Charlie tries to convince himself and Alan that he's not too old to be part of the wild, young party crowd.
Plot[]
Charlie passed out on the kitchen table from a rough night out. He’s woken up by Alan, thinking he’s gone blind after Berta threw a towel over him.
That evening, Saturday night, Alan and Jake are having dinner and Berta is about to leave. Charlie walks in with a moustache Berta drew on his face after sleeping the whole day. He joins the table, and Alan warns him about partying too hard, given his age. Charlie’s in denial however, thinks he can still keep up with the young crowd he also dates, while ironically coughing up catarhh.
Later, Charlie is with his 24-year-old girlfriend Robin when he’s out of breath after sex. She asks him when he would be ready again and even suggests Viagra, but Charlie, who needs a little rest first, tells her she should go out dancing. He decides to join her as a plan B after realising he wants to have her around, but can’t physically make himself have sex again this fast.
Robin’s on the phone with one of her friends to meet up at the club and tells her Charlie has a brother who’s “old” too. Knowing all too well Alan is not up to go out partying this late at night, Charlie goes to his bedroom anyway to annoy him. Alan accepts to come along when he hears there might be a date for him in it with a 24-year-old.
At the dance club, Charlie, Alan, Robin and her friend Megan are standing in line to go in. Megan asks Alan if he wants to take an ecstasy pill, but he lectures her how drugs affect the spinal fluid. When it’s their turn, the girls are allowed to go inside, but Charlie and Alan can’t get anywhere without an invitation. Charlie tries to bribe the bouncer, without success, and Alan claims he’s Matthew Broderick to pass as a celebrity. Eventually, Robin steps back outside and manages them in.
Back home, Alan complains to Charlie how the loud music makes him suffer tinnitus. They start to argue when Charlie can’t face facts about his age. He suddenly gets chest-pains, so he and Alan get to the hospital for examination.
At the hospital, Alan shouts for help numerous times until Dr. Prajneep shows up. He tells Charlie that he suffered from indigestion, and confronts Alan, who’s posing as Matthew Broderick again in order to get a quicker response from the medical staff, about a sequel to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). Charlie starts to accept to act his age and they go home.
Charlie and Alan are watching TV the following week with toaster pizza. When Charlie suggests to get a cat, Alan has had it with his stay-at-home lifestyle and drags him to a place where they can feel young again: a “fountain of youth” club where they play 60’s and 70’s hits and the crowd is at least twenty years older. Donna, an attractive older woman, takes Charlie home with her.
At the “fountain of youth” club, Up, Up and Away (1967) by the 5th Dimension and Rock the Boat (1974) by The Hues Corporation can be heard. The former is also Alan’s cellphone ringtone in later seasons.
In real life, Jon Cryer, who plays Alan, is often mistaken for Matthew Broderick. Both actors were also up-and-coming in the 1980’s.
