It's an annual TV tradition . . . but this holiday season, unlike most years, there's only one place and time to see it.
During the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, one of the most available attractions on television has been watching "It's a Wonderful Life," director Frank Capra's 1946 movie classic starring James Stewart and Donna Reed.
Because the copyright on the film had lapsed, any station that could get a print could show it without paying fees -- probably the primary reason for the countless airings it used to have.
A few years ago, however, Republic Pictures became the legal owner of the picture by purchasing the rights to the original story ("The Greatest Gift," by Philip Van Doren Stern) and the film's Dimitri Tiomkin music score.
Republic gave TV stations and video distributors a short grace period to get rid of bootleg copies of the movie.
The grace period has ended.
Now, NBC has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast "It's a Wonderful Life."
The network will show the movie tonight at 8 (on WMAR, Channel 2 in Baltimore).
Highly sentimental but still as emotionally effective as ever, the tale centers on George Bailey (Mr. Stewart), a well-meaning family man who considers suicide when just about everything in his life seems to go wrong.
He's saved from the brink by a guardian angel named Clarence (Henry Travers), who attempts to earn his wings by showing George how things would have been if Bailey hadn't been around. Ms. Reed plays Bailey's wife, Mary, and the superb cast also includes Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell (alias Scarlett O'Hara's father in "Gone With the Wind"), Ward Bond, Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame, H. B. Warner and Frank Faylen.
"It's a Wonderful Life" was not a box-office success when originally released, and despite earning five Academy Award nominations, it won none.
Television largely was responsible for the legendary status it attained.
Repeated showings made the picture accessible to new generations, which took it to heart.
Since no rights fees needed to be paid, viewers had a slew of chances each year to experience it for the first time, or to revisit it time and again.
Upon securing the legal rights to "It's a Wonderful Life," the home- video division of Republic Pictures re-released the film on tape in a pristinely restored version that included additional material related to the production of the movie. Some of that footage is expected to be incorporated into the exclusive NBC telecast.
"It's a Wonderful Life" has always been an "event" on television during the month of December.
It simply wouldn't be the Christmas season without it.