S04.E13: Agassi

[Jabu]

From TV Guide:

Adam tries to join the tennis team to stay close to his friend, Chad.  Beverly helps Erica get through her post-breakup depression.

No Pops in this one.  Wonder where he was?

That was amazing how they used the real Chad as Show!Chad's father!

I was glad that the writers at least acknowledged Erica's devolution in character through the characters and fixed it.  Personally, I do hope she still gets with Geoff eventually.  But I'd rather it happen in its own time than have the show force it.

Lainey going from consoling Erica to completely lighting up when Barry brought her puppies was one of my favorite parts.

Rush Kid is still with Carla?  Would've thought she'd have been done with him by now.

[Michel]

No RLS, either.  Damn, where are they hiding cute little Lucky?

Seriously?  Now they use the gag of the other Adam Goldberg using Erica?

Edited February 9, 2017 by Michel

[paulvdb]

At least Beverly said that nobody cares about the feud between the two Adams. Between that remark and Erica's plot it felt like Adam Goldberg must have been reading the forums.

[Texasmom1970]

5 hours ago, Jabu said:

From TV Guide:

 

 

No Pops in this one.  Wonder where he was?

Knowing Pops probably out on a date. Maybe even two in one night!

[Cowgirl]

I laughed at Rush guy (whom I usually hate) and his fake CDL (truck-driver's) license.    And his "It was taken when I was heavier. And more Asian."

[Shellie]

I find it really hard to imagine Erica slouching around like this for months and wrecking her senior year over a guy she decided she likes and now can't have.  How many gazillions of high school girls haven't been able to get a guy they want?  Do they just give up on everything because of that? 

[NutmegsDad]

9 hours ago, Jabu said:

I was glad that the writers at least acknowledged Erica's devolution in character through the characters and fixed it.

I said it last night: "Our long national nightmare is over."

[Traveller519]

Very much on board with the reboot of Erica. I enjoyed that they went to the no make-up, sullen, appearance before they really got up and got going, but fully acknowledged that "This Year" she seemed really different. That and the "nobody cares about that stupid little feud" line were like balm for my Goldbergs Soul!

They had a lot of the supporting characters in this one, despite missing out on Pops. 

The intervention was pretty great too, "Oh Okay, Barry's Interchangeable Friends!"

[dcalley]

10 hours ago, Michel said:

No RLS, either.  Damn, where are they hiding cute little Lucky?

Lucky was on the bed with Erica when she was eating whatever it was she was eating when Beverly tried to bring her some comfort food.

[reggiejax]

I haven't watched yet, but from the sounds of it, while this episode seemingly featured the three things I believe are killing this show ("other Adam Goldberg" jokes, Erica moping for that twerp Geoff, and that fucking Rush kid), it also sounds like they are attempting to course correct. Let's hope they do.

[Cowgirl]

1 hour ago, dcalley said:

Lucky was on the bed with Erica when she was eating whatever it was she was eating when Beverly tried to bring her some comfort food.

It was noodles with a whole bottle of ranch dressing. I'm shocked she didn't grab the brownies out of Beverly's hands for dessert.

[dcalley]

9 minutes ago, Cowgirl said:

It was noodles with a whole bottle of ranch dressing. I'm shocked she didn't grab the brownies out of Beverly's hands for dessert.

Thank you. I knew it was something gross but couldn't remember. I did like seeing the old-school Doritos bag she had earlier.

[Traveller519]

I do enjoy how the show is reusing "Never Surrender"'s opening riff as Barry's power up song. Last seen during this Thanksgiving toast in Season 3 I believe.

[mojoween]

7 hours ago, Shellie said:

I find it really hard to imagine Erica slouching around like this for months and wrecking her senior year over a guy she decided she likes and now can't have.  How many gazillions of high school girls haven't been able to get a guy they want?  Do they just give up on everything because of that? 

Yes.  Occasionally.

I love that the gym teacher felt the calling to help Adam because of his oath but instead ran off to his Festiva.

I was hoping to see old videos of the real Chad and they did not disappoint.  Adam using his real schoolmates will never get old.

I feel like Agassi was more 90's than 80's but I won't quibble.

[dcalley]

23 minutes ago, mojoween said:

I feel like Agassi was more 90's than 80's but I won't quibble.

I typed out almost the same thing and then deleted it.

[docmatt]

Quote

I feel like Agassi was more 90's than 80's but I won't quibble.

Agassi first made the top 10 in 1988, so later than a lot of the show's references, but still 80s.

[tennisgurl]

Does this mean we can FINALLY be done with moopy Erica? Please?!?! Also, Barry actually had a good Valentines Day for Lainey! Go figure.

I hope the Disco guy comes back a few times. And we got to see the real Chad! Awesome! I love when Adam uses his actual friends and classmates in the show.

Seriously, the writers have clearly been listening to fans, so can we make these changes stick?! 

[Traveller519]

Considering the Show's official Twitter page posted this Tweet

 

I'm hoping enough people on the writing staff agree

Edited February 10, 2017 by Traveller519

[reggiejax]

Watched this last night on Hulu, and it was fairly enjoyable. More so than other episodes have been this season.

And while I know nitpicking the timeline is ultimately kind of pointless with this show, there was one thing I couldn't get out of my head, and strangely it did not involve anything 80's related. .

It was when Beverly was discussing her Disco Queen past. She said that before having kids, her greatest joy was dancing the night away to the funky sounds of disco. 

