Season 5 Discussion

[Runningwild]

I don’t understand how you can hate Star Trek and love Star Wars. I love both. Always have. Spock never wore a red shirt. The tunics in the movies were completely different than TOS shirts. 

[tennisgurl]

You can totally love Star Wars and Star Trek! They arent even that different really. And Star Trek IV is the least preachy movie about saving the whales ever made. 

It was great seeing Lainey again, but I was sad to see that she and Barry couldnt make it work. Those tears got me. Not even the JTP could stop the sadness. *whispers* JPT *whispers*. 

I swear, if everyone just listened to Pops, every single episode would be half the length. Just assume Pops knows what he is talking about always! 

Happy 100th episode Goldbergs! 

[TGinKY]

Wait - when did DVD's come out?  Because that was not a VCR tape that Adam's girlfriend pulled out of the Star Trek movie.

[msrachelj]

i'm grossed out by the father walking (sitting) around the house in his tighty whities. it's disgusting actually. his family is subject to his manly parts being so out in the open like that? especially around his daughter. and what if someone comes to the door? and sitting on the furniture with only a pair of underwear between you and the couch. yuk .it skeeves me out. it's a little surprising beverly would think this is just fine.

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, TGinKY said:

Wait - when did DVD's come out?  Because that was not a VCR tape that Adam's girlfriend pulled out of the Star Trek movie.

I just watched this morning and it was a VHS tape. When you get the shot of Adam you can see it’s a thick box.

[AllyB]

13 hours ago, Runningwild said:

I don’t understand how you can hate Star Trek and love Star Wars. Always have. Spock never wore a red shirt. The tunics in the movies were completely different than TOS shirts. 

I know the movie tunics were very different. But Adam was wearing a home made costume and clearly had very limted knowledge of the series and movies, so he made it red as that's what he'd just seen in IV. He was also wearing a badge that looked like a celtic cross on a kite rather than the Star Fleet insignia.

The Trekkie versus Star Wars fans thing is definitely real. I remember actual protests by Trekkies at theatres in 99 when The Phantom Menace came out. And even now there are a lot of Trekkies who hate that a Star Wars fan like Abrams got to reboot Star Trek. Then saying they couldn't be bothered to see The Force Awakens as they'd already seen a JJ Abrams Star Wars movie because that's what he did to Trek. And that's all before you ever mention Babylon 5!!!

[ByTor]

5 hours ago, AllyB said:

The Trekkie versus Star Wars fans thing is definitely real. I remember actual protests by Trekkies at theatres in 99 when The Phantom Menace came out. And even now there are a lot of Trekkies who hate that a Star Wars fan like Abrams got to reboot Star Trek. Then saying they couldn't be bothered to see The Force Awakens as they'd already seen a JJ Abrams Star Wars movie because that's what he did to Trek. And that's all before you ever mention Babylon 5!!!

LOL makes me glad I don't like either of them ;-)

[ByTor]

On 10/24/2017 at 10:32 AM, msrachelj said:

On 10/19/2017 at 7:30 PM, OoogleEyes said:

We did *not* say 'I would have had your back' in the '80's 

why? we said it in the 70's.

I didn't think there was ever a time that expression wasn't used.  I watched two episodes in a row, so sorry if I'm confusing them, but Beverly saying "fun fact" stood out to me, I thought that phrase was very recent.

On 10/19/2017 at 11:48 PM, tennisgurl said:

Oh wow, Real Beverly's perm was even bigger than TV Beverly's! That thing was so big it could apply for statehood! 

I bet she was super envied for that hair, the bigger and fluffier the better!

[Skyfall]

On 10/27/2017 at 9:43 AM, msrachelj said:

i'm grossed out by the father walking (sitting) around the house in his tighty whities. it's disgusting actually. his family is subject to his manly parts being so out in the open like that? especially around his daughter. and what if someone comes to the door? and sitting on the furniture with only a pair of underwear between you and the couch. yuk .it skeeves me out. it's a little surprising beverly would think this is just fine.

