50 Fun Facts About The Goldbergs

On which network did The Goldbergs air for ten seasons?

ABC lost the first bidding war for the pitch to Fox in 2011, then got the show a year later when Fox could not promise a production slot and let the script go.

Four stars of which classic sitcom guest-starred together as local customers in season 7 of The Goldbergs?

Cheers regulars Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and George Wendt play customers on a food-delivery round, and all four end up at the Goldbergs' house as if it were their bar.

Who narrates every episode as the adult Adam Goldberg?

Patton Oswalt dates every story no more exactly than '1980-something', a dodge that lets the show wander through the whole decade's pop culture in no particular order.

On The Goldbergs, what title do Beverly Goldberg's children give her for her overbearing parenting?

Smother has a real-life original who made it on screen: the creator's own mother, Beverly Goldberg, cameos in season 5 among a group of older friends the TV Beverly envies.

Who plays Beverly Goldberg on The Goldbergs?

Wendi McLendon-Covey was the first actor cast, in January 2013, at a point when the scripts still called her character Beverly Gold, not Goldberg.

Which HBO series had Jeff Garlin starred in before playing Murray Goldberg?

Curb Your Enthusiasm cast him as Larry David's manager Jeff Greene, and he went on playing the part between seasons of The Goldbergs.

What is Murray Goldberg's favourite insult for his children?

Morons is what Murray shouts from his armchair, trousers off, yet the show plays it as tough love from a father who wants his children able to fend for themselves.

On The Goldbergs, what is the furniture store Murray took over from Pops called?

Ottoman Empire draws a takeover bid in season 7, when Murray's business rival 'Formica Mike' tries to make him an offer he can't refuse and buy the store.

Which Goldbergs cast member sang in a girl group on the first US season of The X Factor?

Hayley Orrantia auditioned as a solo singer in 2011 and was placed in the group Lakoda Rayne; two years later she was cast as Erica, the musically gifted Goldberg.

What rap name does Barry Goldberg give himself?

Big Tasty is who Barry becomes whenever he decides to be himself: at college he tries to win over fraternity recruiters by performing under the name in a talent show.

On The Goldbergs, what do the letters JTP stand for?

Jenkintown Posse loyalty has its limits: in season 2, when Barry drops the crew for his girlfriend, his sister Erica joins it to split the couple up, only for his friends to fall for her.

Which NHL team's jersey does Barry Goldberg wear constantly?

Philadelphia Flyers orange is on Barry so often that the shirt has a name, Big Orange, and in season 3 his mother and his girlfriend plot together to destroy it.

What does Barry Goldberg go to college to study in season 7?

Medicine turns out to be more than a whim: when Barry reappears in the spin-off set in the 1990s, he is a qualified radiologist.

Erica Goldberg is based on which real person in the creator's life?

His brother Eric is the eldest of three real Goldberg boys, and he has turned up on the show as himself, at the end of the season 5 episode 'MTV Spring Break'.

Who does Erica Goldberg marry in season 9?

Geoff Schwartz spends seasons failing to win her over, then starts dating someone else at the very moment she realises she likes him back.

Which college does Erica Goldberg leave for in season 5?

D.C. School of the Arts keeps her for a single season: she quits at the end of it to start a band with Lainey and her roommate, fittingly called The Dropouts.

What is the name of Erica Goldberg's daughter, born in season 10?

Muriel Allison carries the two men the family had lost by then: her first name echoes her grandfather Murray, and her second is for Albert 'Pops' Solomon.

Why does young Adam Goldberg use his middle initial at school?

A classmate shares his name, and it bites in season 4: Adam forgets to sign a film review with his initial, and the school credits the other, older Adam Goldberg.

What does young Adam Goldberg use to document his family's life?

A VHS camcorder is what the real Adam F. Goldberg pointed at his family in the 1980s, so episodes can end by showing the genuine tape of the scene just re-enacted.

Who plays Adam Goldberg as a child on The Goldbergs?

Sean Giambrone played Ron Stoppable opposite Sadie Stanley in Disney's 2019 Kim Possible film, and the next year she joined The Goldbergs as Brea, the popular girl who becomes Adam's girlfriend.

Which franchise's premiere do Adam Goldberg and Erica queue for?

Star Wars is Adam's great obsession, so Erica agrees to wait in line with him for Return of the Jedi, ditches him for her friends, then sees his face and finds a way to get them both in.

Who plays Lainey Lewis, Erica's best friend and Barry's great love, on The Goldbergs?

AJ Michalka left the show in 2019 to headline its 1990s spin-off, in which Lainey, her rock-star dreams having fizzled, comes home to William Penn Academy as its music teacher.

On The Goldbergs, which NFL team does Lainey's father Bill support, to Murray's disgust?

Dallas Cowboys loyalty makes Bill Lewis the instant enemy of lifelong Eagles fan Murray, yet the two fathers later find they have plenty in common and end up good friends.

On The Goldbergs, what ironic nickname does mild-mannered Geoff go by?

Madman is the JTP's joke about its best-behaved member, whose one rash scheme, a season 7 food-delivery service called Food in a Geoffy, quickly falls apart.

Which band does Geoff spend his gap year following in season 7?

He ends up enrolling full-time and moving into Erica's dorm room.

On The Goldbergs, which JTP member removes his shirt at every opportunity?

Rob Smith is a real person: he and the rest of the real JTP appear at the end of season 5's 'Hail Barry', playing football against the actors who portray them, and winning.

