In the episode where Frank the garbage man took found the gold bird's cage and retired and moved to Tahiti, WHO could retire and move to another country for 50 thousand $?! That might last a couple of years IF he was lucky lol

Yeah probably inflation, 50K could get you a lot more in the 80's.

I remember one of the earlier episodes with Naomi saying she was selling her house and walking away with 5 g's. She said she would be "set for life".

Not only was it the 1980s, but Tahiti is a tiny naturalistic island. $50K would stretch a hell of a lot more in Tahiti than it would in the US. I mean for all we know Frank built himself a hut on the beach and caught his own seafood and was in his own paradise, lol.

I remember one of the earlier episodes with Naomi saying she was selling her house and walking away with 5 g's. She said she would be "set for life".

^---Now that was a joke, though. Naomi was so naive about that. Her proclamation gave my mom a good laugh, lol.

Just looked it up and I'm shocked that $50,000 in 1986 equals $110,444.65 today (or last year, at least).

https://www.saving.org/inflation/inflation.php?amount=50,000&year=1986

We must have been watching the same episode on Logo last night. They're running episodes I haven't seen in years.

I was just thinking it sounded funny, b/c first there would be buying a home, then the actual LIVING part, and for LIFE, lol it just doesn't seem like 50 thousand would go that far.

They were talking about 50 thousand like it as 50 million lol


I just know I got an 80 thousand dollar inheritance and everyone was like, "Don't go crazy now, that 80 grand won't go as far as you think it will, it sounds like a lot but it's not really!"

He may not have bought a home, though. He could have built a hut. Frank may have been a very "simple pleasures" man who just always dreamed of moving away to privacy on an island. And he could largely catch/get/make his own food. Plus, he probably made some more $ by selling some things before he left: house, car, etc. - although he sure sold them quickly! lol

I think there's a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor on MF. That's part of charm that makes this show so enjoyable. There's so much bad taste and tackiness to enjoy.

That is true, BUT I notice in a LOT of movies and TV shows they talk about semi large amounts of money like it's a LOT more that it really is lol

I'm recalling in the Annie movie, when Rooster, Lily and Miss Hannigan, get the 50 thousand from Warbucks, they act as though they were set for life! Even though they divided it giving Hannigan 25,000 and Rooster and Lily 25,000 for BOTH of them! Plus they were talking about going to Atlantic City, you could gamble away $50,000 easily in a couple of nights! lol Yeah I know it was the 30s, but still it just seemed like a stretch.

And yeah a lot of things in MF were tongue in cheek, like the horror that Iola would inevitably face after her parents pass away and she's on her own, never had a job and very little skills, HOW will she survive? I know her parents prolly left her something and she had a nest egg but that would run out eventually. I get the feeling she would be moving right in with Mama lol

TV often played fast and loose with unrealistic numbers concerning money.
Maverick was insane about the large amount of money bet in poker games in the old west. Mama's Family was probably mostly concerned with getting to the retiring to Tahiti joke as a way to end the episode.

It still makes sense though if you assume Frank wanted an isolated, naturalistic simple lifestyle.