Oh you special snowflake! I would say if you wear pants in your own home when not expecting any visitors than you’re in the minority.

[msrachelj]

20 hours ago, Skyfall said:

Oh you special snowflake! I would say if you wear pants in your own home when not expecting any visitors than you’re in the minority.

a special snowflake i am not by any means. i don't think the majority of people walk around their  homes in their underwear. i do wear pants in my own home and i don't know of anyone who does not. changing into comfy clothes even pjs is one thing. walking around like you live in a trailer in the woods is another . class. 

[Skyfall]

9 hours ago, msrachelj said:

a special snowflake i am not by any means. i don't think the majority of people walk around their  homes in their underwear. i do wear pants in my own home and i don't know of anyone who does not. changing into comfy clothes even pjs is one thing. walking around like you live in a trailer in the woods is another . class. 

You should ask because it’s pretty damn common.

[msrachelj]

7 hours ago, Skyfall said:

You should ask because it’s pretty damn common.

maybe in your circle of friends and family. to me, it's pretty damn distasteful at the least and repulsive at the most. but hey, if it floats your boat, hope your friends and family are comfortable! 

[Mabinogia]

I think if you lived alone, fine, walk around naked if you want, but with other people in the house, walking around in tighty whities is just, yeah, repulsive. I don't care if they are your family, throw on a pair of comfy shorts, sweats, hell, even boxers wouldn't be quite as gross.

[msrachelj]

5 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I think if you lived alone, fine, walk around naked if you want, but with other people in the house, walking around in tighty whities is just, yeah, repulsive. I don't care if they are your family, throw on a pair of comfy shorts, sweats, hell, even boxers wouldn't be quite as gross.

agreed! although you do have to be careful with boxers and escapism :),  but tightie whities just look gross all the time. and i'd hope he would have extremely good hygiene to avoid even the front pee stain or worse. just classless and disgusting. i'm surprised the actual mother was ok with this. 

[Mabinogia]

20 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

i'd hope he would have extremely good hygiene to avoid even the front pee stain or worse.

THIS! Even tighty blueys or tighty greenys would be okay, but I have never seen a used pair of white underpants that are pristine. Unless Murray gets a new pair every day it's just rude.

[Accidental Martyr]

Why the hell would Erica leave the college party and drive home 3 hrs. to see if Lainey was there? It seems like they’re trying too hard to keep her involved in the storyline but neglecting her life at college.

[incandescent]

It's been almost a week and I can't stop thinking about how freaking ugly those towels Beverly picked were.

[Utpe]

Wow, 100 episodes!  Congrats!!!

I jumped in during the summer hiatus between the second and third seasons.  As a huge fan of the 1980s (and having lived through it), I'm surprised it took me a few years to discover The Goldbergs, especially since I watch Modern Family shortly after it airs.

Still, glad I found this gem of a show.  Love the nostalgia!

[biakbiak]

Quote

Adam offers to make Murray a commercial starring Marvin, but Marvin's actions mess up the plan; Beverly helps Barry court a girl at school.

[Cowgirl]

I always wonder who in the props dept. makes all the costumes for Adam's movies and videos.  I just love them!  His uncle's Samuri costume was awesome!

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 2:46 AM, tennisgurl said:

You can totally love Star Wars and Star Trek! They arent even that different really. And Star Trek IV is the least preachy movie about saving the whales ever made.

I saw the original Star Wars when it came out in 77, my first sci-fi fandom, and I still managed to love Star Trek, even though I started with Wrath of Khan and not the original series.  And yes, ST4 is a fabulous movie and not that preachy at all.

But fans were correct to object to JJ Abrams doing Star Trek movies, only because his sucked.

Edited November 2, 2017 by proserpina65

[tennisgurl]

I would have totally gone to Murrays to get furniture after seeing that commercial! It looked great!

Bev would have a really interesting advice column. 

