Season 9 Discussion

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

We need a spinoff starring the JTP!

[853fisher]

On 3/19/2022 at 6:45 PM, mojoween said:

I was disappointed that they had to put up the Joey McIntyre chyron at the end.  Wish they would have left it for those who knew without spelling it out.

I wondered whether he asked for conspicuous credit.  I feel like we often get those types of "familiar faces" on the show without that kind of acknowledgment, which makes it feel like a fun little Easter egg to me too.

[Izzy85]

I’m only halfway through the ep. but... damn!! Dave Kim ftw 👏 🙌 

[Bulldog]

Eight seasons and I can't ever recall Murray attending a conference out of town, but now he's gone to two in a row. 

Were they planting the seeds for an Adam/Dave Kim whacky college hijinks spinoff?  

[proserpina65]

That was actually kind of a good episode last night.  Yes, Bev was over the top, but it was in a more amusing way than it had been in a long time.  The Dynasty stuff was pretty funny.  And yes, Dave Kim was great.  Hell, he even refers to his mother as "Dave Kim's mother".

[tennisgurl]

The last few episode really have been pretty decent, probably because they have actually been more about the supporting cast than the Goldbergs. The JTP and Dave Kim can still always be counted on for laughs and to actually say many of the things we're all thinking about our hot mess protagonists. "No one likes you!" Damn, Dave Kim. Damn. 

Even Bev was better than usual, she was rather toned down in her awfulness and the over the top ridiculousness fit into the Dynasty motif. But even with the show getting just a teeny bit better, how long can they really keep going? How long can Murray be attending this conference? 

[rmontro]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

How long can Murray be attending this conference? 

I hear they're extending until the end of the season  :)

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I loved last night's episode, all those crazy flashbacks to Dynasty, that show was huge back then.  

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

I loved last night's episode, all those crazy flashbacks to Dynasty, that show was huge back then.  

Never watched Dynasty, I was a Dallas fan.  Two shows that I ended up being obsessed with, Dallas and M*A*S*H, I hated at first, then came around.  I remember starting to like M*A*S*H after I watched the series finale (everyone watched that), but I don't remember what brought me around to liking Dallas.  Hmm.

[853fisher]

I don't think "lampshading" Murray's absence is as fun a running joke as the writers seem to.  It already seemed like the character was less present before the big scandal.  Just let him be in the other room unacknowledged or whatever.  It's not necessary to show Beverly call the Marriott and be unable to reach him.  Nobody is laughing.

The Dynasty bits were cute.  It did seem like a bit of a missed opportunity for a cameo or two.  Pamela Sue Martin had a fun role in the pilot of the CW's Nancy Drew after she played that part in the 70s: surely she would've bitten for a little Dynasty tribute.  John James just spent a month in Serbia playing Joe Biden in a movie about Hunter's "scandalous business dealings and lifestyle" featuring Gina Carano as a Secret Service agent, for God's sake: you wanna tell me that guy wouldn't turn up for $1.99 and a warm meal?  (Not that he's the one I would've wanted to see, to be sure.)

The soaps of "1980-something" seem like one of the last topics they haven't touched, and I guess I wanted a little more.

Edited March 25, 2022 by 853fisher

[Aryanna]

I've never understood why the Goldbergs refer to people by their full name. Dave Kim, Matt Bradley, Anthony Balsamo etc. Is it just supposed to be funny for some reason? They've known these people long enough that they should be on a first name basis.

[rmontro]

13 hours ago, 853fisher said:

I don't think "lampshading" Murray's absence is as fun a running joke as the writers seem to.  It already seemed like the character was less present before the big scandal.  Just let him be in the other room unacknowledged or whatever.  

Just replace him with a lifelike mannequin sitting in the living room chair, and never mention it again.  He could be there, unmoving, in the background of some scenes.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Lol. He could be sitting in his favorite chair in his underwear.

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Lol. He could be sitting in his favorite chair in his underwear.

With the dog!  What happened to her (him?) It’s been a while!

Not that long ago, there were posts for every sighting, but now I can’t remember the poor puppy’s name!

Edited March 26, 2022 by SoMuchTV

[rmontro]

8 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

With the dog!  What happened to her (him?) It’s been a while!

Okay, add a stuffed dog.

