBC Sitcom ‘Wings’ Sputters in Debut

If God had meant NBC to continue flying at 9:30 Thursday nights, He wouldn’t have given it “Wings.”

This trial sitcom premieres tonight (on Channels 4, 36 and 39) with a few clever lines, but not enough to compensate for its stock premise concerning the relationship between two brothers.

The setting is Nantucket, where Joe Hackett (Timothy Daly) operates a tiny commuter airline from a tiny airport inhabited by the usual broadly played supporting characters. But . . . uh oh.

That fastidious straight-arrow Joe is joined in the struggling business by his chaotic, loose-cannon cutup of a younger brother, Brian (Steven Weber). Naturally you’re wondering: How will these guys ever get along?

Don’t ask. Suffice to say that the opener just doesn’t quite make it, despite introducing a couple of occasionally amusing characters in maintenance man Lowell Mather (Thomas Haden Church) and lunch-counter manager Helen Chappel (Crystal Bernard). Meanwhile, the bickering of the brothers--who spend most of the half hour trying run down an anticipated inheritance from their deceased father--quickly flattens into a tedious monotone. Loosen your seat belts.