The Goldbergs-Season 1 with SPOILERS

After much procrastinating (I try not to watch too many shows at the same time) and a lot of recommendations, I finally got around to watching The Goldbergs. After all, what's not to like about a Jewish family living in the suburbs in the 1980s?!? I am now an addict and am climbing the walls waiting to get the second season on DVD. (Hopefully the library system will hurry up!)

Two things I didn't realize: First is that there are three seasons. I thought it started in the fall of 2014. I was looking for all these episodes in season one that just didn't show up. I guess it wasn't played up as much in the first season? I heard about it more in the second season that I had mistaken for the first season. Second is that Patton Oswalt does the narrative voice for Adam. He's the voice of Remy in Ratatouille! How did I not make the correlation between the two voices. Now I'm going to watch Ratatouille and expect to hear 80s music! (Seriously...my kids were watching some show and he was on it and I said "that's Remy!")

Anyway, I love everything about The Goldbergs, especially the pop culture references (I know there's an episode involving The Princess Bride and I can't wait!) And Adam's T-shirts that bear these references. Beverly's sweaters deserve a mention too. The cast is fantastic. What a great ensemble! It's a mix of actors I know of and actors who are completely new to me. They all work together so well! I don't even have a favorite because they're all so great in their own ways.

The characters remind me of people in my own life. "Pops," played by George Segal, reminds me of my late paternal grandfather. He has some great funny moments and I love how involved he is in his grandchildren's lives. Barry reminds me of my younger son, who is also the middle child. I could easily see my son being like Barry as a teenager. Although he's the youngest, Adam reminds me of my older son both in looks and personality, as well as interests. (I don't know if my daughter will be like Erica in the future, but I wouldn't mind if she had it that easy socially.) Murray reminds me of my dad in some ways. And Beverly is a mix between my mom and myself. Dana also reminds me of someone I know... ;) Really though, it's interesting to watch the episodes with Dana because I want to call the real Dana afterward and ask her how much of it is true.

The real Dana

Check out the trailer for season one. You may just become addicted to this show too!



Here are some of my favorite episodes, which may contain spoilers, even though it's not like a show that has a major cliffhanger or something where you're like "Don't tell me! I didn't watch yet!"

#3 Mini-Murray: Barry gets an important lesson from Murray, while Adam and Pops secretly go to a scary movie.
What I loved about this episode was Adam lying to Pops to see Poltergeist by telling him that it was The Great Mouse Detective. Then Pops kept asking where the mouse was. It was hilarious how Beverly found out and then used that knowledge to get Adam to snuggle with her. I love snuggling with my kids, but if they don't come into my bed at three in the morning, I'm not going to be upset.

#7 Call Me When You Get There: When Barry receives his first driver's license, Beverly lays out the rules about using the car...
In this episode, Beverly totally reminds me of myself. And it makes me so glad for modern technology.
Adam's reaction to Pops in his rather revealing robe is hilarious too.

#8 The Kremps: The Goldbergs meet their new neighbors, the Kremps, an all-American family, very well put...
I loved the barbecue scene. The Goldbergs were trying to be normal, but they couldn't stop themselves from getting into a crazy fight in front of the new neighbors.

#14: You Opened the Door: Beverly insists on chaperoning when Dana and Adam go to their first school dance together.
Watching Beverly teach Adam how to dance is priceless.

#16 Goldbergs Never Say Die: Adam recruits Barry, Emma and some friends to search for some missing family jewelry.
This episode has a lot of Goonies references. I'm not a huge fan of that movie, but I still appreciated what Adam was doing. I love how the one guy showed up to be Data, even though he hasn't been around before. It was a fun episode and the part where they were figuring out the clues to find the jewelry was great.

#18: For Your Own Good: Murray retaliates when Beverly swaps out his favorite easy chair with something new.
This episode is hilarious from start to finish. I love the lengths Murray and Beverly go to in order to teach each other "lessons." And Barry as the new bus bully is just classic.

#20 You're Not Invited: Adam is excited for his birthday party, but Barry thinks he should change the theme.
This was just a cute episode and I love how Adam got his first kiss. Laser tag is always fun. I wouldn't mind a laser tag set to use in the backyard at night.

#21 The Age of Darkness: When Erica cannot be consoled after her boyfriend dumps her, Murray steps in to help.
It was nice to see a more vulnerable side of Erica. She's usually so snarky. And the intervention for Barry's video game addiction was great. Especially with that one friend showing up and Adam getting annoyed with him.

I laughed a lot during every episode, regardless if it was mentioned above or not. Always something funny to enjoy. I can't wait to start season two!