List of It’s a Wonderful Life references

Several AIO episodes have made references to the film It’s a Wonderful Life. Some are quite obvious to those who know the film, and others are more discreet. Known references are listed below.

Episode References

Episode	Reference
#9: “Doing Unto Others”	Whit and Connie talk about It’s a Wonderful Life being a great movie.
#54: “Peace on Earth”	After the Barclays are robbed, George Barclay says, "I've never seen anything like this!" and Jimmy Barclay says, "I saw something like it in a movie once."
#116: “Isaac the Benevolent”	See #9: “Doing Unto Others”, above.
#121: “Missing Person”	Isaac Morton dreams that Rodney Rathbone never existed.
#126: “Wishful Thinking”	Donna Barclay wishes that Jimmy Barclay never existed and sees how that would be like for a day.
#150: “Home Is Where the Hurt Is”	Curt Stevens's address is 4631 Potter's Park, a clever combination of "Bailey Park" and "Potter's Field."
#173: “A Thanksgiving Carol”	Terrance Clodbody, the name of the one ghost who visits Ebenezer Stooge, is a reference to "Clarence Oddbody," the angel who visited George Bailey in the film.
#216: “Like Father, Like Son”	Eric Myers says, "It's what I get for praying," and says it's from "an old movie".
#239: “The Power”	Isaac Morton quotes It's a Wonderful Life, saying "It's what I get for praying."
#253: “A Time for Christmas”	Courtney says that she'll watch It’s a Wonderful Life to get into the Christmas sprit.
#278: “The Fifth House on the Left, Part 1”	As Bernard is telling a Bible story to Mr. Smith-Hammer's daughter, she asks if it's an angel like in It's a Wonderful Life.
#312: “Rewards in Full”	The character of Harry Wainwright comes from two characters in It's a Wonderful life: Sam Wainwright, played by Frank Albertson and Harry Bailey, played by Todd Karns. The character of Harry Wainwright owns a plastics factory, just like Sam Wainwright.
#340: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 1” #341: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 2”	Pokenberry Falls parallels Bedford Falls. Barry Lionel, the rich man in Pokenberry Falls, is a parallel of Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life. In the movie, Mr. Potter was played an actor named by Lionel Barrymore.
#385: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 1” #386: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 2”	When George comes home and sneezes, Mary says "God Bless You", and Jimmy follows up with "God Bless us, every one". Donna reprimands him with the line, "Wrong movie." (A reference to A Christmas Carol) The name of the character Barry Lionel is a reference to Lionel Barrymore, who played a similar character in the film. Parallels in the plot: Pokenberry Falls parallels Bedford Falls. Barry Lionel, the rich man in Pokenberry Falls, is a parallel of Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life. Potter's Field and Violet's Lake are references to Mr. Potter and Violet Bick, characters from the movie Donna falls through the ice while sled-riding, just like the beginning of It's a Wonderful Life. The subplot about Stewart's bike being broken, Stewart hurting his knee, George talking to the boy's mother on the phone, the boy's father kicking George out, etc. George Bailey's youngest child Zuzu takes flower petals to bed with her. George Barclay's youngest child Stewart takes his bike pedal to bed with him George Barclay jumps off the bridge to save Eugene, just as George Bailey jumps off a bridge to "save" Clarence in the film. After George says that he wishes he had never become a pastor, Eugene says that that is a familiar concept. In the same scene, George mentions he can't hear out of his ear, and attributes it to the icy water. In It's a Wonderful Life, his character can't hear because of a accidental swim in icy water as a kid, and after the swim to save Clarence, he can hear again. The entire second half of the show where George sees the world without him is very similar to the plot of It's a Wonderful Life. The ending parallels the film in that the townsfolk help out the Barclay's, and George expresses love for his wife and children. This entire two-part episode has many lines that are very similar to or identical to lines in the film: George's speech to Barry Lionel is a parallel of his counterpart in It's a wonderful Life, including the phrase "warped, frustrated, old man", and the word "rabble". When George refers to the town in adjectives, Jimmy tells him he left out measly. George corrects himself. Jimmy is practicing the same song for the church that George Bailey's child is practicing in It's a Wonderful Life. George asks why he has to play it. Jimmy, just as in the movie, is practicing for church. Later, when George uses the same line from the movie to reprimand Jimmy for "playing over and over", Jimmy sarcastically says "O, Daddy!" Ellis Birch loses the money for the church and George looks for it and then he goes to beg Mr. Lionel for money and they both repeat many of the lines from the film. George's line: "Somebody's going to Rupert and it isn't going to be me." "Every time a clock sounds a pastor comes around." vs. "Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings." Eugene quotes some of Clarence's lines from the film, such as, "One man's life touches so many others, when he's not there it leaves an awfully big hole." At the end, Eugene thanks George "for the wings," and then clarifies "the buffalo wings".
#514: “Room Enough for Two”	The opening scene and general premise of this episode may have been inspired by the similar scene in the movie when Harry Bailey arrives home from the army on the train and surprises his family with his new bride. Here Mark Horton comes home and surprises Liz and the others with his fiancé Natalie.
#582: “Silent Night”	In a flashback to an early Whittaker Christmas when Jana, Jerry, and Jason are all young, the Whittaker family gift is a bell, "Just like the bell in the movie!" In the same scene, a young Jana quotes the line "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings!"

Other References

• The names of the entire Barclay family were references to "It's a Wonderful Life", as revealed in an interview released on CD.
  • In the film, the main characters are George and Mary Bailey. George and Mary are the first names of George and Mary Barclay.
  • The actors who play the main characters in the film are Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, from whom Jimmy and Donna derive their names.
  • When the Barclays have another child, they name him Stewart Reed after the last names of the two principal actors.