[Neiman]

On 3/22/2022 at 10:08 PM, 853fisher said:

I wondered whether he asked for conspicuous credit.  I feel like we often get those types of "familiar faces" on the show without that kind of acknowledgment, which makes it feel like a fun little Easter egg to me too.

Yeah, I’m glad they gave him credit in the end. I sat there the whole episode wondering who he was and thinking I should know him. 😂

[Neiman]

I watched some Dynasty back in the day, so I loved the references. I think the furniture store guys and neighbors are more interesting than Murray, so it’s good to see them incorporated into the plot. 

Erica gets married and the next thing we know is she’s hanging out at her parents’ place doing laundry and digging into her brother’s business? Whatever. Get a life. 

Jane and the Formica King make an odd couple, but I like them better as a couple than Bev and Murray. Nice to see Jane and Bev make up in the end. The part about the paper cups made my eyes watery. I miss Pops too. 🥲

[Whimsy]

27 minutes ago, Neiman said:

Yeah, I’m glad they gave him credit in the end. I sat there the whole episode wondering who he was and thinking I should know him. 😂

I recognized him before the chevron, but it took me an embarrassingly long time. I kept thinking “I know that actor!”  This being The Goldberg’s and the storyline being about boy bands, I should’ve realized it sooner lol. He was my favorite New Kid, even though I was never a big fan of them. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

On 3/3/2022 at 2:21 PM, tennisgurl said:

So I guess this is how they plan on still using Murray, awkward ADR and turning Murray into a force ghost! I think the universe itself is telling the people behind this show to wrap it up.

The wedding itself was quite nice, although if Geoff really sure he wants to marry into this hot mess of a family? How many of these "acts like a massive dick then gives half assed excuse" does he really want to sit through? There wasn't even any Lainie or JTP to keep my interest, and while there were a few funny lines, I was mostly just disappointed (but not surprised) that what should be a big deal feels so lame.

Couldn't believe Lainie wasn't there for her BFF wedding. Felt weird that the JTP wasn't involved somehow in this episode. Maybe the writers just wanted to concentrate on family,which I can understand.

[dcalley]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:18 PM, SoMuchTV said:

With the dog!  What happened to her (him?) It’s been a while!

Not that long ago, there were posts for every sighting, but now I can’t remember the poor puppy’s name!

"Lucky" belongs to Garlin now, so I don't think we'll be seeing her again.

[proserpina65]

On 3/25/2022 at 11:39 AM, Aryanna said:

I've never understood why the Goldbergs refer to people by their full name. Dave Kim, Matt Bradley, Anthony Balsamo etc. Is it just supposed to be funny for some reason? They've known these people long enough that they should be on a first name basis.

I find it funny, especially when Dave Kim referred to his mother as "Dave Kim's mother".

On 4/1/2022 at 12:54 AM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Couldn't believe Lainie wasn't there for her BFF wedding. Felt weird that the JTP wasn't involved somehow in this episode. Maybe the writers just wanted to concentrate on family,which I can understand.

I guess they couldn't get there because of the storm?  Although Richard Marx did, so who knows.

Regarding last night's episode, I actually didn't mind Beverly.  I mean, yeah, her becoming the "gym teacher" was ridiculous, but the idea of having someone teach jazzercise to keep the students active for the last couple of months of school was not completely insane, and she actually wasn't too out there as an instructor.  Hell, other than the spandex, I wouldn't have minded having jazzercise as my gym class when I was in high school.

[tennisgurl]

Not a terrible episode, even if its yet another "kid is embarrassed or annoyed by Bev until someone points out that they should appreciate their mom" episode. At least this time Beverly wasn't really being an insufferable ass like she is a lot of times. 

[rmontro]

Adam calls Brea his girlfriend in this one, didn't they break up?  I would say the episode was out of order, but Murray was notably missing, and IIRC they broke up before they took Jeff Garlin off the show.  Maybe they decided with Murray gone, they needed to bring Brea in there to take up the slack.  Some of Brea's lines to Adam about appreciating his mother could have easily gone to Murray.

[Aryanna]

Someone help me out here. What did Brea say when they bleeped her mouth?

