Crystal Bernard, voted the sexiest woman on television in a Chicago Sun-Times phone poll last summer, will face weekly competition this fall from her newest "Wings" co-star.

Actress Farrah Forke has been turning heads since January, when she joined NBC's hit series in the recurring role of helicopter pilot Alex Lambert, a Desert Storm combat veteran. Forke's "Wings" status has been upgraded to full-time cast member for the sitcom's fifth season.

"Crystal and I have no time for jealousy or silly snits," said Forke, phoning from her New York City apartment. "Last season the writers immediately addressed the tension between my character and hers." Bernard plays Helen Chappel, the part-time cellist who runs the lunch counter at the small Nantucket airport where "Wings" is set.

"As a newcomer, Alex quickly got a lot of attention from the guys," Forke said. "Helen set them straight, had a talk with Alex, and now they're good friends. And so are we."

The "guys" are the two commuter pilots, steady and serious Joe Hackett (Tim Daly) and his hang-loose younger brother, Brian (Steven Weber). Both Hacketts pursued Alex through the winter and spring episodes, but Brian gained the romantic advantage in May's season finale.

"Of the two guys, Brian is the better comic relationship for Alex," Forke said. "As a Gulf War pilot and now as the owner of Nantucket Helicopter Tours, she likes to be in control. So it would be funnier if she's playing off the screw-up brother.

"Besides, I think the writers want to get Joe and Helen back together again. Who knows? We could wind up double-dating this season. Then, after another year or two, we could all get married and be like the Nortons and the Kramdens in `The Honeymooners.' "

In this week's rerun, airing from 7:30 to 8 p.m. tomorrow on WMAQ-Channel 5, Brian tries to borrow a houseboat for a private champagne cruise with Alex.

"Next season, I would like the writers to treat Helen and Alex the way they treat the brothers," Forke said. "The women should develop an honest, funny and sometimes silly relationship. I hope more of Alex's vulnerability comes through. I don't want her to be tough all the time. Let her be a little dopey and insecure, trying to cover up her weaknesses, like Rebecca Howe in `Cheers.'

"I haven't seen any new scripts yet. We start shooting next month. The writers encourage questions and opinions about our characters, but I was a little hesitant to speak up last season. Now that they're stuck with me for a full year, maybe I'll have more confidence."

The native Texan said she was "surprised and shocked" when she won the role after auditioning on tape in New York and reading live with Weber and Daly in California.

"I didn't have time to analyze the scenes or memorize the lines, so I put a lot of myself into Alex," she said. "I remembered how it felt when I was bartending in New York and I had to keep the guys in line or cut them off. And it just came out."

Before returning to the West Coast for "Wings," Forke will be filming a CBS movie called "Nurses on the Line" in Mexico this month.

"We'll be in the jungle, about 100 miles south of Vera Cruz," she said. "It's a plane-crash thriller, starring Lindsay Wagner and Robert Loggia. My character is an irresponsible party girl who's not serious about her training as a nurse. I just managed to squeeze this in at the last minute. It's pretty hectic, but I'm a better person when I'm busy."