The Old Man and the "C" Student

Jack LaLanne as himself
NRBQ sings "Can't Buy Me Love"

"The Old Man and the "C" Student" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons' tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network 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 Mark Kirkland and was the first episode Julie Thacker wrote for The Simpsons. While Bart's storyline was pitched by Thacker, the B-story, involving Homer, was conceived by Thacker's husband Mike Scully, who also was an executive producer and the showrunner for the episode. Jack Lalanne guest-starred as himself in the episode.

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 Lisa writes a letter to the International Olympic Committee, they decide that Springfield will be home to the next Olympics. To honor the Olympics, there is a contest for the games' mascot. Homer creates a mascot for the Olympic Games named Springy, the Springfield Spring, which becomes the mascot (much to Patty and Selma’s dismay, who created a mascot named Ciggy, a discus thrower made entirely of cigarettes and ashtrays) and everyone in Springfield prepares for the games. When the IOC inspects the town, things go well until Bart does a stand-up comedy routine that insults foreign nations, which only Principal Skinner, Homer, and the children find funny. In response, the IOC decides not to let Springfield have the Olympics anymore (they award it to Shelbyville, who presumably and chronologically lost it to Sydney), and Superintendent Chalmers blames Skinner for putting Bart on stage with his racy jokes. Skinner initially keeps his case strong by telling Chalmers that the comedy worked well during rehearsal, but to prevent losing his job, he makes every one of the school's students do 20 hours of community service. After sending Milhouse to collect medical waste on the beach and leaving Martin to start a basketball program between inter-city gangs, Skinner has Bart assigned to work at the Springfield Retirement Castle, where Lisa also works voluntarily. Bart is dismayed at how little the seniors are allowed to do.