It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2) is the twelfth episode of of Season 4 of the FOX TV series Married... with Children, as well as the 69th overall episode. Written by Ron Leavitt and Michael G. Moye, the episode was directed by Gerry Cohen. It first aired along with its first part as a one-hour episode on FOX on December 17, 1989.
Synopsis[]
Al's guardian angel shows him what life would be like for Peggy and the kids if he'd never been born, a question Al posed after a drunken Marcy left him with no money for the gifts he promised.
Plot[]
To be added.
Cast[]
Regular Cast[]
- Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy
- Katey Sagal as Peggy Bundy
- Christina Applegate as Kelly Bundy
- David Faustino as Bud Bundy
- Amanda Bearse as Marcy Rhoades
- David Garrison as Steve Rhoades
Guest Stars[]
Quotes[]
- Peg: [walks around the couch and sits next to Al] Ok, Al, enough of this loving family crap! What did you do?!
- Al: Well I'm going to be honest with you, Peg... You see, I was coming home with great presents, when I was surrounded by a great band of...[looks down in shame] bears and Indians... See, you think the two wouldn't normally get along, but there they were. I fought them with everything that I had, but... they took all my presents... and, uh flew away.
- Marcy: [drunk] Excuse me, Marcy, I'm Al. Do you know where I live?
- Al: Why didn't you let me in the bank, Marcy?
- Marcy: Oh... I was going to. But I got so sleepy. I guess I fell asleep... Oh, but you got to see this. [pulls up a sheet of paper from the copy machine that Marcy sat on during the party] Some bimbo at the bank got so smashed that she Xeroxed her behind! [giggles] Everyone got one. Imagine the humiliation when she shows up for work Monday morning!
- Al: Yeah, it's a Christmas to remember, alright... Well, let's get you home. Now, we'll hail you a cab. Tell the driver to take you to Dock 43, walk up to the first toothless man you see, show him this picture... and you're home.
- Marcy: Thank you, Al. Don't tell anyone, but I'm going to throw up in your next door neighbor's mailbox!...[giggles as she points to the paper] Look at this scrawny little thing.
- Guardian Angel: I know you think you got it tough: your wife doesn't respect you, your kids think you're a failure, a good day for you is when you don't come across any new foot diseases... Believe me, I sympathize. But you think your life reeks? Take a whiff of mine, pal. [stands] My wife gained a hundred pounds for every year we were married. We had two kids, I think, she ate 'em, I dunno. I hated driving home so much that I had vanity plates written up that said "HIT ME". But despite it all, she loved me. You know how I know? [screams] Because she TOLD ME! Oh yeah. When I was at work, she loved my father, my brother, my bookie... But when I found my grandfather's teeth in my bed, under the pillow, then I knew there was trouble in paradise. [sits down] That's when I did what any other man would do, Bundy. I canceled my life insurance policy, and then I hung myself. Showed her, huh? [laughs manically]
- Al: And you're here to help me, huh?
- Al: [sees Peg Jablansky cooking] Wait a second, she's cooking. She told me she was allergic to fire.
- Guardian Angel: [sarcastically] Gee, that's weird! I guess after I died, women started lying, huh. Boy, I tell ya, if they ever start using sex to get what they want, I'm outta here! [rolls eyes]
Notes[]
Title[]
- “It's a Bundyful Life” is a play on the title of the 1946 classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life, which this episode parodies.
Trivia[]
- The episode reverses a core element of It's a Wonderful Life's plot by suggesting that, unlike the case the George Bailey, the world would instead be a better place if Al didn't exist. Nevertheless, like Bailey, Al still decides to live, but mainly because he saw his family happy without his existence, with Al not wanting them to be happy after what they put him through.
- Fox re-aired this two-part episode on December 15, 2003, the same year that the Married... with Children Reunion special was aired, making it a rare occurrence of a classic TV show being rebroadcast on its parent network following its original run.
- This two-part episode originally aired on the same date that the animated series The Simpsons debuted as a regular series on Fox, with the premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" (a.k.a. "The Simpsons Christmas Special").
- The Simpsons' episode title as well as Al's line, "I guess that's what they mean when they say 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire', eh guys?" reference the classic Christmas song, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" by Nat "King" Cole.
- Both episodes aired out of production order: The Simpsons' episode was the eighth episode produced but the first to air, while this two-part episode was produced after "Who'll Stop the Rain?" but aired before the episode premiered in January 1990.
- The Simpsons' episode "Some Enchanted Evening" was intended to be the actual series premiere, but that show had major production problems with 70% of the animation needing to be redone. The episode eventually aired as the season finale on May 13, 1990 (the same night that MWC’s fourth season finale, "Yard Sale", aired).
- On the Married... with Children Podcast, this is the first two-parter to get two separate podcast episodes.
- During the guardian angel's rant about his fat wife and kids, and how he can sympathize with Al, he jokes about having vanity plates that read "HIT ME" because he hated going home.
- Sam Kinison, the one-time preacher turned stand-up comedian who plays Al's guardian angel, sadly died in a head-on automobile accident in April 1992, about 2½ years after his appearance in this episode, at the age of 38.
- Guest star Sam Kinison was the producers’ first choice to play Al Bundy, but they decided against it as they figured he was too raunchy.
- This is Ted McGinley's first appearance on the show. He would later play Marcy's second husband, Jefferson D'Arcy, beginning in Season 6.
