S02.E02: Mama Drama

[Stinger97]

Adam does not get the part he wanted in the school musical, leading Beverly to cast him in a rival show.

[mtlchick]

I give kudos to all especially Wendy for handling those roller skates.

[OpieTaylor]

This show is hilarious! The mother (Beverly?) is such a unique character; when she was pelting her daughter with those throw pillows (no pun intended! ha!), I laughed out loud.

[Accidental Martyr]

This episode had a really widely fluctuating timeline.

The game where Ron Hextall scored a goal was December 8, 1987.

The Love Boat/Fantasy Island crossover episode was on November 22, 1980.

[Racj82]

This episode had a really widely fluctuating timeline.

The game where Ron Hextall scored a goal was December 8, 1987.

The Love Boat/Fantasy Island crossover episode was on November 22, 1980.

Let it go. There is a reason why Adam never says what the actually year is. It will always be all over the place. He's taking on the 80's in general. Not specific dates.

[Accidental Martyr]

Let it go. There is a reason why Adam never says what the actually year is. It will always be all over

the place. He's taking on the 80's in general. Not specific dates.

I know. I understand why they do it but when an episode includes an event that happened on a specific date it makes it seem especially glaring.

[alexa]

I agree with the not caring about the timeline....meant to be a fun throwback to the 80's, which has so many fun things to comment on.  It would ruin the creativity of the show if the writers had to focus on a specific year/date, and couldn't jump around to serve the storylines, imo.

[Balboa]

Nice episode. Love when Barry goes into his No! No! No! routine.

[maplebrew]

Timeline problems don't bother me. Since the show is being narrated from the future, my fan wank is that he isn't remembering the family's sequence of events accurately. That's natural.

[dcalley]

Going back in time and warning Lincoln about the traffic made me laugh. And we got to see the Barry run again! And Bev on skates again!

 

The principal was Hey It's That Guy Stephen Tobolowsky. I like him and Ana Gasteyer, too.

 

I was expecting a little meta-humor at the end when Murray was complaining about other drivers. I wanted him to call someone a schmohawk. (It's used on Curb Your Enthusiasm by Larry David.)

[ByTor]

Timeline problems don't bother me. Since the show is being narrated from the future, my fan wank is that he isn't remembering the family's sequence of events accurately. That's natural.

It's actually not a fanwank, Adam Goldberg said he himself doesn't remember in what year what event occurred & that's why the narration is "1980-something."

 

Beverly and her "colorful" language getting bleeped out will never NOT be funny! And I hysterically laughed at Murray in traffic at the end, especially his comment "Baby on board...more like moron on board" since I have said this exact thing myself (with some Beverly-esque expletives mixed in, of course). I work in the area where the Goldbergs are from, and if the drivers were then like they are now, I don't blame Murray one bit for getting frustrated!

[jww]

I am surprised a Jewish mother/son would be all excited to play Jesus  (yes, I know JC was Jewish)  Back when I was in school (1960s)  Jewish/Jehovah Witness/Buddist classmates would sit out  Christmas and Easter class performances.  I would also imagine the rights to JC Superstar would have been very expensive.

[Kromm]

Timeline problems don't bother me. Since the show is being narrated from the future, my fan wank is that he isn't remembering the family's sequence of events accurately. That's natural.

For me it's more that Future Adam (Today Adam?) is remembering TYPES of things, and filling in the blanks with things floating around in his memories.  It may not have actually been The Love Boat/Fantasy Island Crossover that prompted the coercion attempt, it was just something of that type.  He remembers the high points and the details both... just not always how, if and when they actually fit together.

[Kromm]

I am surprised a Jewish mother/son would be all excited to play Jesus  (yes, I know JC was Jewish)  Back when I was in school (1960s)  Jewish/Jehovah Witness/Buddist classmates would sit out  Christmas and Easter class performances.  I would also imagine the rights to JC Superstar would have been very expensive.

This is an odd one, because I don't think we've seen any evidence from how they act or live that they're actually Jewish--despite the names.  Every name in the family is Jewish.  Goldberg.  Murray.  Adam.  Barry.  Solomon (Bev's maiden name and Pops' last name).  Beverly and Erica are the least "mandatory" as Jewish names, but even they often are.  But in terms of what we see them do, how they live and what they say?  Very little Jewish.  Which may indeed be accurate for Mr. Goldberg growing up in that time and in that place.

They're Jewish, but barely, I guess.  Non-practicing and living in an area that didn't resonate with the culture.

[ByTor]

I am surprised a Jewish mother/son would be all excited to play Jesus  (yes, I know JC was Jewish) 

To me it was less about the play itself and more about Beverly just wanting Adam to be the lead.

