The Goldbergs: Season 1 (2013)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 37
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 17
The Goldbergs is at times too reliant on gimmicky references to 1980s pop culture, but it's also sweet, sincere, and occasionally very funny.
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 16
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 10
The Goldbergs is at times too reliant on gimmicky references to 1980s pop culture, but it's also sweet, sincere, and occasionally very funny.
Season Info
A nostalgic comedy series about kids growing up in a dysfunctional family in the 1980s. Based on creator Adam F. Goldberg's childhood.
Genre: Comedy
Network: ABC
Premiere Date: Sep 24, 2013
Cast
-
Darien Provost
Adam (adult) -
Patton Oswalt
Adam (adult) -
George Segal
Pops -
Hayley Orrantia
Erica -
Jeff Garlin
Murray -
Sean Giambrone
Adam -
Troy Gentile
Barry -
Wendi McLendon-Covey
Beverly -
Cedric Yarbrough
Vic -
Troy Winbush
Officer Pochinski -
-
Brec Bassinger
Zoe -
Ben Zelevansky
Dale -
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Miriam -
-
-
-
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Episodes
Pilot
Pops buys a new sports car and offers his Caddy to middle child Barry. -- (C) ABC
Daddy Daughter Day
Just as a new school year begins, Murray and Erica's family tradition of spending the first Saturday together roller-skating is in jeopardy since Erica has turned into a moody teenager and believes the activity is juvenile.
Mini Murray
After Barry pleads for money to purchase a very expensive item, Beverly says he must earn the money himself so Murray suggests he go to work at the Ottoman Empire furniture store with him.
Why're You Hitting Yourself?
'Why're You Hitting Yourself?',10/15/2013, While fighting over the remote control, Adam reaches a defining moment in his relationship with Barry when they accidentally discover a 'channel between the channels' that appears on television.
The Ring
'The Ring',10/22/2013, While cleaning out the garage, Adam, Erica and Barry come across a box of letters written by Murray to a woman named Anita.
Who Are You Going to Telephone
Beverly is disappointed when the kids all make alternate plans for Halloween. Meanwhile, Adam hangs out with a group of older kids and is unsure of what to do when he learns of their plans for the evening.
Call Me When You Get There
Barry gets his driver's license, but he finds himself in hot water after disregarding his mother's instructions to call home.
The Kremps
Critic Reviews for The Goldbergs: Season 1
I went into The Goldbergs with absolutely zero enthusiasm... but came away fairly charmed by this Wonder Years knock-off.
Call this The Not-So-Wonder Years.
Limited. Interest.
One of the new offerings that stands out from the pack is ABC's coming-of-age series The Goldbergs, which is fueled partly by nostalgia, partly by the great Jeff Garlin's constant yelling and partly by some outstanding writing.
A dopey pilot episode that succumbs to the trap of portraying the '80s only in obvious ways - bring out the pastel leg warmers and geometric Cosby sweaters - and it turns... into a prolonged, nearly laughless sketch about domestic life in the Pac-Man era.
There's an appealing Wonder Years quality about The Goldbergs, which is to say you'll immediately like everyone in the family and the jokes derive from credible situations.
Hey, it was bad enough to live through this. Now we have to watch someone else's home movies of suburban hell?
When The Goldbergs sticks to its loud, abrasive but loving family, it's fine. It's when it switches its focus to the '80s, complete with a voice-over designed to point out every difference between that decade and our own, that it gets into trouble.
The Goldbergs is amusing in fits and spurts before ending on several sweet notes -- including REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling."
I hope The Goldbergs goes up from here. It has the potential to do so.
I'd rather hear him [Patton Oswalt] talk about his own family for half an hour than watch The Goldbergs.
The best part about The Goldbergs, alas, comes at the very end, when we see video footage of the actual characters who inspired this autobiographical comedy.
If it's remembered at all after its quick disappearance - which, no matter how abrupt, will not have come soon enough - The Goldbergs will likely be known as the show in which George Segal's career was officially pronounced dead.
The characters and mishaps on The Goldbergs are predictable, and the writing isn't clever enough to overcome clichés.
There are some enjoyable elements to The Goldbergs, but they are often lost among a pilot that is trying too hard.
Loud look at '80s family life has positive takeaways.
It's not just that they're caricatures, or that even the most prominent piece of '80s music used in the pilot makes you wince. It's the way every move and sentence feels like the easiest path to predictable gags.
The Goldbergs is far from terrible -- it just needs to learn how to mix the quirky dysfunction with the heartwarming moments in the style of shows like Malcolm In The Middle or Raising Hope.
The adult cast is superb.
Just because something's honest, doesn't mean it's going to make for good television.
Are the Goldbergs good enough company to merit a weekly visit? So far so generic, and I'll decide later once my ears stop ringing.
Noisy, silly, occasionally obnoxious, sporadically funny and ultimately sweet.
The Goldbergs, told through the lens of a video camera -toting pre-teen son, has the potential to be a hit -- if it doesn't give viewers headaches.
The characters are all broad types, the '80s references (Gobots, Sam Goody, an REO Speedwagon singalong) mostly feel shoehorned in rather than creating the feeling of the era, and the hostility of the family doesn't turn out to be great fodder for humor.
What I'm seeing so far is too much like the kind of broad family sitcom I'd hope we'd left behind in, well, the '80s.
There's potential for growth here.
Adam Goldberg isn't the first sitcom creator to try to capture something real but find his vision diluted by the great homogenizer that is the pilot process.
There are laughs here. And some sweet moments.
Unblinking sincerity has, alas, squashed Mr. Garlin's particular form of grandeur.
The show's pilot executes this set-up with enough heart and comedic dexterity to overcome the more clichéd trappings of its premise.
The Goldbergs has found that delicate, sweet spot between slightly cheesy and highly effective.
The Goldbergs banks on nostalgia for its charm, but needs to build on something more for us to really care about this family.
The Goldbergs's ostensibly endearing premise is sadly also its biggest flaw.
Strip away the clothes, the music and fond nods to yesteryear and The Goldbergs would still work as a funny and engaging new series.
The Goldbergs' humor feels contemporary even if its fashions decidedly do not.
If nothing else, The Goldbergs is a fun trip down memory lane for those who grew up in the 80s.
The Goldbergs has its heart in the right place, some laughs and more potential once it lowers the volume.
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