The Goldbergs
Episode 1: The Circle of
Driving
By: Carlos Uribe
The
Goldbergs is a comedy about a family in the eighties. I will be
reviewing this show weekly.
Spoilers
Ahoy!
I'm going to be honest and state that I'm rooting for the Goldbergs.
It's a project that was of interest to me ever since the pilot stage
since I'm interested in the idea of having a new, modern version of
The Wonder Years. Of course, there's a difference between wanting a
project to be good and that project actually be going. The Goldbergs
pilot is very rough as there are at least four major problems that
are holding it back-some of them might very well be the reason the
show doesn't make it past it's first seasons. The first problem is
that The Goldbergs is actually kind of annoying. Now the whole idea
of the show is that it's autobiographical. This is based on a family
that actually existed, said the things, and lived through these
situations. This is supposed to add a level of authenticity to the
comedy. It makes sense somebody would look at their past and create a
sit-com out of it. I know of many times where I think my life would
make a perfect comedy. The Goldbergs is slightly held back by it's
real life inspiration. I don't know about you but I don't like it
when a loud family is screaming near me. It's frankly annoying. Now,
it makes sense that a member of the family might find the yelling to
be entertaining. They are after all a part of the family dynamic
rather than an outsider. The Goldbergs invites us into the family but
we are just spectators to a household we're just getting to know. The
yelling on the Goldberg is annoying for that reason. We're not a part
of it, we don't know them well enough, so it's more like a strange
family that is yelling at the top of their tongues right next to you.
Now this annoying feature will likely be less of a problem as the
producers find a way to tone it down and we get invested in the
family. Of course, the issue is that this is going to make it
difficult to get to know them. It's already hard enough getting
anyone to watch a new show. Having that new show put up such an
obstacle into getting that person invested? I wouldn't be surprised
if all the yelling that adds authenticity is the very same element
that makes it hard for viewers to stick around The Goldbergs. If
that's the case, it might kill it.
The Goldberg has a major problem when it comes to the time period.
I've read multiple reviews and they seem to suggest that the
producers are approaching the eighties as a secondary feature of the
show. In other series, the time period is a character in-and-of
itself. It becomes a reason to watch the show because it adds
cultural value, it plays into a viewer's nostalgia, and it adds a
layer of realism. Mad Men is partly an iconic show because of it's
managed to capture the sixties time period. The Wonder Years was
fantastic partly because it explored how the time period affected the
experiences of a young Kevin Arnold. The Americans blew me away
partially because it explored the Cold War through a unique
perspective. The eighties remained crucial for that show to work. I
could name other projects where the time period helped to define the
show. The people working on the Goldbergs have claimed that this is a
family comedy that just happens to be set in the eighties. There's
some pop culture references to the time period but the decade is
never allowed to become an actual character. We're not being
transported back to the eighties. The only reason we would know it's
set in the eighties is the style, the references, and the fact that
it tells us. It's all very artificial. If that's the case, why not
just move the family into the modern age? The situations, the
characters, the dialogue would still work. The pop culture references
would have to be updated but that's an artificial change. The
Goldbergs' refusal to actually be a time period piece despite being
set in the eighties hurts the show. It hurts the show because it
makes the eighties hook unjustifiable. It hurts it because we don't
see how the eighties affected the family. If the Goldbergs wants to
become great then it needs to embrace it's historical setting. It
needs to make the eighties a character.
The third problem of the Goldbergs is a truly mystifying one. Just
think about who the main character of this show is. Everything points
to the little kid: he's recording everything, he's the young version
of the creator, and he provides the narration. This is a show coming
from his point of view. There's a small sub-plot where he tries to
get a waitress to remember his name. Basically all we know about him
is he likes to record his family and his hormones have made him a
pervert. This leaves what is arguably the main character of the
Goldbergs to be very undeveloped. Why? The pilot barely spent any
time with him. It focused on the other members of the family. The
main character is therefore sidelined on his own show in the pilot.
That is mystifying. I could see why they might have gone with Barry's
plot (it's relatable and easy to tell) but it also meant we can't get
to know Adam. Which is odd because this might be a show about his
family but he's the one telling us. The show's refusal to put Adam
front-and-center is even more nonsensical about it's refusal to make
the time period integral into the show's structure. These two
decisions are conscious ones that ultimately stop the Goldbergs from
really being able to work.
The final problem with the Goldbergs is that it feels like a typical
family. We've seen this family on television before. Okay, there
might be a level of authenticity because it's based on a real family.
When I was reading through comments after watching the show, people
who didn't stick through the abrasive yelling complained that the
show simply wasn't original. It's easy to get that perspective. I
mean, it's a harsh indictment to see a show about a real family and
then claim that wasn't original. It's basically to reject that
family's uniqueness. So I don't want to say that the Goldbergs isn't
an original show. At the same time, I can't tell you to expect
something new. Granted, that's partially because the Goldbergs
refused to make the time period an integral part of the show. If it
had explored how the eighties influenced their family dynamic then
maybe the show wouldn't seem so typical. Ultimately that's the
problem with the Goldbergs: it's an adaption of the creator's
childhood but he doesn't actually have anything to say about it. He
fell into the trap of thinking his family is so funny and assumed
that was enough. It never is. If he was using this show as a way to
actually explore his family dynamics, the ways it was shaped, and to
get to a deeper understanding of why he grew up that way then I think
this show wouldn't feel like “been-there-done-that”.
The Goldbergs suffers a lot of problems. There's the yelling which
becomes abrasive, it's refusal to make it's time period a true part
of the show, it's inability to concentrate on it's main protagonist,
and how typical it all feels. The first one will drive away viewers
before they come invested into the family, the second one removes a
huge value to the show, the third leaves it's narrator ultimately
undeveloped, and it's last one gives people no reason to watch. Now,
I'm rooting that the show is able to solve it's issues and become
worth watching. I'm hoping that The Goldbergs either proves me wrong
or it's able to fix it's issues. Whatever the case, I'm willing to
give this show a shot on my review roster and on my viewing schedule.
Because I really want this show to succeed.
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