[Traveller519]

Sooooo, Barry's falling for a girl who could be a dead ringer for his own sister, who provides him with guidance?

This could be bad

[Star Aristille]

RLS!  RLS!  This time with Beverly and the new girl, Jamie!  She looked so cute curled up next to them!

I actually liked this episode a lot.  Barry is already on the road to getting a new girl in his life, Beverly actually helped him out, for a change, Marvin proved surprisingly useful (though what happened to the plotline of him living with the family now?  Was that suddenly dropped?), and all of the JTP seems to know what to do to find girls now.

I actually loved it when Beverly told Naked Rob the very obvious thing: that girls actually don't appreciate him being naked.  And then, seeing him with a girl the very next day made it all the more worth it!  And then finding out that Matt had had no problems getting girls before he joined the JTP, only to be "assured" that it was only a coincidence?  Hilarious!  (Because . . . you know it's not.)

Surprised by the lack of Adam use in this episode.  Till now, I thought he was the protagonist.

I actually got one of the '80s references!  The "Call a boy and tell him something gross"/"I'll take a zit sticker" exchange was actually in a commercial advertising the game, and the show happily used it in its dialogue!  Neat!  (Though I'd always thought it was a '90s game, not an '80s one, because that was when I'd first seen a commercial for it.)

Fantastic episode.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, Star Aristille said:

I actually loved it when Beverly told Naked Rob the very obvious thing: that girls actually don't appreciate him being naked.  And then, seeing him with a girl the very next day made it all the more worth it!

That was a pretty easy fix, wasn't it? :)   Sometimes people's problems can be resolved by making a very small adjustment.  Sometimes.

[Cowgirl]

For some reason recently, before this episode, I was thinking that geez, they hadn't mentioned Rob's nakedness in a long time and wondering if that was still a character trait of his, and then this episode came out.  They even mentioned that he got naked nearly daily.  Made me laugh!

[Utpe]

"That's the thing about family.  Everyone has a part to play.  And when the people you love are playing themselves, well, that's a show you don't want to miss."

Aww, so touching!  Plus, I see what they did there.

On 11/3/2017 at 4:30 AM, Star Aristille said:

(Though I'd always thought it was a '90s game, not an '80s one, because that was when I'd first seen a commercial for it.)

You're mostly right.  It was a staple game for teenage girls throughout the 1990s (according to Wikipedia).  But, it was on the market starting in 1988, so it applies to The Goldbergs.

I never had any female friends/relatives that owned the game, so I couldn't tell you if it was popular.  But, just like you, I remember the commercials were plentiful in the early '90s.

[ByTor]

I don't remember that game at all.

[bonniejmac]

18 hours ago, Utpe said:

You're mostly right.  It was a staple game for teenage girls throughout the 1990s (according to Wikipedia).  But, it was on the market starting in 1988, so it applies to The Goldbergs.

I never had any female friends/relatives that owned the game, so I couldn't tell you if it was popular.  But, just like you, I remember the commercials were plentiful in the early '90s.

It played a huge role at all of my slumber parties around 5th & 6th grade, which would have been '89-'91. So yeah.

[biakbiak]

Quote

During the holiday, Uncle Marvin reveals he has become a stockbroker and convinces Barry and the JTP to invest their money with him. Murray intervenes which has repercussions for Barry. Meanwhile, Erica tells Geoff she is in debt and gets swept up in the family investment. Later, Beverly invites 50 people over for a Thanksgiving potluck instead of stressing out cooking for the family, but the plan backfires and Beverly realizes some traditions shouldn't change.

[mojoween]

As a college freshman both Citibank and MBNA America (I think that’s what it was called) thought that I ABSOLUTELY was a good credit risk.  And when going out with your friends, it’s just so much easier for your friends to give you cash and you just put the whole bill on the card!  And you’ll just take that cash, put it in the bank and then mail a check when you get the bill, right?  Right?!?

A $3000 bill on a $300 limit would say no.

