Even if it did happen, if it wasn't staged properly and if it didn't make sense within the show, then I can see how people would have thought it was laughable. From the description it sounds pretty absurd, maybe if I had seen the show I would've found it believable though...
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"