Old Money
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- "Has it ever occurred to you that old folks deserve to be treated like human beings! Whether they have money or not?"
- ―Abraham Simpson
"Old Money"
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Episode Information
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"Old Money" is the seventeenth episode of season 2 of The Simpsons and the thirtieth episode overall. It originally aired on March 28, 1991. The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by David Silverman. It guest stars Audrey Meadows as Beatrice Simmons and Phil Hartman as Lionel Hutz.
Synopsis
- "Abraham Simpson falls in love with Bea Simmons, a fellow resident of the Springfield Retirement Castle. During the course of their brief romance, Bea passes away and leaves Grandpa her entire savings, $100,000. Grandpa decides to give the money to charity but can't decide which one is worthiest, but when he can't decide, Grampa heads for a casino to gamble it away."
Plot
Grampa Simpson returns to the retirement home after another lackluster Sunday outing with the family. The same day, he meets Beatrice Simmons when their pills are mixed up at the Retirement Castle. They fall in love and then begin dating.
In a month's time, Grandpa plans to present Beatrice with a present on her birthday. However, Homer comes for their monthly outing with Grampa. Grampa explains that he can't go, as it is his girlfriend's birthday. Homer thinks this is just Grampa acting cranky and not wanting to come along. Grampa ends up being dragged along with the family to Discount Lion Safari. At the refuge, the family's car becomes stuck in the mud and, to make matters worse, hungry lions begin circling the car, trapping the family in the car overnight. After a hunter helps run the lions off the next morning, Grampa returns home expecting to see Bea. However, Homer pulls up just in time for the ambulance to pull away. It turns out that Bea had died of a burst ventricle while he was out with the family.
A devastated Grampa attends her funeral, mentioning that Bea must have really cared for him, in that she didn't request that he be a pallbearer at her funeral. Homer tries to explain how sorry he is, but Grampa is too angry to listen. Blaming Homer for not only making him miss Bea's birthday, but also making him not be with Bea in her final moments, he vows never to forgive Homer, causing Homer to become very saddened as a result.
After returning to the retirement home to mourn her death, Grampa is visited by Lionel Hutz, who was the executor of Bea's estate. It turns out that Bea was a wealthy widow, and left an inheritance of $106,000 to Grampa. Bea's stipulations say that Grampa can enjoy this money any way he sees fit. He tries everything from buying a fez (which is claimed to have belonged to Napoleon), to going to an amusement park, but none of these things make him happy. While on the rollercoaster at the park, Bea appears to Grampa in the form of a ghost, telling him that if the money isn't helping him, it should go to those who it could benefit.
Also at Bea's request, Grampa goes to visit Homer and his family. At dinner, Grampa announces his intentions to give Bea's money away. He plans to have people come talk to him, and then he will decide who is most needing of it. This announcement soon gains local media attention, and a line forms for people to make requests of Grampa for the remaining money (even reporter Kent Brockman reports on this, then gets in line).
After a number of interviews, Grampa still hasn't made up his mind. At a suggestion by Jasper, he goes on a senior citizen gambling trip, with the possibility that he could double or triple the remaining funds. When Homer finds out about this, he races to stop Grampa, and succeeds when Grampa almost loses the money in a game of roulette. This gesture causes Grampa to forgive Homer.
Outside the casino, Homer asks Grampa if he has figured out yet what to do with his inheritance. Looking at his hands, Grampa explains that he has. With the inheritance, Grampa helps renovate the retirement home, and has the dining room named in Bea's honour.
Production
The episode was written by Jay Kogen and directed by David Silverman. Professor Frink also makes his first appearance on the show in this episode. In the credits of this episode, under the actor's name is the characters they voiced in the episode, being the first and only episode to have this.
Reception
The episode has received mixed to positive reviews from TV critics.
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