[Lizzing]

I thought the choice of Jesus Christ Superstar was part of the joke...that Bev is so blinded by her desire for Adam to be the lead in the school play, no matter what, it doesn't matter if the play is something Christian themed (or so I presume, having never seen the musical), even though they are Jewish.  Then again, I could be reaching.

[HyeChaps]

Pops brought whitefish and borscht to the hockey game.

[Kromm]

Pops brought whitefish and borscht to the hockey game.

While that's not 100% proof he's Jewish (above and beyond all of their names, I mean), it's like 99.9%!!!

 

Gefilte fish might have pushed it over the edge to 100%.

[Traveller519]

I don't know about Adam Goldberg's desire to address how his family approached their faith, if at all, but they've been pretty diligent about keeping it at arms length. The Christmas/Holiday episode (well, the show that aired at that time of year, when many other shows have a holiday themed show) only dealt with the talent show. 

 

Maybe the family didn't really practice the faith, or maybe he just wanted a show that focused on the 80s-Americana aspect of his life. The show appears to be equal parts love letters to both.

 

I would rather enjoy if they don't talk about it at all, then out of the blue, there's a show that centers on Adam's Bar Mitzvah next season.

[newyawk]

This is an odd one, because I don't think we've seen any evidence from how they act or live that they're actually Jewish--despite the names.  

Wasn't there a bar mitzvah..maybe Adam's..in Season one?

 

NM, for some reason I am remembering that they did one but I looked it up and apparently they haven't done a bar or bat mitzvah yet, although it seems to be something they want to do on the show.

Edited October 8, 2014 by newyawk

[Kromm]

Wasn't there a bar mitzvah..maybe Adam's..in Season one?

No.  No bar mitzvah.

 

We should point out the Fictional Goldbergs and Real Goldbergs aren't necessarily the same.  Real Adam F. Goldberg has some story he's told in interviews about inviting Steven Spielberg to his bar mitzvah (no, Spielberg didn't accept).  Fake Adam hasn't so much as mentioned the possibility of one coming up, or that it's already happened, if it's in the past of the show (a common hook would be to talk about bar mitzvah money--the cash he'd have banked up, since it's the most common gift).  There's also been no mention of Hanukkah, or going to Temple, or Hebrew School or other common cues.  Not that all of those would necessarily be present for a barely religious family, but normally SOME of them would be.

 

That said, I found the following quote from Jeff Garlin from an an Article in a publication called The Jewish Journal (which also mentions the Spielberg thing).  Asked about this very issue, Garlin said:

 

The show’s title is good enough for Garlin: “The only way it could be better is if it was called ‘Jew,’ ” the actor said

Actually here's the bit about Spielberg, and it also does address the Bar Mitzfah question head on. And yes, reading the thing it DOES confirm they are Jewish. Sort of.

Nor are his Goldbergs overtly Jewish, even though Adam is a member of the tribe; he even invited Steven Spielberg to his bar mitzvah and was stunned when Spielberg’s assistant phoned to politely decline because the director was busy shooting “Always.” Rather, the Judaism in his show is implied, à la “Seinfeld,” he explained, although he would love to write a bar mitzvah episode if the series is picked up for future seasons.

Edited October 8, 2014 by Kromm

[Limelight]

Murray Goldberg reminds me so much of my dad, a curmudgeon of a guy on the outside but all heart on the inside. My dad loves the Phillies but the first thing he writes to me about in his email after going to a game is how long it took him to get home. Not the score or great plays but the traffic!

It would be fun to see a bar mitzvah episode, just to see Bev go all out. I had a few friends that had mothers who competed for the best bar or bat mitzvahs in our area, each one getting more creative or outrageous. Just imagine what a Beverly Goldberg planned bar mitzvah would be like. Hopefully there'd be roller skating!

[Kromm]

I think the fear from Goldberg (and maybe even more the network) is that part of the viewing audience will suddenly throw up their arms and declare the show "too Jewish!" and start to believe they can't identify with the characters. So they kind of have to tip-toe around the obvious with whitefish and borscht, them having the most Jewish names in history, and Bev herself being the ultimate culmination of the overbearing Jewish mother stereotype.

[newyawk]

Well, I am Jewish and I grew up in a neighborhood of mostly reform Jewish kids in the 80's. For the most part, the Goldbergs reflects how it was in my type of neighborhood..all the kids my brothers and I knew including ourselves, were as they show on the show. My brothers went to Hebrew school and had bar mitzvahs, I did not and had no bat mitzvah. Aside from that, we weren't overtly Jewish either, lol. Didn't keep kosher, didn't do Shabbos, but did celebrate the high holidays when they rolled around. I'm guessing the Goldbergs are just a typical reform Jewish family

[QueBueno]

In this week's episode, when Adam has been hanging out at Pops' old folks' home, Adam walks out acting like an elderly Jewish man, saying he just had a great "shvitz". So funny.