I never noticed Chairy from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse in the basement before.  I love that chair.

I also love Lucky’s splayed out turkey-eating posture on the ottoman.

[Chippings]

There's not much traffic on this page, I hope some others will put on a note.  We are regular Goldbergs viewers, since Mr. Chips grew up in Jenkintown and went to the school that Adam Goldberg attends.  Usually there are pretty nice stories, and pretty convincingly based loosely on something that sort of happened back in 1980-something.  But this episode just rang very false -- behavior barely based on human behavior, so much yelling and real anger.  We picked up on the references to Atari and 'Wall Street, but the people were just acting so badly, and even less realistically than usual.  It was embarrassing.  We just kind of looked away and tried out the Mute button a couple of times.   Anybody else feel the same ?  

[morgan]

8 hours ago, mojoween said:

As a college freshman both Citibank and MBNA America (I think that’s what it was called) thought that I ABSOLUTELY was a good credit risk.  And when going out with your friends, it’s just so much easier for your friends to give you cash and you just put the whole bill on the card!  And you’ll just take that cash, put it in the bank and then mail a check when you get the bill, right?  Right?!?

A $3000 bill on a $300 limit would say no.

I never noticed Chairy from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse in the basement before.  I love that chair.

I also love Lucky’s splayed out turkey-eating posture on the ottoman.

Yep!  I still have the American Express and Citibank Visa card that I got in college from when they set up tables in the student union.  Amex was awesome because if you applied they gave you 2 round trip air fare for continental  US for only $99 each!  I used mine for spring breaks AND my sister’s (because even thought the ticket was in her name, the airlines didn’t often check ID way back when.  

[Star Aristille]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 7:24 PM, mojoween said:

I also love Lucky’s splayed out turkey-eating posture on the ottoman.

That was so fucking adorable, wasn't it?:):):):)

But that was just one RLS for this week.  The other one was seeing her on the couch as Adam led Murray away from the den with the Reese's Pieces and then lying there as he played the E.T. game.  He even addressed her once!  One particularly cute shot of her was when she was lying on her back, looking so comfortable, when Adam yelled out, "Balls!"

Wow.  I was brought right back to Saturday morning cartoons on ABC when I saw the singing cowboy ("After these messages, we'll be riiiiiiiight back!"), and then, him whistling for the horse who fell on him and winked at the kids watching.  I remember that and miss those promos.  But ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and USA all took away their Saturday-morning lineups for reasons I don't understand.:(

Did Atari really have that trouble back in the '80s?

It's good to see that Beverly isn't so gung-ho about bailing Erica out of jams anymore and probably won't be doing the same for Adam or Barry, either.  That's a nice change the writers are trying to make for her.

A little shocked that Marvin went from working at Murray's store to now being a stockbroker with no explanation.  But him actually getting rich off the stocks (at first) was a nice surprise.  It was actually decent to see him get a win, even if short-lived.

I'm glad they're keeping the part about Barry being a doctor going on.

Geoff and Erica had some great scenes.  He's been pretty good since they promoted both the actor and the character to a regular/main character.

Coach Mellor and his brother both showing up was a welcome surprise.  I'm glad they remembered that he even has a brother.  Wasn't surprised, based on how large he is, that he's a huge eater.

All in all, I enjoyed this one.  Good job, Show.

Edited November 20, 2017 by Star Aristille

[lambertman]

3 hours ago, Star Aristille said:

Did Atari really have that trouble back in the '80s?

Ohhh, you must watch "Atari: Game Over" on Netflix.

[SoothingDave]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)

Yes, the ET video game was so bad that it is infamous.  Yes, it contributed to a crash of the video game industry, which didn't really recover until Nintendo came out.  Yes, unsold copies were buried in the desert.  

[Traveller519]

The Thanksgiving episodes are usually pretty strong, and they do a good job of mixing them up. 

Virginia Kemp struggling in the kitchen then all bandaged up was fun visuals, though based on her past appearances, I firmly believe that she would be able to handle cooking a full Thanksgiving with no issues! 

