The Goldbergs Are Not Off to A Good Start

Kristina Carroll ’16/ Emertainment Monthly Editor
ABC’s new fall show The Goldbergs is everything we don’t want to remember about the 80s.   Narrated by the adult version of Adam Goldberg (who is portrayed as a young boy in the show and is played by Sean Giambrone), the show zones in on the lives of the extremely dysfunctional, stereotypical ‘80s family and their struggles to work together as one cohesive unit.  Adam documents the daily happenings with his state of the art video camera, and takes us through everything that he experienced as a young boy.
Murray Goldberg (Jeff Garlin) is the father of the Goldberg family.  The primary joke regarding him that pops up several times throughout the episode is that he has his own language.  Therefore, when he screams things such as “You filthy, dirty, disgusting moron!” to his children, he actually means it as a term of endearment.  This “Murray language” gets tiring very quickly, as he yells nonstop throughout the episode.  Give it a rest, Garlin!
Then we have Erica (Hayley Orrantia), the oldest child, who serves as the stereotypical teenage girl.  She is obsessed with her looks, and her biggest dilemma is trying to convince her mother to let her date a boy who dropped out of high school to start a band.

Barry Goldberg (Troy Gentile) is the middle child, and perhaps the most annoying character of the show.  Unfortunately, he is the main focus of the premiere episode (it’s Barry’s 16^th birthday), so we see a lot of him.  He’s ridiculously whiny, and one of those “I hate the world and everybody in it” types of people.  It doesn’t help that Gentile’s acting skills are less than superb, either.
The mother, Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey), is an interesting (yet somewhat irritating) character, because she’s a little too obsessed with her children.  She doesn’t trust them with normal responsibilities (such as taking a shower), and checks on them several times throughout the day.  One of her biggest struggles in the episode is when Barry asks her to let him get his license, and she refuses because she doesn’t think he’s ready.  Although she is one of the funniest characters in the show, she doesn’t do anything that is extremely hilarious or memorable.
And last but not least, there is Grandpa Pops (George Segal).  Despite being the oldest in the family, he seems to be the youngest at heart.  If not, he is definitely at least the most fashionable.  He is one of the most interesting characters so far, because he plays a huge role in helping Barry convince his parents to let him drive.  He is also an interesting character to pay attention to because he’s losing his memory, and is even shown cutting his license in half at the end of the episode.
This show is meant to be a comedy, but so far it seems to be failing in its goal.  Not once was there a laugh out loud moment, or even a scene that was worthy of a chuckle.  The characters are over the top, obnoxious, and just plain annoying.  And perhaps the biggest problem of all is that the show lacks a storyline.  The plot is boring, and there was nothing in the first episode that urges you to tune in next week.  The show is probably going to lose the attention of anyone born after the ‘80s, because most of their jokes are only relevant to those who were alive during that time.  So unfortunately, this show is most likely one that will soon be forgotten.