The Goldbergs (2013 TV series)

Did You Know?

• The show is set in a non-chronological representation of the 1980s in the Philadelphia suburb of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
• The Goldbergs was included in TV Guide's 2013 Top Twenty 'Best Shows of the Year'.

Cast and characters

Wendi McLendon-Covey plays Beverly Goldberg, the family's overly protective mother who the kids call a "smother." She tends to barge into their personal lives, causing them embarrassment, but she is also a huge cheerleader for everything they try, always believing they can succeed. Sean Giambrone is Adam Goldberg, the cheerful youngest son who loves making movies and records his family with a VHS camcorder. He has to use his middle initial at school because there is another kid with the same name. Adam is a classic nerd with geeky interests, like being obsessed with Star Wars. Patton Oswalt provides the voice of the grown-up Adam, who tells the story from today. Troy Gentile plays Barry Goldberg, the hot-tempered and a bit clueless middle child who is very confident even though he lacks talent in many areas. He is super competitive and wants to "dominate" everything, especially sports like basketball and ice hockey, and he wears his Philadelphia Flyers jersey a lot. Barry also made the school wrestling team, calls himself "Big Tasty" for his rap music, and leads a group called the Jenkintown Posse, or JTP. In season five, he asks Lainey to marry him and she says yes, but they never get married. He finishes high school in season six and starts college in season seven with his sister Erica, where he studies to be a doctor. The character is based on Adam's actual brother.

Production

The project originally received a script commitment from Fox in August 2011. After Adam Goldberg's previous show Breaking In was canceled, he moved the project to ABC, which agreed to produce it immediately. The title was initially How the F--- Am I Normal?, then revised to How the Hell Am I Normal? in early 2013, before the final title was announced in April 2013. Wendi McLendon-Covey was cast as the pilot's lead on January 11, 2013, with Jeff Garlin and George Segal joining later. George Segal died during season 8; his last episode, "Couple Off", aired April 7, 2021, and ended with a 48-second video tribute. In December 2021, it was announced that Jeff Garlin would not return after multiple misconduct allegations and HR investigations, described as a mutual decision. For the remainder of season 9, his character appeared via outtakes, a stand-in, and CGI. In August 2022, it was revealed his character was killed off off-screen before season 10. The pilot was directed by Seth Gordon. ABC picked up the show on May 10, 2013, for the 2013–14 season, and ordered a full season on November 1, 2013. The show is filmed at Sony Pictures Studios. Production was suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed in August 2020, and was briefly suspended again in January 2021. The theme song "Rewind" was written by I Fight Dragons at Goldberg's request. A soundtrack of songs performed by cast members was released on December 6, 2017.

Broadcast

The Goldbergs originally premiered on ABC on September 24, 2013, and the pilot was made available on Hulu and ABC.com before its television premiere. In Australia, the show airs on the Seven Network. It previously broadcast in Canada on CTV, and in 2024 began airing on Global TV and superstation NTV. In the United Kingdom, it has aired on E4 since April 20, 2015, and on E4 Extra since 2022. It formerly aired in Ireland on RTÉ2 from October 19, 2015 to February 20, 2025, and in Turkey on DiziSmart since 2015. In France, it has aired on Comedie+ since October 17, 2015. In Spain, it has broadcast on Neox TV. In India, it airs on Star World. In Germany, it has aired on Disney Channel, Universal Channel, Sky 1, Comedy Central, ProSieben, and Sky Comedy across different seasons. In Portugal, it airs on Fox Comedy; in Italy on Joi, Premium Stories, Infinity+, and Italia 1. In Israel, it is broadcast by satellite provider yes. In South Africa, it aired on M-Net. In Hungary, it aired on Comedy Central from 2016 to 2020 (seasons 1–7) and then on Comedy Central Family from season 8. In Ukraine, it airs on Paramount Comedy Ukraine. In New Zealand, it airs on TVNZ. Syndication began in September 2017, airing on local stations, Nick at Nite from September 18, 2017 until its removal on September 22, 2018, and Pop from September 24, 2017 until its removal in 2023. It premiered on TV Land on September 23, 2018 until its removal in 2023.

Spin-off

ABC first explored a spin-off from The Goldbergs in November 2016, with early plans focusing on Bryan Callen’s recurring character, Rick Mellor. By January 2017, Wendi McLendon-Covey’s character was slated for a guest spot in the script, which received a pilot order the following month. In March 2017, Nia Long signed on as the female lead, Lucy Winston, while Tim Meadows confirmed he would return as Andre Glascott. Jay Chandrasekhar was brought in to direct. Despite reportedly testing stronger than the original series’ pilot, ABC declined to move forward with the spin-off in May 2017. Adam F. Goldberg later revealed its title: Schooled.

The pilot eventually aired as a special episode of The Goldbergs in January 2018, under the name “The Goldbergs: 1990-Something.” Alongside Long and Meadows, the cast included Rachel Crow as Lucy’s rebellious teen daughter Felicia and Summer Parker as Felicia’s younger sister Gigi, with Octavia Spencer providing narration as an adult Felicia. Goldberg hoped the airing would spark discussions for a series order. Three months later, in April 2018, ABC officially picked up Schooled for a 13-episode first season set to air in 2019. AJ Michalka reprised her role as Lainey Lewis from the parent show, but Nia Long did not return due to her commitment to NCIS: Los Angeles. The series was canceled after two seasons in May 2020.

Regarding canon, Adam F. Goldberg left the show after season 6 and publicly stated that seasons 7 through 10 do not align with his original vision, as they were produced without his input and shifted away from the show’s autobiographical tone. After he was not consulted on the series finale, Goldberg wrote his own canon ending in comic book form, published by American Mythology. In that comic, his family is killed by Victor Crowley to prevent any future reboot or sequel.