User Reviews

Al meets his guardian angel played by the late great comedian, Sam Kinison. He allows Al to see what life like would be without him. In this episode, Ted McGinley who would later Jefferson Darcy is Mr. Jablonsky. Peggy bakes, cooks, and sews. She even saved herself for marriage according to her. Kelly is a college student who has written her first book of poetry. Bud is the respectful gentleman toward women. The idea of this happy life makes Al want to throw up. Without him, the Jablonskys are a happy, functional family where the parents make out in front of the kids like newlyweds. It's a nice departure from the regular. Sadly, Sam Kinison wasn't around much longer after these episodes and that's a shame because he was quite talented, loud, and funny.

After re-visiting the first ep last night,I looked forward to catching the second part. Checking the cast list before viewing, I got set for an angelic ep of MWC.

View on the ep:

Originally chosen by the creators to be Al,Sam Kinison gives a tantalising "what if" performance as Al's angel, with Kinison brashly telling Al how much of a dump his life has been, and smoothly hitting the sarcastic exchanges with Ed O'Neill. Continuing to mock the traditional feel-good TV X-Mas special, the script by Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt hilariously turns the It's a Wonderful Life outline inside out, with the only "lesson" offered being Al wanting to live in order to make everyone else's lives miserable. Going into a Bizarro World of the family without Al, director Gerry Cohen gives the rest of the family a very funny prim and proper appearance, as they all discover that it's a Bundyful life.

The second half of a Christmas two-parter, this one sees Al returning home empty handed, having been unable to buy the gifts he promised his family. Unhappy, Peggy, Kelly and Bud leave Al on his own while they go to Denny's for dinner. Al decides to turn on the Christmas lights on his house, but accidentally electrocutes himself. When he wakes up, he meets his guardian angel (played by US comedian Sam Kinison), who shows Al what life would have been like if he hadn't been born. After seeing how content his family would be if he wasn't around, Al changes his mind: he wants to be alive because he can't bear to see them happy.

As if the title didn't give it away, this is a Bundified version of It's A Wonderful Life, a Christmas 'classic' that I don't particularly care for. And I don't like this episode much either. Sam Kinison is very much a 'love him or hate him' comedian, and I'm in the latter camp, finding his loud, brash style too grating for my delicate English ears. Kelly's two-piece outfit spread a little Christmas cheer, but for the most part I found this one lacking in good gags (that said, it's still funnier than a Gavin & Stacey or The Vicar of Dibley Xmas Special).