The Goldbergs takes viewers back to the ’80s—a time of Pac Man, big hair and even bigger shoulder pads. The comedy, which has become one of our favorites this season, captures the innate hilarity of not just growing up in the ’80s, but growing up in general. Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and Murray (Jeff Garlin) parent the best they can as their children—Adam (Sean Giambrone), Barry (Troy Gentile) and Erica (Hayley Orrantia)—navigate first kisses, first jobs and first heartbreaks.
Executive producer Adam F. Goldberg, who grew up recording his family’s every move, bases the series on his own childhood. The comedy returns with new episodes next Tuesday at 9 p.m. on ABC. Paste recently had a chance to catch up with Goldberg to talk about growing up in the ’80s, what his family thinks of the show, modern parenting and if The Goldbergs will get a second season.
Paste: When did you decide you wanted to do a show about your family?
Adam F. Goldberg: I’ve always wanted to do this show, and I always knew I was going to take a shot at it at some point. It really took me becoming a dad to realize the kind of parents my parents were. It gave me perspective because I’m raising my kids so differently.
That’s when everything kind of clicked.
I’ve been with my wife since I was 16. I’m 37 now, so I’ve been with her a long time. This is a show about parents and how we were raised in the ’80s, but it’s also a show about Beverly and Murray and the kind of couple they were and how different they are from me and wife.
Paste: Your memories of your childhood are so vivid. Are all your memories as strong?
Goldberg: Oh no. It’s just awful. College is a blur. The videos are really helpful and especially for all the writers who don’t know my family.
Paste: As a child, you were constantly recording your life. Are you still like that?
Goldberg: I have my iPhone, so everyone is recording every moment right now. But I’m not constantly doing it. My wife is always reminding me, “You should video this.” There was something about lugging around that giant camera. It was kind of like an appendage. It was kind of part of me.
Paste: One of my favorite aspects of the show is that Barry is always in one of three shirts. I love that because I think it’s so realistic—in real life you wear clothes again and again.
Goldberg: I’m so glad you brought that up because no one has brought that up yet. I have the same feeling you do: why are people wearing different outfits every episode? I sat down with the costume designers, and for every character, I was very specific with how many clothes they had. In reality, Barry had three shirts.
Then I noticed in some episodes he was wearing new shirts, and I said to the costume designers, “You have to fight your urge to buy new clothes. He has to wear the same three shirts, and especially the Flyers shirt.” I want to do an episode at some point next year about how the Flyers shirt falls apart in the wash, and it’s like his baby blanket.
My dad wore the same thing—a variety of the same argyle. My mom was a shopaholic. She can literally never wear the same thing twice. That’s fine with me. A lot of what Wendi wears is actually my mom’s stuff. My mom sent it all. I would say a good portion of the costumes are my mom’s actual clothes, which is really weird to me because I remember growing up with certain sweaters and I’ll see Wendy wearing them and it will really bring me back in a weird way.
Paste: As much as Beverly and Murray squabble, you know they’re both really happy in the relationship.
Goldberg: Absolutely. That’s was my initial pitch to the networks—under all the yelling is love. That’s really true about my family. We all love each other. The thing that was really odd for my wife is what she calls the amnesia in my family. We’ll get in a huge fight, and mean things are said, and ten minutes later we’re all laughing and having fun. Whereas in my wife’s family a fight would mean that you don’t talk for like a week. That’s just not how we were; fighting was almost a way of talking, a conversation.