On The Goldbergs, which classmate is always addressed by his full name, even by his own mother?

Dave Kim is based on a real childhood friend of the show's creator, and the genuine article appears as himself at the end of the season 7 episode 'Dave Kim's Party'.

On The Goldbergs, what nicknames does Coach Mellor give Erica and Adam?

Girl Goldberg and Goldfarb are what the gym teacher habitually calls the pair, right up to season 6, when he quits teaching to train wrestlers.

Which wrestler plays himself in The Goldbergs' WrestleMania episode?

Hulk Hogan plays himself in season 7, when Murray takes Adam and Barry to WrestleMania on tickets that turn out to be fakes.

Who plays guidance counsellor Mr. Glascott on The Goldbergs?

Tim Meadows's put-upon counsellor delivers pizza and teaches guitar on the side for extra money, yet by the time of the 1990s spin-off he has risen to principal.

Who plays Principal Earl Ball on The Goldbergs?

Stephen Tobolowsky's principal has one recurring problem, Beverly: she confronts him whenever she believes one of her children has been wronged, and he has come to dread her knock at his door.

Which John Hughes teen-film star plays counsellor Mr. Perott on The Goldbergs?

Anthony Michael Hall first turned up in the season 7 premiere, a homage to National Lampoon's Vacation: the actor who was that film's young Rusty took the theme-park guard part John Candy had played.

Who plays Murray's cantankerous father "Pop Pop" in later seasons of The Goldbergs?

Judd Hirsch took over a part Paul Sorvino had played just once, in season 2, and in season 10 his Pop Pop moves in with the Goldbergs after a fire at his own place.

Who plays Murray's scheming brother Marvin on The Goldbergs?

Dan Fogler's Marvin tends to turn up at Thanksgiving with a new career, and one year he and Adam make off with KITT, the talking car from Knight Rider.

What is the name of the Goldbergs' dog, introduced in season 3?

Lucky joins the family because Barry begs for a dog, then lets him down by attaching itself to Murray instead.

Which actor reprised his Ferris Bueller's Day Off police-station role on The Goldbergs?

Charlie Sheen is back in the police station nearly 30 years after the film, in a season 2 episode where Barry tries to copy Ferris's perfect day off and botches it at every turn.

On The Goldbergs, which horror icon does Beverly face in season 6?

Freddy Krueger is played by Robert Englund himself: having tried to keep the film from Adam, Beverly ends up meeting the dream demon in a nightmare of her own.

On The Goldbergs, which Spaceballs character duels Adam in a dream?

Dark Helmet is voiced by Rick Moranis himself, with someone else inside the costume: Moranis, who stepped back from film work in 1997 to raise his children, recorded only the voice.

On The Goldbergs, Rick Springfield guest-starred as the owner of what kind of business?

A karaoke bar is where Erica lands a job in season 6, and when the owner wants more customers through the door she has to turn to her mother and her mother's friends to fill it.

On The Goldbergs, Jon Lovitz reprised his character from which 1998 film in season 6?

The Wedding Singer is set in 1985, so the episode cuts the film's own scenes into the story: Beverly wants Adam Sandler's Robbie Hart to sing at Barry's wedding, and his rival Jimmie Moore takes the job.

What was The Goldbergs' working title in early 2013?

How the Hell Am I Normal? was already the cleaned-up version: when the project changed networks in 2012, its title used a cruder word that the trade press printed with a dash.

Which band wrote The Goldbergs' theme song "Rewind" at creator Adam F. Goldberg's request?

I Fight Dragons, his favourite band, build their songs around sounds from old Nintendo consoles, and that retro edge is why he wanted them for a show set in the 1980s.

Which cancelled show had Adam F. Goldberg created just before The Goldbergs?

Breaking In was cancelled, revived and cancelled again; after the second axe in 2012 he took his stalled family comedy to a rival network, which committed to making it straight away.

Why did Jeff Garlin leave The Goldbergs in December 2021?

Misconduct allegations and HR investigations into his behaviour on set ended in what was announced as a mutual agreement that he would not return, and Murray was written out as having died before season 10.

How did The Goldbergs keep Murray on screen for the rest of season 9 after Jeff Garlin left?

Outtakes, CGI and stand-ins saw the season out: for what should have been his last day of filming, a double was shot in his place and his face added digitally afterwards.

The Goldbergs' season 9 premiere was dedicated to which cast member, who died in March 2021?

George Segal's Pops is mourned on screen too: the family spends the premiere revisiting his favourite haunts, an outing the episode styles after Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

What was the name of The Goldbergs' spin-off set at William Penn Academy in the 1990s?

Schooled reached the screen the long way round: the network passed on its pilot in 2017, aired that pilot as a Goldbergs episode in January 2018, and only then ordered a series.

Which recurring character was The Goldbergs' 1990s spin-off originally going to be built around?

Rick Mellor was first announced as one of two teachers who become unlikely father figures to the school secretary's three children; the series that finally aired was retooled around a wider group of William Penn staff.

Which real Philadelphia-area convenience store chain gets frequent shout-outs on The Goldbergs?

Wawa returned the compliment in 2021, marking its anniversary with a week of 1980s-themed celebrations in its stores, run in partnership with the show.

On The Goldbergs, star athlete Ruben Amaro Jr. grows up to be general manager of which real team?

The Philadelphia Phillies' former general manager has been on the show himself: the real Ruben Amaro Jr. appears in season 5 as his own father, Ruben Amaro Sr.