The Simpsons/Old Money

Old Money
Season 2, Episode 17
Airdate	March 28, 1991
Production Number	7F17
Written by	Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarsky
Directed by	David Silverman
← 2x16 Bart's Dog Gets an F	2x18 → Brush with Greatness
The Simpsons — Season Two

This article about an episode needs to be expanded with more information. Please help out by editing it.

Old Money is the seventeenth episode of the second season of The Simpsons, and the thirtieth episode overall.

Grampa's new girlfriend, Bea Simmons, dies of a sudden heart attack, and he blames Homer for not being allowed to be by her side when she became suddenly ill. When Grampa inherits Bea's estate, he vows to spend it on himself as he continues to not speak to Homer. Will Bea's ghost get Grampa to reconsider how to spend the money, and get him to mend his broken relationship with Homer?

Starring:

Guest Starring: Audrey Meadows (Beatrice Simmons); Phil Hartman (Lionel Hutz)

Co-Starring:

Plot Overview

Grampa meets and falls in love with Bea Simmons, a recent newcomer to Springfield Retirement Castle. The two elderly lovebirds vow to spend their remaining time together as they really hit it off.

One afternoon, Homer comes to visit his father and take him on their weekly "fun day with Grampa." Homer is aghast when Grampa tells him he has other plans with Bea, leading his son to mock him for having an "imaginary girlfriend," perhaps to get out of his weekly commitment to another boring, pointless outing. This time, Homer refuses to budge and forcibly drags Grampa into the car, where the family goes to Discount Lion Safari, an inexpensive wildlife resort just outside of town. The trip (predictably) goes wrong when Homer, wanting to take a shortcut, drives onto an unauthorized pathway and the car becomes stuck in the countryside. Adding to their predicament: several hungry lions, menacingly waiting to pounce on anyone who tries to escape the car.

The family is trapped overnight (even forced to watch several lions kill and eat a zebra(!)), but are finally rescued by the park's warden, who runs the lions off with a shotgun blast. Homer takes an annoyed, tired Grampa back to the retirement home, where an ambulance is parked out front and someone is being loaded inside; the body is completely covered, meaning that person has died. Jasper quickly relays the news: Bea had suffered a massive heart attack – her ventricle burst – and it killed her, likely instantly. Grampa bursts into tears and Jasper tries to comfort him. Grampa tearfully proclaims that Bea died not from her sudden illness but (literally) "a broken heart."

At Bea's funeral, it is clear that Grampa and Homer have had a major (offscreen) falling out. As Grampa deeply grieves, he angrily tells Homer that he is to blame for not allowing hiim to be with Bea for what turned out to be the last time (and thus, possibly her final moments), and he tells him he never wants to see him again. Homer is stunned and heartbroken, as Marge tries to comfort him.

Later, Grampa is visited by Bea's attorney, Lionel Hutz, who announces she had left him the entirety of her estate: $106,000. This comes as little comfort to Grampa, as he plans to selfishly spend it on himself ... he even calls Homer to remind him they are on non-speaking terms and that he can forget getting any of the inheritance. Later, while riding a roller coaster at a local amusement park, Grampa has a vision where he is visited by Bea's ghost, telling him to forgive Homer and to spend the money for people in need. Grampa gives a phony-sincere apology and then makes plans to ration off the money, with Kent Brockman doing a feature story ("In Line For an Old Man's Money") on the audition-style visits where several townspeople – most of the semiregulars, including Professor Frink, Dr. Hibbert, Apu, Nelson and others – asking them how they'd spend the money. Lisa, who is among those in line, convinces Grampa that all of the proposals were self-serving, and that he should reconsider his plans. Grampa takes the advice to heart and, upon seeing the plight of Springfield's homeless people, he decides to dramatically increase his fortune by going on a gambling junket.

Homer learns of his family's plans and, desperate for one last chance to reconcile, tracks him down at a nearby casino. After hastily scouring the gambling floor, Homer finds Grampa at a roulette table, where Grampa is on a winning streak. Homer pleads with him to stop while he is ahead, but Grampa refuses to heed and places all of his winnings on one of the numbers. As they struggle over the bet, the chips are pulled off the table, just in time for the casino worker to spin the wheel ... and the ball lands on a number Grampa had not covered. Grampa realizes that had it not been for his son, he would have lost everything, including the entirety of Bea's inheritance.

After that realization sinks in, Grampa takes Homer aside and tells him he had acted like a jerk and apologizes for his behavior. The two have a sincere reconciliation, and they go home. Upon watching his friends and fellow residents get on the bus for a return trip home, Grampa remembers something he had seen earlier (and was also hinted at to viewers): multiple areas of the retirement home were in desperate need of repairs, renovations and remodeling ...

... and so the money is used for just that: Updating Springfield Retirement Castle into a home everyone can be proud of. He also honors Bea's memory by having the dining room named for her. On opening night, he proudly declares to his friends, "Dignity's on me!"

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard:
• Couch Gag:

Arc Advancement

Happenings

• Attorney Lionel Hutz appears here in a noble role, as executor of Bea's estate, and is genuinely happy for Grampa as he presents him with the check for $106,000. This is in contrast to his usual character of a (somewhat) shady attorney who is not above bending the law to suit his own purposes.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Disneyland: The theme park Diz-Nee-Land, complete with ripoff characters of Walt Disney characters, is an obvious pun of Walt Disney and Disneyland. (A sign outside the park – "Diz-Nee-Land; Not affiliated with Disneyland, Walt Disney World, or anything else from the Walt Disney Company" is posted outside, likely due to legal issues.)
• Old money: The episode title is taken from the phrase which refers to – as Wikipedia puts it – "the inherited wealth of established upper-class families (i.e. gentry, patriciate)" or "a person, family, or lineage possessing inherited wealth."