The Old Man and the "C" Student

"The Old Man and the 'C' Student" is the twentieth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on April 25, 1999. In the episode, after offending the Olympic committee during their visit to Springfield Elementary, the school's students are committed to 20 hours of community service. Bart, along with his sister Lisa, is put in charge of Springfield's retirement home, where Bart notices the doldrums that the old people go through every day. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa's father Homer tries to sell springs.

"The Old Man and the 'C' Student" was directed by

On its original broadcast, "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" was seen by approximately 6.9 million viewers.

Following the release of The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season, the episode received mostly positive reviews from critics.

When

"The Old Man and the 'C' Student" was directed by Mark Kirkland and was the first episode Julie Thacker wrote for The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on April 25, 1999. The episode's plot was based on a "disastrous" school program, in which students had to participate in community service in order to be allowed to advance to the next grade. Thacker, whose oldest daughter was a student at the school, was signed up to do community service at an old folks home in the town they lived in. It became the inspiration for the episode's A-story, while the B-story, which involved Homer selling springs, was conceived by Thacker's husband Mike Scully, an executive producer and the showrunner for the episode.^[1]

In a scene in the episode, Lenny gets one of Homer's springs stuck in his eye. Lenny's eye injuries have since become a running gag, and "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" "started the trend", according to Thacker.

The episode title is a reference to the 1952 novel and 1958 film The Old Man and the Sea. In the beginning of the episode, a sign reading "International Olympic Committee" can be seen. The logo below the text parodies the logo of the real International Olympic Committee. Because they did not want to "upset" the committee, the Simpsons staff slightly altered the logo by changing the colors and not making the rings interlock.^[3] In a conversation with Marge, Lisa mentions the rest of her classmates wrote letters to the Backstreet Boys. In a scene in the episode, the old people can be seen watching an edited and over-dubbed version of the 1939 film Gone With the Wind. The nurse that works in the old folks home is based on Nurse Ratched from the 1975 American drama film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.^[5] The film is referenced again in a scene where Bart takes the old folks on a boat trip and a scene where a Native American chief in the old folk's home throws a sink through a window, and jumps out, mirroring the last scene in the film.^[3] The character then returns, and hands Lisa a pamphlet that reads "Prop 217". The pamphlet is a reference to Proposition 217, a proposition that allowed Native Americans to operate casinos in certain states. It is also a reference to the day Scully and Thacker met, which was on February 17.^[3] When Homer flushes the springs down the toilet, he sings to the tune of "99 Bottles of Beer".

The scene in which Smithers is drawing a portrait of Mr Burns is a reference to the 1997 drama film Titanic.^[5] The scene where the old people celebrate their escape from the home is a reference to a sequence from The Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night. Both are set to the group's song "Can't Buy Me Love", although in the episode the song is a cover performed by NRBQ.^[3][6] During the end credits, an album cover reading "A Bart Day's Night", a reference to The Beatles' album A Hard Day's Night, the film's soundtrack, is shown. "Can't Buy Me Love" also plays over the end credits.^[7]

In its original American broadcast on April 25, 1999, "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" received a 6.9 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 6.9 million viewers. The episode finished in 41st place in the ratings for the week of April 19–25, 1999.^[8]

On August 7, 2007, the episode was released as part of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season DVD box set. Matt Groening, Mike Scully, George Meyer, Julie Thacker, Ron Hauge, Nancy Cartwright and Mark Kirkland participated in the DVD's audio commentary of the episode.^[9]

Following its home video release, "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" received mostly positive reviews from critics.

Aaron Roxby of Collider gave it a positive review, calling it one the season's best episodes. He wrote "The Simpsons has always been great about addressing/mocking the way that our culture treats the elderly."^[10] He added that Lenny's eye injury gave the episode "Extra points".^[10]

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide described the episode as "A marvellous feel-good story" and "Very sweet, very endearing."^[7] They added that the "stereotyped Olympic Committee debate" at the beginning of the episode is "marvellous", and concluded by describing the episode as "terrific".^[7]

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide was positive as well, writing "I gotta admit I like Springy, the Olympic mascot, and the spring-related aspects of the show entertain."^[11] He added that the story involving Bart "offer more than a few good moments," and concluded by writing "Though the episode never quite excels, it’s pretty solid."^[11]

James Plath of DVD Town called it an "okay" episode.^[12]

Jake McNeill of Digital Entertainment News described the episode as "not-so-good," adding that "by this point, this show has expended just about every old folks joke there is."^[13] However, he also wrote that "'I want some taquitos' never grows old."^[13]

The episode gained attention in 2017 after the French representative of the International Olympic Committee said "Ah, but Paris would make a tres bon site for the next Olympic Games", when Paris was chosen to host the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 131st IOC Session that the beginning of the episode scene predicted the future event.^{[citation needed]}

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to "The Old Man and the 'C' Student".

• "The Old Man and the "C" Student episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "The Old Man and the 'C' Student" at
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