The Old Man and the Key/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ The Lastest Gun in the West

The Old Man and the Key

Tales from the Public Domain ►

Cultural references

• The title is a pun of The Old Man and the Sea.
  • This has previously been punned in "The Old Man and the Lisa" and "The Old Man and the "C" Student."
• When Abe and Zelda take off on one of their dates, three old men with long beards imitate ZZ Top as a short part of “Sharp Dressed Man” is played.
• The closing credits parody those of The Beverly Hillbillies. At the end, Lisa says in a Southern accent, "This has been a Gracie Films presentation," which parodies the line heard in the Filmways logo at the end of The Beverly Hillbillies, "This has been a Filmways presentation."
• This episode pokes fun at the XFL. According to Marge, the XFL MVP was sweeping up toenails at the beauty parlor. Apparently, she breaks the news to Homer that there’s not going to be a new season. In truth, Tommy Maddox, the lone XFL MVP, was the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time of this episode and would win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award for the 2002 season. Additionally, Homer believes the "X" in XFL stands for "eXtreme". In actuality, the X never stood for anything.
• The drag race parodies a scene from Grease.
• Grampa sings an altered version of "Old Time Love" by The Rivingtons to Zelda.
• The music in the beginning of the concert is the third movement of Frederick Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35.
• On the way to Branson, Missouri, the Simpsons end up in the fictional town of Bronson, Missouri. In Bronson, all the inhabitants (male and female) look and sound like Charles Bronson.
• When Homer asks if "Grampa" is Grandpa Munster, Marge answers, "No, Simpson!" This prompts Homer to stomp the ground like Herman Munster.
• When Homer salutes his sunken ship in "Scrabbleship," he says, "Semper Fi," which is short for Semper Fidelis (Latin for "Always faithful"). This is the motto of the United States Marine Corps.
• "Scrabbleship" is an illogical combination of the popular board games Scrabble and Battleship played by Bart and Homer, who apparently created it.
• The End Credits goes up really fast.

Trivia

• Gloria, from "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" earlier in the season, returns in this episode as Snake's girlfriend.
• The four people from the "Los Souvenir Jacquitos" yelled "Aieee! Zapata del Diablo!" in Spanish when the Old Jewish Man put the shoe with a stick on their brake pedal, and the Old Jewish Man yelled "Ich vinch eich gezunt!" in Yiddish (conjugates to German "Ich wünsche euch Gesundheit!"). How did they communicate using different languages?
• This is the second episode where Bart goes to Branson. The first episode was "Bart on the Road", where he was also went there in a car driven immorally.
• Grampa's driver's license picture is taken from the "Old Man Yells At Cloud" article in the newspaper, instead of having his picture taken in the DMV office.
• The scene where we see a picture of Abe yelling at a cloud became a meme.
• This episode aired 5 days before the first Ice Age film was released.

Goofs

• One of the Latino seniors shouts "Zapata del diablo!", which doesn't mean "A shoe on a stick!", but rather "The shoe of the devil!"
• Grampa was laughing at the Itchy and Scrathy radio special yet he was disgusted by it in "The Front".
• After the phone call from the retirement home, the colors of the X and XFL on Homer's shirt are reversed.
• The Latino senior's car has a black steering wheel but when Abe talks about his phobias, the steering wheel is white.
• There is a cutoff in FXX airings of the end credits. It has Bart not waving near the end, but when it switches to the Spanish credits, Bart is suddenly waving again without rising his arm.