Pops was great as usual, "You and I are interested by different things" "Please send the Turkey to the foyer!" 

Edited November 16, 2017 by Traveller519

[TheLastKidPicked]

3 hours ago, SoothingDave said:

Yes, the ET video game was so bad that it is infamous.

When it comes to game consoles and cartridges, the younger viewers may not realize how EXPENSIVE these things were.  Only the rich kids had them back in the day.

If a game console was $199 in the early 80's, that would be $ 501.00 today.  

And if the cartridges were $40 in the early 80's, that would be $ 102 today.  It's one thing to spend 9.99 to download a game and find out that its boring.  Imagine shelling out $ 102 for it!

Do any of you remember the "early adopters"?  The family in your neighborhood who was the first to buy the game consoles, VCRs, and home computers?

Edited November 16, 2017 by TheLastKidPicked

[mojoween]

My neighbors always had to be the early adopters.  Unfortunately, they early adopted a Betamax and a Commodore 64.

Edited November 17, 2017 by mojoween

[Cowgirl]

7 hours ago, SoothingDave said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game)

Yes, the ET video game was so bad that it is infamous.  Yes, it contributed to a crash of the video game industry, which didn't really recover until Nintendo came out.  Yes, unsold copies were buried in the desert.  

Oh my gosh!  thanks for sharing this.  I thought Adam just made an offhand comment and it was the writers' way of being funny. 

[tennisgurl]

JCP MINUS JEFF! 

Wow, those cell phones! You could break a window with that thing! I thought this was a fun episode, I like that the characters are developing more, especially Beverly. 

I think I've actually heard that legend about the ET games being buried somewhere. Was it on some cop show? It sounds super familiar. 

Loved that the Coach and his bother came by! And in watching outfits!

[Accidental Martyr]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

 

I think I've actually heard that legend about the ET games being buried somewhere. Was it on some cop show? It sounds super familiar. 

 

They were found a few years ago.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/video-games/those-old-e-t-atari-games-dug-desert-sold-108-n418971

[tennisgurl]

@Accidental Martyr That was where I heard of it! Thanks!

[bybrandy]

12 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

When it comes to game consoles and cartridges, the younger viewers may not realize how EXPENSIVE these things were.  Only the rich kids had them back in the day.

If a game console was $199 in the early 80's, that would be $ 501.00 today.  

And if the cartridges were $40 in the early 80's, that would be $ 102 today.  It's one thing to spend 9.99 to download a game and find out that its boring.  Imagine shelling out $ 102 for it!

Do any of you remember the "early adopters"?  The family in your neighborhood who was the first to buy the game consoles, VCRs, and home computers?

My family was pretty early adopters of video games/computers/vcrs ect.   My mom was in computers professionally so she was all about getting us access to computers and gaming and my dad was in public relations so he was all over video equipment so he could tape all the news to see how his people were portrayed in the media.  So much local news was watched at my house.  OMG.   

I don't remember having the ET game and I was super, super, super obsessed with ET and we had an Atari so I'm a little surprised i didn't have it, but maybe I did, played it twice and tossed it because it sucked?   The Atari and the ColecoVision lived in my room because I was juts a little kid and my brother couldn't be trusted not to stay up all night playing games.  

I can't imagine that choice being made now, though.  As every weekend scores of teenage boys were in my room all day gaming.   

[ByTor]

Shellfish???  What kind of Thanksgiving is this???

[Skyfall]

On 11/16/2017 at 1:20 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

When it comes to game consoles and cartridges, the younger viewers may not realize how EXPENSIVE these things were.  Only the rich kids had them back in the day.

If a game console was $199 in the early 80's, that would be $ 501.00 today.  

And if the cartridges were $40 in the early 80's, that would be $ 102 today.  It's one thing to spend 9.99 to download a game and find out that its boring.  Imagine shelling out $ 102 for it!

