[The long of it]
At one point in "The Old Man and the Key," someone picks up a chamber- of-commerce brochure for Branson, Missouri. "So you've settled for Branson," it reads. Wholesome Branson doesn't cut it with the jet- setters who flock to New York or Paris, but if you're in the right frame of mind can be a pretty good place to go. Likewise, "The Old Man and the Key" doesn't have a lot of cutting-edge humor or intricate plot developments. If you're in the right frame of mind, though, it's not a bad episode.
A lot of the humor here hinges on the concept of role-reversal, with parents acting like children, and vice-versa. After his neighbor dies, a new old lady catches Abe Simpson's eye. As Abe tries to court Zelda, he, she, and the whole gang at the retirement castle, act like teenagers (or even younger) again. "Old Man" goes through most of the permutations of this joke, some of them quite clever. When Homer tries to "ground" his father by taking away his car keys, Grampa carps, "Lisa gets to do what she wants." Earlier, he throws a temper tantrum that's kind of cute. I also liked a rival gang of oldsters, whose signature style is the souvenir jackets they wear. On the whole, however, this is a premise that works best in short punchy scenes; it doesn't quite carry a full-length show.
Another problem is Zelda herself. Despite a portrayal by Olympia Dukakis, her character isn't as interesting as Beatrice Simmons or Jackie Bouvier. Instead, she's more of a relatively pretty thing for Abe and a minivan-driving Casanova to fight over.
In its favor, "The Old Man and the Keys" has a nice third act, ending up in an amusing showdown in Branson, Missouri. (I'll bet Bart didn't think he'd be back *there* again.) The final homage to "The Beverly Hillbillies" is neat, too. Like that series, tonight's episode isn't a critical breakthrough, but its generally a solid effort, and I'll settle for that.
[The short of it]
Much of the humor in this show depends on role-reversal, with parents acting like children, and vice-versa. The idea doesn't carry the show, but it does generate some good scenes, like Abe's run-in with a rival gang. The apple of Abe's eye for this go-around, however, isn't as interesting as some of his past loves.
[DYNs]
... [off-topic] tonight's Florida lotto was 0-0-0-0? Freaky [*]. ... Bart's pantomiming to the "I&S" theme? ... Lisa switches hands while waving to us folks in TV land?
[*] Yes, I realize the odds are exactly the same for this as for a "boring" number like 3-2-9-0. But you hardly ever see all four of the same number.
[References]
"The Old Man and the Sea" (novel) - as has been pointed out even before the show began, the title of this show is another in a long series spoofing Hemingway's book
Old Spice (aftershave) - Abe's signature scent is Old Old Spice
Scrabble Battleship (board games) - Homer and Bart play make up a hybrid called Scrabbleship
"Dude, Where's My Car?" (movie) - drive in shows, "Dude, Where's My Virginity?"
"Sharp-Dressed Man" (video) - three bearded old guys from the old folks' home look like ZZ Top in the video for their song
~"Rebel Without a Cause" (movie) - rival gangs settle differences with a death race (but not off a cliff, like in the movie)
Ritz-Carlton (hotel chain) - hotel in Branson called the "Grits Carlton"
"hot-diggity dog!" (expression) - Abe says, "Hot diggity Dodge!" [Dodge is a make of car in the U.S.]
"The Vagina Monologues" (play) - one of the shows in Branson is, "The Angina Monologues"
Branson, Missouri (city) Charles Bronson (actor) - family mistakenly stops in Bronson, Missouri
"That's Entertainment!" (movie) - stage show is called "That's Familiar!"