[Perfect Xero]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Adam calls Brea his girlfriend in this one, didn't they break up?  I would say the episode was out of order, but Murray was notably missing, and IIRC they broke up before they took Jeff Garlin off the show.  Maybe they decided with Murray gone, they needed to bring Brea in there to take up the slack.  Some of Brea's lines to Adam about appreciating his mother could have easily gone to Murray.

They got back together in the next episode

[rmontro]

56 minutes ago, Perfect Xero said:

They got back together in the next episode

You're kidding, really?  Looking back it appears I missed episode 13, and it appears that would be it.  I didn't know I had missed an episode, I wonder how that happened?  If you would have told me that I would miss an episode of the Goldbergs and had actually missed something, I wouldn't have believed you!

[Whimsy]

18 hours ago, Aryanna said:

Someone help me out here. What did Brea say when they bleeped her mouth?

Dick’s Last Resort. It’s a chain restaurant.

[rmontro]

18 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

They got back together in the next episode

You know, thinking about this further, it kind of irritates me.  Why would they break them up, just to get them back together in the next episode?  I guess it's true to life with teenage relationships though.  It's just as a viewer, I don't see the purpose.

[proserpina65]

JTP!

Also, while I didn't like that the Miami storyline started out with it being supersmother Beverly again, I did appreciate that it went a bit deeper with her grief over her father's death.  And Mimi Kennedy rocked.  Plus, I have to confess, I did laugh out loud at the slo-mo scooter chase.

[Traveller519]

Good to see Barry and Erica learn their lesson and approach things as the mature adults they are. I can't wait what comes up to see how they've completely forgotten about it by the next episode.

I thought when Barry and Erica visited Pops at the Condo it was revealed the beach was multiple bus-rides away, but here it seemed to be.... across the street? Nice to have some Pops references again at any rate.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Miss Pop Pop from the series. Was nice to see this episode revolve around him.

[CarpeFelis]

5 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Good to see Barry and Erica learn their lesson and approach things as the mature adults they are supposed to be by their age. I can't wait what comes up to see how they've completely forgotten about it by the next episode.

FTFY

[CarpeFelis]

BTW I could have sworn the plane tickets said Oceanic. So I was hoping Beverly would end up on an island and get eaten by a smoke monster…

[proserpina65]

20 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

I thought when Barry and Erica visited Pops at the Condo it was revealed the beach was multiple bus-rides away, but here it seemed to be.... across the street?

Maybe he moved?

[tennisgurl]

This started out as another annoying Smother episode, but I like how the Florida story turned out and that they actually focused more on Beverly's grief for Pops. I miss Pops so much.

While I don't like that Adam and Brea are back together, I do like Brea snarky reactions to the ridiculous shenanigans that happen around her. "We're not going to the beach, are we?" 

Meanwhile Barry and Erica learn some important life lessons that they will forget by next episode like the goldfish that they are. At least we had the JTP to make this plot bearable. JTP! "Our world is too small."

[rmontro]

Couldn't help but notice the intro this week, with the picture of the family.  Since the show has been renewed, they're probably going to have to airbrush Murray out of there.

[chediavolo]

On 4/21/2022 at 11:11 AM, proserpina65 said:

JTP!

Also, while I didn't like that the Miami storyline started out with it being supersmother Beverly again, I did appreciate that it went a bit deeper with her grief over her father's death.  And Mimi Kennedy rocked.  Plus, I have to confess, I did laugh out loud at the slo-mo scooter chase.

Oh my God I had a hard time recognizing who that was. She looks so much better here than she did years ago on Mom!

[Aryanna]

It was a meh episode for me. As others have pointed out, any lessons learned will be forgotten by next week. I get that for sitcoms to have a long life they have to maintain a status quo but doing the same thing every week gets tiring.

[Neiman]

Given all the time they spend doing anything but studying, I think it would have been more appropriate to have both Erica and Barry fail exams. Do they really expect us to believe Barry scored so well on MCAT that he has his pick of med schools? Whatever.

[zoey1996]

On 4/22/2022 at 7:37 PM, rmontro said:

Couldn't help but notice the intro this week, with the picture of the family.  Since the show has been renewed, they're probably going to have to airbrush Murray out of there.

Nooo! Say it ain’t so!

[rmontro]

37 minutes ago, zoey1996 said:

Nooo! Say it ain’t so!