Do any of you remember the "early adopters"?  The family in your neighborhood who was the first to buy the game consoles, VCRs, and home computers?

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one-x?&ocid=PLATFORM_SEM_google_%2Bprice %2Bx %2Bbox %2Bx&cid=PLATFORM_SEM_google_%2Bprice %2Bx %2Bbox %2Bx&wt.srch=1&wt.mc_id=AID_SEM_MTZUhPq8#buy

 

And with season passes, collectors editions, etc games can cost over $100. So I believe they realize it...

Edited November 17, 2017 by Skyfall

[Utpe]

If anybody here watches The Angry Video Game Nerd web series, James Rolfe made several references to Atari's E.T. game and even produced a movie revolving around it in 2014.  I wonder if the writers are fans of his YouTube show.

I was more of an Intellivision gamer pre-NES.  I used to love playing Space Invaders.  I do remember that ridiculous controller with the numeric keypad and buttons on the side/bottom.  Of course, Intellivision was one of the consoles that suffered from the video game crash of 1983.  Thank goodness Nintendo came along when it did.

Wow, 33% interest on a credit card!  My parents put a mortgage on a house around the early '80s that had interest rates through the roof.  I remember them saying something about having to refinance several times over the years just to lower it.  I suppose establishing any type of loan was costly back then.  Yikes!

Edited November 21, 2017 by Utpe

[The Companion]

On 11/16/2017 at 0:20 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

When it comes to game consoles and cartridges, the younger viewers may not realize how EXPENSIVE these things were.  Only the rich kids had them back in the day.

If a game console was $199 in the early 80's, that would be $ 501.00 today.  

And if the cartridges were $40 in the early 80's, that would be $ 102 today.  It's one thing to spend 9.99 to download a game and find out that its boring.  Imagine shelling out $ 102 for it!

Do any of you remember the "early adopters"?  The family in your neighborhood who was the first to buy the game consoles, VCRs, and home computers?

My family generally fell into the "early adopter" category. Probably because my Dad was a computer science major in college before the microchip (his advisor told him "there is no future in this computer business" so he became a doctor instead). I don't remember the ET game but my husband definitely had it and remembers it well. It was terrible.

I love the Thanksgiving episodes every year. They capture the joy and frustration of Thanksgiving as a kid. Still loving the Bevolution, and I actually hope they continue to let Bev grow a bit. My heart did hurt a bit for Murray when Barry said he didn't want the same life. I mean, I knew they would make up because it is the Goldbergs, but it was really sad. 

[The Companion]

On 10/26/2017 at 10:58 PM, Runningwild said:

I don’t understand how you can hate Star Trek and love Star Wars. I love both. Always have. Spock never wore a red shirt. The tunics in the movies were completely different than TOS shirts. 

Personally, I am more of a Star Wars girl because that is what I grew up on, but I don't have strong opinions one way or the other. I enjoy both (though I find the older Star Trek episodes a bit campy). 

This episode actually cracked me up a bit because it was particularly relevant for me. My husband and I like the same things, almost universally. We have similar taste in movies, tv shows, books and music. The other day we watched a show that he really liked and I really didn't and it caused a minor uproar in the house. I realized it was because the situation was so foreign to us. 

Poor Barry and Lainey.

With regard to Murray's underwear, I don't really have a problem with it. It isn't like he is nude (though I did have a friend who was raised by hippie nudists and she was just fine), and it certainly isn't sexual. It is no less than a speedo swimsuit. If he wants to walk around in his own home in his underwear, it doesn't really affect me. I am pretty sure a good portion of the population does. Also, I feel his pain in the sense that I hate pants. I tend to sleep in night shirts and wear dresses and skirts a lot. I just find them too constricting. 

[Star Aristille]

Forgot another favorite part of mine.

I loved Marvin's "oh, shit!" expression when Beverly overheard Erica admit to taking out a credit card in her name.  And I loved when he held it when Erica practically begged Beverly not to explode on her.