It's a tale as old as… well, It’s a Wonderful Life. You sit down, turn on the telly to watch a new Christmas-themed episode of your favorite show, and sure enough, you feel like you’ve seen it before. In all likelihood, it’s because you have. In the wellspring that is originality in Hollywood, a number of TV shows have turned to the plots of two holiday classics for inspiration: A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life. A Christmas Carol begets the miser that is shown the errors of his ways before being filled with the Christmas spirit (for an amazing 180 degree twist on the tale, Blackadder's Christmas Carol comes highly recommended). It’s A Wonderful Life, on the other hand, is responsible for the "what if <insert character> had never been born" trope. Don’t believe it? Check out but a mere handful of TV shows with their own George Bailey (James Stewart) moments.
'Tiny Toon Adventures': "It's A Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas" (Season 3, Episode 20)
In this It's a Wonderful Life-inspired episode (which also served as the series finale), Buster Bunny (John Kassir) is in charge of the Christmas special, but his poor choices result in him canceling the special outright and angering his friends. Buster leaves, and makes the fateful wish that he was never on Tiny Toon Adventures. Cue the guardian angel, Harvey (Dan Castellaneta), a white rabbit whose name is a nod to Stewart's classic movie Harvey. Without Buster, Montana Max (Danny Cooksey) has taken over Acme Acres, now Montyville, and the Acme Looniversity (now Montana Max's Business Looniversity). Buster wishes for things to be as they were, and Harvey brings him back (revealing himself as Bugs Bunny at the end).
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer': "The Wish" (Season 3, Episode 9)
If you combined It's a Wonderful Life with bloodthirsty vampires, you'd get "The Wish." Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), after a public embarrassment, decides that Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is the sole reason for her bad luck, and wishes that Buffy had never moved to Sunnydale. Bad call, Cordy. Anya (Emma Caulfield), an evil genie, grants her wish. Now the Hellmouth is open, and The Master (Mark Metcalf) is alive and in charge. You know who isn't alive? Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan), who are now undead minions of The Master.
'Married… With Children': "It's a Bundyful Life" (Season 4, Episodes 11/12)
The highly irreverent Fox comedy Married... With Children literally skewered all aspects of a normal, American sitcom family, and this two-part Christmas special inspired by It's a Wonderful Life is the perfect antithesis to the usual holiday fare. Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) — unsurprisingly — botches the family's holiday, so they leave him behind to go for Christmas dinner at Denny's. After inadvertently nearly killing himself with Christmas lights, Al is visited by his guardian angel, comedy legend Sam Kinison. The angel shows Al what would be if he had never been born: Peg (Katey Sagal) would be married into wealth, living in the lap of luxury, with two happy, ambitious and good children. So Al decides to go on living, having learned a lesson and begins treating his family like treasure. No, wait, that's a different show... Al keeps on living simply to make his family as miserable as they make him. I'm not crying, you're crying.
'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air': "The Alma Matter" (Season 3, Episode 18)
Poor Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro). It's bad enough that Will (Will Smith) makes a good impression on the Princeton University representative. But to top that off, Carlton is rejected. Depressed, Carlton is soon visited by guardian angel Tom Jones (well, it's not unusual), who shows him that, without Carlton, the family wouldn't be wealthy and successful. In fact, they would be... brrr... happy, utterly defenseless against Will's positivity.
'The Simpsons': "The Last Temptation of Homer" (Season 5, Episode 9)
This one is a bit of an outlier as the It's A Wonderful Life comparable is one scene as opposed to the whole episode, but it's just so awesome it has to be included. Homer (Dan Castellaneta) finds himself attracted to the nuclear plant's new hire, Mindy Simmons (Michelle Pfeiffer), who likes donuts, beer, and TV, too. Thankfully, Homer's guardian angel, taking the form of someone he admires, arrives to right things. It should be added that the person Homer admires is Colonel Klink from Hogan's Heroes, voiced by original actor Werner Klemperer, and in showing Homer how life would turn out had he married Mindy, he bungles it up (much like Klink would do), as Homer and Mindy are married and wealthy, while Marge (Julie Kavner) is President of the United States. D'OH!
'Dallas': "Conundrum" (Season 14, Episodes 22/23)
The episode "Conundrum" also serves as the series finale of Dallas, and finds J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) drunk and dejected. In this It's a Wonderful Life tribute, J.R. has lost his business, his son has moved overseas, and he has lost control of Southfork ranch. As J.R. ponders if life is worth living, Adam (Joel Grey), a spirit, shows him what would happen had he never been born. In no particular order: Gary (Ted Shackelford) bankrupts Ewing Oil and becomes a lawyer; Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) is a successful soap opera actress; Bobby (Patrick Duffy) is a divorced father with a gambling addiction; and a third Ewing son, Jason (Patrick Pankhurst), is a weaselly real estate broker that sells off Southfork. And those are just the highlights.