- In the season 10 special My Favorite Married, this episode is discussed:
- The cast reminisced about Sam Kinison being one of their favorite guests. They also discussed how he missed a day of rehearsal and sent the cast nightsticks as a gift as well as belly dancers and a catered lunch the following day.
- During a Q&A panel at Niagara Falls Comic Con 2019, Ted McGinley expanded upon the story, noting that he had known Kinison beforehand from a comedy workshop and the reason that he had missed a day of rehearsal was due to a dental emergency. McGinley noted that Kinison made it up to them having lunch catered from a well-known Los Angeles restaurant with belly dancers the day he returned to set and gave them nightsticks. He then noted the following day, Kinison brought a boombox and played his newest comedy album for the cast during lunch.
- There are some (minor) alternate scenes with the Angel. which show snow in Al's hair and alternate line readings from the scenes shown.
- The blooper reel includes Katey Sagal messing up her line about having to go to Spud Hut instead of Denny's.
- The cast reminisced about Sam Kinison being one of their favorite guests. They also discussed how he missed a day of rehearsal and sent the cast nightsticks as a gift as well as belly dancers and a catered lunch the following day.
- Kelly tells Al that "Christmas without presents is like Thanksgiving without pizza", in reference to the episode "Fair Exchange", when the family ate pizza toppings for their Thanksgiving meal and the remaining crust the day after.
- As Al's angel reveals, in the timeline when Al wasn't born, the family has changed in the following ways:
- Peggy has becoming a loving housewife and mother who is able to cook and clean. She mentions that she saved herself for marriage.
- Bud has become a bespectacled male feminist, discussing how women must be respected and chooses to be friends with them rather than pursue dating. He was also breastfed until the age of 9.
- Kelly is a college student who is having her works of poetry published in French. Like her mother, she has also remained a virgin, telling Bud "Pleasures of the flesh muddle the thinking".
- Norman Jablonski has become the head of the household and is openly loving to his family.
- At the beginning of the episode, Kelly shows off her revealing dress, saying she last wore it at Grandma's funeral, which would imply that Al's mother had passed away some time ago. Bud also mentions that he saw her and Elvis after nearly dying in Season 6's "The Mystery of Skull Island". Yet, in Season 7's "Al on the Rocks", Al's mother is alive, as Al is on the phone with her and threatens to sue her for $5 that she owed him.
- As Al starts to inspect the Christmas, one of the neighbors, Mr. Donnelly, mocks Al and tells him that he got a television. Al then tells Donnelly, "Well, if I was one of the guys down at the post office, Donnelly, I'd be unwrapping your wife!"
- Al previously yelled at Mr. Donnelly in "Tooth or Consequences" and mentioned Mrs. Donnelly is having an affair with the mailman, after Mr. Donnelly mocked Al about having dinner after he came home from work. This would imply the Donnellys live across the street from the Bundy residence.
- Mrs. Donnelly was also mentioned by Bud in "976-SHOE", as he told Al that she called the house and needed Al's advice about a bunion on her foot.
- The episode was released the same year the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the core element of the U.S. Saving and Loan industry which It's a Wonderful Life hyped while suggesting standard bank owners were more evil, was abolished (to be superseded by the Federal Housing Finance Board and the Office of Thrift Supervision) after finally revealing itself to less sustainable in the late 1980s.
Cultural References[]
- This two-part episode parodies the 1946 classic Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life.
- Specifically the guardian angel trying to get his wings by convincing Al to live and Al seeing what his life would like if he wasn't born directly references the film's protagonist, George Bailey and his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody. However, unlike Clarence, Al's guardian angel does not benefit as much after getting his wings, as he has to enter heaven with his luggage being lost, presumably for not getting Al to treat his family better.
- Peggy mentions that its a Bundy Christmas tradition to go to Denny's for their Christmas platter special.
- Al's guardian angel accuses God of playing Nintendo instead of sending him to a better person.
- Al's guardian angel mentions spending Christmas with Moses and watching him parts the water as someone jumps in.
- After Al suggests that his guardian angel fly and play the harp to prove he is real, he tells Al that he isn't Tommy Tune.
- Al wishes for the "Hee Haw girls", in reference to the 1969–93 CBS/syndicated variety show Hee Haw and the voluptuous, scantily-clad females (called the Hee Haw Honeys) dressed in stereotypical farmer's daughter outfits.
- When Al questions the guardian angel on how can he help him, he quips "Make me a White Sox fan", referring to the Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball team, as there is an intense rivalry between the Sox and their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cubs.
Music[]
- Al sings "Winter Wonderland" after the rest of the family decide to go to Denny's without him.
- Norman Jablonsky sings "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" by Jimmy Boyd after he arrives at the front door.
- The song that plays during the end credits is "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas".
Locations[]
Sets[]
- Bundy Living Room/Kitchen
- Bundy Veranda
Goofs[]
- When Al gets up from lying in the snow, he brushes the snow out of his hair. When he and the angel go into the house, there's snow in his hair again.
- When the guardian angel snaps his fingers and turns on the Christmas lights, there is a white light bulb that is still not on next to Al's face. It remains off for awhile, until the guardian angel says that anything that he can't get a receipt for comes out of his own pocket. After that, the camera cuts back to Al and the white light bulb is suddenly on.
External Links[]
It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2) at the Internet Movie Database- It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2) on Bundyology
- It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2) - Transcript on albundy.net
- #70 It's a Bundyful Life (Part 2) - MWC Podcast on Horrorphilia