Hollywood sign - at "That's Familiar," there's a "BRANSON" sign in the same style
Yakov Smirnoff (comedian) - the comedian with the Soviet Union shtick might actually *be* Smirnoff, but is never identified as such
"The Munsters" (TV series) - Homer acts like Herman does when he's frustrated
"The Beverly Hillbillies" (TV series) - cast waving goodbye to audience during end credits - Lisa says, "Y'all come back now, hear?" like Ellie May does
[Previous Episode References]
[CABF14] Blue Man Group mentioned [7F17], [1F21] Grampa in love [3F17] Bart visits Branson [1F08], [3F16], [BABF13] Marge still has the gambling monkey on her back [AABF02] Someone sarcastically called "Captain Bringdown"
[FFF]
Signs at senior drivers' class:
SENIOR MUST
EDUCATION CLEAN UP
CLASSES OWN MESS!
TODAYSign in classroom:
Road Safety
+---------+
|It Starts|
|With You |
+---------+Newspaper headline:
OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD
Abe's new drivers' license:
S P R I N G F I E L D
DRIVER LICENSE +-----------+ S6890145
| picture | ABRAHAM SIMPSON
| of Abe | SPRINGFIELD RETIREMENT CASTLE
| yelling | SPRINGFIELD [--], USA
| at cloud | SEX: M HAIR: GR[--]
| | HT: 5-8 WT: 180
+-----------+ [signature] The [--] indicates portion obscure by Selma's (or was that
Patty's?) finger.Drive-in:
SPRINGFIELD DRIVE IN
DUDE, WHERE'S
MY VIRGINITY?
STARRING BRIDGET FONDA, JR.
AND JUDD NELSON
AS DEAN PROBATIONLYHomer's list of things for Maggie:
FROM THE DESK OF HOMER SIMPSON
[Drawing ]
[of Homer]
MILK
PRETZELS
MARTINI OLIVESSign near home:
NO
PININGBranson brochure:
So
You've
Settled
for
BransonBranson shows:
WILFRED ANDY WILLIAMS
BRIMLEY PRESENTS GLEN CAMPBELL
IN GLEN PRESENTS
"THE ANGINA CAMPBELL ANDY
MONOLOGUES" WILLIAMS THAT'S
FAMILIAR![Oops!]
The Hispanic gang's driver's dialogue does not match the on-screen subtitle. (The driver is really saying something about "the Devil's shoe.") This might have been a deliberate error.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
ZZ Top's "Sharp-Dressed Man" plays as Grampa drives away from the home.
The theme from "Popeye" plays when Abe's Viagra kicks in.
The radio in Marge's wagon is playing "Born to Be Wild," by Steppenwolf, when Abe changes stations.
The former XFL (the "X" was really for eXtreme, just like Homer said) was a joint project between Vince McMahon [?] and the NBC network. McMahon claimed that the "real" football league, the NFL, had become stale, ossified, and old. His new XFL would borrow a few tricks from his other wildly popular property, the WWF wrestling league. The XFL would cap salaries in the five digits, to keep the multi-million dollar candy-asses out, and would tweak the rules to allow rougher play. The first season was abbreviated -- eight regular season games, plus playoffs -- culminating in the million-dollar championship game Homer mentioned. NBC, which had lost the NFL broadcast rights to (ahem) Fox, committed to broadcasting the league games for two seasons. For NBC, that was about 1.9 seasons too long. Viewers tuned in the first game, only to quickly tune out when they discovered that XFL was basically NFL ball, but with less experienced players. Soon XFL games were setting ratings records -- for least-watched programs in prime time. For all networks, not just NBC, and for all times, not just this year. NBC got out of its contract at the end of the first season. With no one to show the games, the XFL quietly faded away, the latest failed attempt to provide an "alternative" pro football league.
As the percentage of elderly drivers grows, their record of accidents grows with it. While their total number of accidents is relatively small, the accident rate for elderly drivers is alarmingly high when looked at in comparison to the total number of miles driven. Part of the problem is that there's no set age when people can no longer drive -- a 90-year-olds can drive very safely, while his 70-year-old son could be a road hazard -- and little testing is done to see if someone who already has a license can actually still drive. There's a limited supply of "incompetent old driver" jokes though, so only Abe's run-in at the aquarium and Lisa's offhand comment touch on the issue.