'Friends': "The One That Could Have Been" (Season 6, Episodes 15/16)
In this It's a Wonderful Life homage, we see what would have happened to the friends of Friends had they made different life choices. Ross (David Schwimmer) is still married to Carol (Jane Sibbett), and in an effort to spice up their bedroom he suggests a threesome... and doesn't get to take part in it. Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is married to Barry (Mitchell Whitfield). Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is still a big star on Days of our Lives, and hires Chandler (Matthew Perry) as an assistant (a job that mostly involves getting food). Obese Monica (Courteney Cox) has started dating a doctor, but a planned romantic dinner she put together is for naught when the doctor gets called away. Chandler comes over to cheer her up, and that he does, wink wink nudge nudge. And Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) is a workaholic stockbroker and a heavy smoker who has a heart attack after her company loses $13 million dollars. And a second heart attack after learning she was fired.
'ALF': "Stairway To Heaven" (Season 3, Episode 2)
Strike one: breaking Willie's (Max Wright) windshield. Strike two: breaking Willie's power saw. Strike three: breaking Willie. Not a great day for ALF (Paul Fusco), who wonders what life would be like if he never crashed into the Tanner's garage, just before knocking himself out with a croquet mallet. In this It's a Wonderful Life-inspired episode, Bob (Joseph Maher), an angel, visits ALF in a dream and shows him how different life would be. For starters, the Tanners live a perfect life, unhampered by ALF's antics. ALF himself works at Cosmique Cosmetics, free to do so after paying off the national debt with his fortunes. The two then head to Heaven, where Bob explains that if he chooses this life, he won't remember the Tanners. Before committing, he asks to see the Tanners one last time, only to find that they are dreadfully, dreadfully boring, having never spent time together having fun. Ixnay on the new life as ALF wakes up with everything back to normal (and ALF trying to sell Bloomingdale's on a radiator fluid perfume).
'The O.C.': "The Chrismukk-huh?" (Season 4, Episode 7)
What if Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) had never come to Newport? Well, glad you asked. In this It's a Wonderful Life homage, Sandy (Peter Gallagher) is married to Julie (Melinda Clarke) and mayor of Newport Beach. Jimmy Cooper (Tate Donovan) and Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) are married. Johnny Harper (Ryan Donowho), alive, is a surfing star on the Pac West tour. Summer (Rachel Bilson), a vapid, egocentric partier, is engaged to Chester (Chris Pratt), who is seeing Julie on the side. Marissa (Mischa Barton) died of a drug overdose during the road trip to Tijuana. Seth (Adam Brody)? Nerd.
'Arrow': "Invasion!" (Season 5, Episode 8)
In the third installment of the Arrowverse crossover event "Invasion," It's a Wonderful Life meets arrow-wielding vigilantes. "Invasion" sees the Dominators abducting Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and some others and placing them in an alternate reality, a world where Oliver never was on the Queen's Gambit. Both parents are alive, he's about to marry Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), and someone else is Starling City's protector (cough cough Diggle (David Ramsey), cough cough), as Oliver never became Green Arrow.
'Raising Hope': "It's A Hopeful Life" (Season 2, Episode 10)
The criminally underrated Raising Hope turned out one of its best episodes in this It's A Wonderful Life parody. Jimmy (Lucas Neff) was never the swiftest tree in the forest, signing over the rights to his life story (as part of an unrealized film about Hope's serial-killer mother) for a beach ball. Now hounded as C-list celebrities after a movie based on them is released, Jimmy wishes aloud that he had never met and had sex with Lucy (Bijou Phillips). Alas, this would also lead to Hope not being born, and Maw Maw (a brilliant Cloris Leachman) comes to show him what happens without Hope. It's not pretty. It's hilarious, just not pretty, with one of television's greatest lines ever delivered by Maw Maw (whom we learn died): "Oh, Heaven's great. But it's awfully hot there, there are a lot of fires there, and last night, at karaoke, Idi Amin and Hitler did a great version of 'Ebony and Ivory'."
'Night Court': "Hey Harry, F'Cryin' Out Lout - It Is A Wonderful Life... Sorta" (Season 8, Episode 18)
Fans of the show would know of Harry's (Harry Anderson) obsession with "The Velvet Fog" crooner Mel Tormé, so it's only fitting he would play Harry's own guardian angel, Herb. In the grand tradition of It's A Wonderful Life, Herb shows Harry the direction the courtroom would take without his impact on it. Resident scoundrel Dan (John Larroquette) is the judge, a rich and — unsurprisingly — wholly corrupt one at that. His most recent power play is pulling the strings behind Bull's (Richard Moll) run for mayor, which would see Dan rule the city by proxy. Bailiff Roz (Marsha Warfield) — who is not a bailiff in this reality, so just simply Roz — is in prison, penance for standing up against one of Dan's dubious business schemes. Both Mac (Charles Robinson) and Christine (Markie Post) are court attorneys, but without a whiff of hope or life between them. Oh, and the courtroom has a very Back to the Future II Biff's nightclub/casino about it. The final straw? Christine and Dan passionately kissing. Cue the "I want to live" and Herb brings Harry back to reality.
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December 20, 2022 at 12:30AM
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It's a Wonderful Life, Redux: TV Episodes That Rehashed the Holiday Classic - Collider
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