There are no fans like Goldbergs fans.

[Cherpumple]

I've had a few laughs this season, but I'm definitely out when season 9 ends. Everything that I once found fun and endearing is gone and it's now a chore to sit through. The family is scattered and the holes left by Pop Pop and Murray are huge; the 80s nostalgia is increasingly hamfisted and unfunny; and I have no interest in "the next chapter" of Erica's married life and Adam in college. It was once a fun show set in a decade that I remember fondly, sprinkled with real-life memories of the creator's family, but it's not that anymore and I'm done. I may cave and watch the series finale, but that's it. I hope all of you who hang in there for season 10 enjoy it!

[proserpina65]

Well that episode happened.  Other than a couple of Dave Kim lines, it wasn't funny.  Although we did get to see one of those rare moments when Geoff stood up to Erica.

Please, please let them decide not to do another season despite being renewed.  Unless it's all about the JTP.

[Phishbulb]

12 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I've had a few laughs this season, but I'm definitely out when season 9 ends. Everything that I once found fun and endearing is gone and it's now a chore to sit through. The family is scattered and the holes left by Pop Pop and Murray are huge; the 80s nostalgia is increasingly hamfisted and unfunny; and I have no interest in "the next chapter" of Erica's married life and Adam in college. It was once a fun show set in a decade that I remember fondly, sprinkled with real-life memories of the creator's family, but it's not that anymore and I'm done. I may cave and watch the series finale, but that's it. I hope all of you who hang in there for season 10 enjoy it!

I'm just amused by the chutzpah of ABC renewing it for a full season 10, as if it's going to be able to continue going on beyond that. I figured they'd do the thing like they did with "Black-ish" where they renew it for a shortened final season (like 13 eps), letting the show wrap up every possible storyline and go out the way they want to. They call this "renanceling" 😀 (they did it with Brooklyn Nine-Nine too.)

I guess it's possible they could still announce they're doing this when ABC announces its full schedule during upfront week, but for right now it seems like it's going to be a full season of 22 episodes. I guess ABC doesn't have much on deck to replace it with, comedy-wise. 

[rmontro]

With Beverly staying on as the Quaker Warden, it strikes me that they could turn the series into sort of a version of "Schooled", with the Principal and Tim Meadows.  And balance that with the kids adventures in college.

Also, I want to say that I wouldn't complain about dinners with Geoff's parents if I got to eat Chinese food every Sunday.

Edited May 5, 2022 by rmontro

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I must be a glutton for punishment because I LOL at a number of things in last night's episode. Looking forward to seeing how this gets spun. 

[Phishbulb]

14 hours ago, rmontro said:

With Beverly staying on as the Quaker Warden, it strikes me that they could turn the series into sort of a version of "Schooled", with the Principal and Tim Meadows.  And balance that with the kids adventures in college.

Also, I want to say that I wouldn't complain about dinners with Geoff's parents if I got to eat Chinese food every Sunday.

I mean, eventually the '80s have to end, right? At what point does "The Goldbergs" just BECOME "Schooled"? 😄

[Aryanna]

16 hours ago, rmontro said:

With Beverly staying on as the Quaker Warden, it strikes me that they could turn the series into sort of a version of "Schooled", with the Principal and Tim Meadows.  And balance that with the kids adventures in college.

I liked Schooled and hate that they canceled it. I can't believe that was canceled but The Goldbergs gets a 10th season. I'd like to go back and revisit Schooled but I can't find it streaming anywhere. 

[tennisgurl]

Eating Chinese food every Sunday sounds pretty awesome to me, but of course Erica cant give her husband this one thing. At least Geoff stood up to her and they compromised, although Erica will inevitably forget this lesson by the next episode.

I don't like that Adam and Brea are back together, but she does provide much needed snark. "Don't they have staff meetings..." 

I also laughed when the one teacher asked who was sick of Adam's videos and Dave Kim raised his hand. Its kind of sad that the only characters I still enjoy aren't the main characters. At this point, it feels like they keep renewing this show just to fuck with us. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

There was a scene where Beverley was talking in the teachers lounge (?) with the door open in the background showing students walking by in the hallway. I thought I saw  Carla walk by in the background ,lol. Of course she graduated last year with Johnny Atkins didn't she?