Except Beverly's pre-children days would have also pre-dated the disco era. I know the timeline is not set in any particular year, but even if you chose to say the show occurs in 1989, that still means her kids were born in the early 70's. Mid 70's for Adam. This means that pretty much during disco's entire run, Beverly had a house full of small children. So just when was she supposed to be Jenkintown's answer to Karen Lynn Gorney?

Edited February 10, 2017 by reggiejax

[Guest]

The odd thing to me about the disco references were them playing Abba's Dancing Queen in the supposedly disco scene.  Was it even a hit in the 80s?  I see it was released in 76.  I never thought of Abba as disco, more euro-pop.  

On 2/9/2017 at 1:06 AM, Jabu said:

No Pops in this one.

I noticed in an earlier ep that for nearly all of Segal's scenes, he was the only one in the frame.  It made me wonder if he just works a few hours a week, given his age, and they don't make the whole cast be there for his hours.  I suppose they could even have a small mobile set of the living room or something that they bring to him to film his scenes?  

I can't imagine working at 82.  My mother is 79 and seems 10 years older than Segal, mentally and physically.  

[Tiger]

I love seeing these older actors like Segal and Cecily Tyson working, even if infrequently.  I just hope for their sakes theyre working because they still want to, not because they have to.

[AllyB]

On 2/10/2017 at 7:16 PM, reggiejax said:

It was when Beverly was discussing her Disco Queen past. She said that before having kids, her greatest joy was dancing the night away to the funky sounds of disco. 

Except Beverly's pre-children days would have also pre-dated the disco era. I know the timeline is not set in any particular year, but even if you chose to say the show occurs in 1989, that still means her kids were born in the early 70's. Mid 70's for Adam. This means that pretty much during disco's entire run, Beverly had a house full of small children. So just when was she supposed to be Jenkintown's answer to Karen Lynn Gorney?

I couldn't get my head around that either. Beverly's late teens and college era would have been the mid-late 60s or the possibly the very early 70s if you take the show as set in 89. The nearest she'd have gotten to disco would have been Dancing in the Streets and certain hits from The Supremes/Jackson 5 etc which are credited as being strong disco influences.

[Angeltoes]

I laughed for five minutes at the gym teacher's out-of-nowhere rant about marriage:

"Tennis is like marriage.  It's long and it's boring.  And then she leaves you for a handsome Latin man who was only supposed to tile your bathroom."  

The way the actor annunciates and spits out words is hysterical.

[seasons]

Playing tennis in Pennsylvania during February and it looks like a beautiful summer day. 

Works for me.

[jww]

Does the real Adam admit to being such a panty-waist, momma’s boy?  TV Adam is 14/15 and is on the verge of tears if a tennis ball comes near or hits  him  or runs whining to his mother  if he thinks  a teacher/classmate has been mean to him.  Did they really have snowflakes in the  80s.? The coach certainly is a busy man: teaches all PE classes, substitute  teaches  for chemistry and coaches all the school’s teams.  The tennis coach should have been  a foxy girls’ coach in a short tennis dress  that all the boys were hot for.  As for the weather everyone knows It Is Always  Sunny in Philadelphia.

I

[reggiejax]

Quote

Does the real Adam admit to being such a panty-waist, momma’s boy?  TV Adam is 14/15 and is on the verge of tears if a tennis ball comes near or hits  him  or runs whining to his mother  if he thinks  a teacher/classmate has been mean to him.  Did they really have snowflakes in the  80s.?

I agree with the your assessment of Adam, and I would say the real Adam agrees too. Otherwise he wouldn't be portraying his fictional self with such a lack of sack. 

And yes, there were snowflakes in the 80's and even earlier. We just didn't call them "snowflakes". What we did call them would nowadays get us tossed for violating zero tolerance guidelines. 

[marriedaniac]

On 11/02/2017 at 11:40 PM, Winston9-DT3 said:

I noticed in an earlier ep that for nearly all of Segal's scenes, he was the only one in the frame.  It made me wonder if he just works a few hours a week, given his age, and they don't make the whole cast be there for his hours.  I suppose they could even have a small mobile set of the living room or something that they bring to him to film his scenes?  

I wonder this too. That episode where it's just him in frame made it look like his lines were edited in later. It was distracting, and made me wonder about future episodes. I hope he's ok, and it's just that he doesn't need to be on set/working so much and really only comes in when he has to.

[xander874]

Yeah I noticed we haven't had a Pop-centric plot in a long while. He's mostly been sitting and dispensing advice, but it does make me miss some of his exploits and his stories with Adam. They are one of my favorite pairings.

[TobinAlbers]

Barry suddenly appearing with the Agassi wig was topped by his explanation that it's something Lainey likes which...wow, LOL.

I just about howled when Adam brought over Chad's stuff which included a Samantha Fox cassingle. Ah, cassingles. Loved those! This show keeps taking me back.

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 5/12/2017 at 6:48 PM, TobinAlbers said:

I just about howled when Adam brought over Chad's stuff which included a Samantha Fox cassingle. Ah, cassingles. Loved those! This show keeps taking me back.

The Adam and Chad storyline was so well done that it was painful to watch.  And the kid that played Chad is a great actor.  His half-pissed, half-about-to-cry "Thanks a lot!  Some friend you are!"  Almost seemed too real.  Like when kid actors say they were thinking about something really sad to help them in a scene.

Edited November 30, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[Cherry Cola]

Super late to the Goldberg game here, but Barry is the real star of the show. He always makes me laugh. I loved the tennis stuff.