{"id":9572,"date":"2013-09-25T16:08:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T22:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=9572"},"modified":"2013-09-25T16:51:43","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T22:51:43","slug":"tv-review-the-goldbergs-then-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/tv-review-the-goldbergs-then-and-now\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Review: &#8216;The Goldbergs,&#8217; then and now"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JANA BANIN<\/p>\n<p>HOLLYWOOD, FL (JTA) &#8212; Some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jta.org\/2013\/09\/24\/arts-entertainment\/five-reasons-were-excited-for-the-goldbergs\" target=\"_blank\">were psyched<\/a> for the nostalgia of \u201cThe Goldbergs,\u201d a new ABC sitcom about a boisterous, outspoken American family set in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>But Wednesday&#8217;s premiere was a little too loaded with references to that neon-colored, big-haired decade &#8212; think REO Speedwagon, Sam Goody, hair crimping and rabbit tail key chains.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9588\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9588\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9588 lazyload\" title=\"JEFF GARLIN, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY, GEORGE SEGAL, TROY GENTILE, SEAN GIAMBRONE, HAYLEY ORRANTIA\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2.jpg 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/199;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9588\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9588 \" title=\"JEFF GARLIN, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY, GEORGE SEGAL, TROY GENTILE, SEAN GIAMBRONE, HAYLEY ORRANTIA\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs2.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9588\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scene from the ABC show \u201cThe Goldbergs,\u201d starring Jeff Garlin, Wendi Mclendon-Covey and George Segal. (ABC\/Eric McCandless)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Such period gags aside, early on it looks in many ways to be just another formulaic sitcom. There&#8217;s Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey), the clan\u2019s overbearing mom; Murray (Jeff Garlin), her brash on the outside\/soft on the inside husband; and their three kids. Erica (Hayley Orrantia) is pretty and she knows it, Barry (Troy Gentile) is high-strung and Adam (Sean Giambrone) is a precocious cutie pie who records the family&#8217;s histrionics on his clunky old-school video camera.<\/p>\n<p>In typical family comedy fashion, they find one another incredibly frustrating, but underneath it all there&#8217;s lots and lots of love.<\/p>\n<p>Folks have been comparing \u201cThe Goldbergs\u201d to \u201cThe Wonder Years,\u201d and with good reason. Both are time capsules containing family stories told from the innocent-yet-knowing perspective of their clans\u2019 youngest members.<\/p>\n<p>But even deeper in the archives is another comparison: The first incarnation of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jltv.tv\/shows.php?id=14\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cThe Goldbergs,\u201d<\/a>which premiered on the radio in 1929 and moved to television in 1949 for an eight-year run.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9590\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9590\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9590 lazyload\" title=\"BACK ROW: HAYLEY ORRANTIA, GEORGE SEGAL, TROY GENTILE;FRONT ROW: SEAN GIAMBRONE, JEFF GARLIN, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1.jpg 1600w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 240px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 240\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9590\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9590 \" title=\"BACK ROW: HAYLEY ORRANTIA, GEORGE SEGAL, TROY GENTILE;FRONT ROW: SEAN GIAMBRONE, JEFF GARLIN, WENDI MCLENDON-COVEY\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/goldbergs-1.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9590\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cThe Goldbergs\u201d premiered Sept. 24 on ABC. ((ABC\/Bob D\u2019Amico)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The modern version is not a remake of the original, which was the brainchild of writer-actress Gertrude Berg. The 2013 show is an autobiographical project from creator Adam Goldberg, who as a kid actually did videotape his family.<\/p>\n<p>And, of course, what it means to be Jewish in America has changed drastically over the past few decades. The new Goldbergs live in the suburbs instead of a Bronx tenement. Mom and dad don\u2019t speak with Eastern European accents or have a hard time reading English. And Pops, the eldest modern Goldberg, with his track suit and swinger talk, is a far cry from suspender-clad, Old World Uncle David.<\/p>\n<p>Hollywood has changed, too. The original Goldbergs were among the first Jewish characters on television. Today our new friends are entering a landscape paved by the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Ari Gold, Larry David, Kyle from \u201cSouth Park\u201d and, most recently, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jta.org\/2013\/07\/22\/arts-entertainment\/new-jewish-tv-character-alert-jason-biggs-on-orange-is-the-new-black\" target=\"_blank\">Larry Bloom<\/a> from \u201cOrange Is the New Black.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At their core, though, the shows are quite similar. Neither is overtly Jewish &#8212; the title family name notwithstanding &#8212; and both explore the dynamics not of an average Jewish American family but of an average American family that also happens to be Jewish.<\/p>\n<p>In this way, \u201cThe Goldbergs\u201d redux is less like \u201cThe Wonder Years\u201d and more like \u201cThe Cosby Show,\u201d which showed much of the TV-watching public that just because a family comes from a different cultural background, they still fight, make up and wear bad sweaters.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s tempting to say that \u201cThe Goldbergs\u201d is not nearly as groundbreaking or funny as \u201cThe Cosby Show\u201d or \u201cThe Wonder Years.\u201d Nor is it as important as the original. But after one episode, that really isn\u2019t fair.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully as the season progresses, the show will handle its nostalgia impulse with a little more subtlety and the characters lose a lot of their caricature-like elements.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"TV%20Review%3A%20%27The%20Goldbergs%2C%27%20then%20and%20now\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3676,8790,8795,8788,439],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9572"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9589,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9572\/revisions\/9589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}