'Family Guy' Season 10, Episode 9 Recap - 'Grumpy Old Man'

It's beginning to look like "Family Guy" put that awful episode about domestic abuse in this season on purpose, as a plant. Why? So that every time they put out a so-so episode, we would think to ourselves "oh well, at least it's not as bad as that domestic abuse episode."

Last night's episode would have been a perfect opportunity to have that sentiment, as "Grumpy Old Man" wasn't anything to cheer about.

It was one of those Carter episodes, which really seemed to work a couple of seasons ago when we hadn't seen Carter's vulnerable side yet. But now we have, so this episode seemed to just be a recycling of the episode where Babs leaves Carter, only with a slightly different setting.

This time, it's all about Carter getting older. When he falls asleep at the wheel and crashes during a Sunday drive, Joe informs him that his driver's license must be revoked. That leads to discussion about Carter's advancing age, and the question of retirement.

Carter is reluctant, but tries it out first by hanging around the Griffins' neighborhood, and even attempting to hang out with Quagmire (or Quandary, as he calls him. Ha!). That drives everyone nuts, so Lois and Peter decide to look into a retirement home.

To FG's credit, they didn't go the totally worn-out route of the home being depressing and/or cruel, a la "Happy Gilmore." Instead, Carter simply becomes comatose from the boredom of not working all the time, and must be restored via Peter suggesting that the elevator attendant at Carter's office not wear his white gloves.

It just felt like we have been here before. When Carter lost his money, he became something of a man-child, not knowing how to function in society. This was essentially the same thing. There were a few good jokes, though: the "Slightly Open Robery" had a good out line, and the death reincarnation gag was horrendous, but well timed.

Cut-aways of the Week:

-Pizza place ruins a salad: B, good out line, drawn out old-school style

-Weird stuff in old people's refrigerator: D+, didn't Stewie do this joke with Carter and Babs' candy jar?

-Joe's Fiona Apple tribute video: C-, relying a bit too much on the novelty of Patrick Warburton singing Fiona Apple

-Carter working after he's dead: B-, the punchline was unexpected a got a slight chuckle

-Superfriends' back taxes: B, solid point...and Batman is a jerk

-Phone sax: A-, at first just a gross-out, but playing "Call Me Al" made it

-Guy who was way too happy about not dying in 9/11: D+, certainly not the best 9/11 joke they've made...and that's not a sentence anyone should ever have to type

-Drill sargeant with Alzheimer's: D-, poor taste...if you're going to make a joke about a horrible disease, at least make it a good one

-SO's in Florida: C-, mostly just true