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I Love The Goldbergs!
Spoiler Alert: Content in this blog post is from the May 13, 2015 episode of The Goldbergs
(The Goldbergs Twitter)
The theme of last night’s season two finale was the only four-letter word that doesn’t need to be bleeped out: love.
Telling someone “I love you” is a paradox that knows no bounds. Adam, Dana, Barry, Lainey, Erica and Murray all strugglde in how to say and react to such a daring declaration. In life, there are only a few sentiments that can register earthquake-level emotions and saying and hearing the “L-word” is one of them. Regardless of age or method, the instant after that word is said feels like you are either saved from walking the plank or like you are pushed off into the deepest ocean imaginable.
Either way, it changes everything…
Adam (inspired to do what all us guys did to some extent in our lives) penned a letter that was signed with his love for his girlfriend Dana. And, like a man, he dropped the folded letter in her locker for her to find and open with unyielding happiness! That was surely going to be the reality until he panicked and convinced his sympathetic and over-the-top gym teacher to perform a random drug search in Dana’s locker as she was pulling it open to discreetly retrieve said letter with the “L-word” included.
Boom, crisis averted! Or so Adam thought.
When it came to expressing his feelings, Barry was, well, Barry. As his girlfriend Lainey was at cheer leading practice for their big rivalry game with Central High, he inadvertently blurted out his love for his understandably shell-shocked lady. This all-too-familiar awkwardness pulled Barry and Lainey in two opposite directions: he proceeded forward at 100 MPH with his love and she backtracked in embarrassment. Let’s just say this led to a dancing, giant-faced Fighting Quaker and a school bus being rocked by a rival school’s vengeful fans.
Back at the Goldberg household, Murray was struggling to vocally express his love for his daughter (isn’t a roof over her head enough?). Beverly, who literally never shies away from publicly proclaiming her undying love for her children whilst wearing her pink bath robe with curlers in her hair, as well as a personalized message over the school’s PA system for her snuggle monkey Barry, was forced to rage-juice in front of Erica for not replying to her father’s mumblings of, “I love you.” Like so many of us in a child-parent relationship, that sentiment is strangely taken as a given. It’s a tall wall to climb. However, Beverly knew the impact of hearing it and saying it.
And she discovered the secret passageway past this particular wall and it only cost $57, plus tax.
A leather jacket and leather boots later, Murray saw right through the obvious charade in his daughter’s now vocal love for him. Despite being cast as a distant father figure, Murray occasionally reminds us just how smart and savvy he is. This includes pushing his pushy wife into Erica’s room and tricking her into genuinely saying she loves her dad with Murray standing right outside the door. Even though love may seem like a given with family, this scene proved how nice it is to hear it, regardless of the circumstance.
And there stood Barry in the rocking school bus with his fellow cheerleaders, preparing to face a mascot beat down as equal payback for an earlier incident between the two rival schools. Seeing his bravery, Lainey confessed she was skeptical to say the “L-word” because of her mom leaving her and her dad. But, blown away by her boyfriend’s courage, said she loved Barry. This gave the Fighting Quaker the right stuff for his battle with an angry mob. Unfortunately, it didn’t help, as he was whaled on by the kids at Central High. But he was loved and that’s all that mattered!
Seeing his brother do anything for love, Adam raced his bike over to Dana’s house. He knocked on the door, she opened it, he said, “I love you” and she knocked his socks off with an “I love you” back! Then, she really knocked him over with news she may be moving to Seattle after summer break. It was the most emotional scene of the series thus far as Dana handed Adam his Green Lantern ring back. We’ll have to wait and see if she’ll get the ring back by no moving…But this moment has given the show it’s first Wonder Years/Boy Meets World dynamic of heartbreak and unknown love. It was a vital plot twist for the series.
We’ve all been where the Goldbergs were last night, telling someone we love them with a letter, by accident or by trickery. I’ve certainly written a note (a postcard, actually) along with a giant bear to a girlfriend saying, “I love you” (Let’s not get into her non-response response). The point is that we need to be brave enough to say, “I love you” when we mean it because when it’s said back, it’s the greatest feeling in the world and absolutely everything seems possible, even in the worst of times.
What do I love, in this very moment? That The Goldbergs is coming back in the fall for Season 3.
That’s a cobra strike of awesomeness!
Dancin’ on a Prayer
Spoiler Alert: This post contains scenes or content from the May 13, 2014 episode of The Goldbergs, the season finale.
The ’80s are officially back!
The hit freshman ABC sitcom The Goldbergs starring Wendi McLendon-Covey (Beverly), Jeff Garlin (Murray), Sean Giambrone (Adam), Hayley Orrantia (Erica), Troy Gentile (Barry), George Segal (Pops) and Patton Oswalt (Older Adam/Narrator) has been renewed for a full second season, moving to Wednesday nights at 9:30 p.m. this Fall.
Congratulations to everybody involved with The Goldbergs, most especially the creator of this pitch-perfect nostalgic treasure of a show Adam F. Goldberg! This news is pure awesomeness!
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We’ve all seen the cult classics that feature that legen-wait for it (sorry, wrong show) legendary house party set during high school. Pizza spinning like a record, impromptu, yet perfectly choreographed dancing scenes between high schoolers and the dream girl hanging-out across the room waiting for Prince Charming to emerge from the chaos of her immature classmates to prove his distinguishing worth.
And Big Tasty made sure this moment would be golden…with his thick gold chain necklace. But hey, it’s Barry, just go with it.
Reliving the “glory days” of our youth is usually cause for pause (Big Tasty isn’t the only one with fresh rhymes!), but not for Murray. The patriarch of the Goldbergs, would, only every so often, reveal insanely cool tidbits about his life that would shock his kids with priceless expressions and intrigue. Like that time he was in a plane crash, met Lou Reed while he was a waiter or the fact that he once made 70+ consecutive free throws back in high school.
No big deal.
Except when his wife Beverly finds out he was invited to his old high school to be celebrated for his tremendous accomplishment. She said yes, regardless of what Murray wanted to do. Murray rebutted, but this is Beverly Goldberg we’re talking about. So, what happened? Beverly prepared dinner for her snuggle monsters and they left the kids under the careful supervision of their cool grandpa, Pops.
What could go wrong?
After a disappointing year for Barry, who never got his crush to even learn his name (“Gustav? I’m not the foreign exchange student!”), he wanted to do something big…something that people (ie-Lexy Bloom) would never forget. Younger brother-with-a-video-camera Adam put it best, with nothing short of pure elation.
“This is my Risky Business.”
There’s just one thing about the past, which is that it’s sometimes hard to match with the realities of the present. In some cases, this reality can hit as embarrassingly flat as an air ball at the free throw line in front of everybody during a break at the big game after shooting granny style. Despite the fact that that shooting technique may have been popular back in the day (sure it was Murray…), it’s a tough fall from grace and past invincibility. What can be even tougher is trying to create those memories of glory in the present.
Enter Barry, with the help of Pops, Erica and the always wandering and analog-recording eye of Adam.
The party (sorry, the Sweater Party) reminded me of when I was just a few months into the experience of being a SigEp (Sigma Phi Epsilon) at college in the northeast during 2000-something, far from my home in Ohio. I was shy, basically only saying “here” at chapter meetings. There was a shortage of participants for the annual “Greek God and Goddess” competition.
I reluctantly volunteered.
Panicked, I had to think of a talent…Then, it hit me like the fully-loaded truck in this funny commercial I thankfully remembered. After recruiting two of my female friends from down the hall in my dorm and making them an offer they couldn’t and didn’t refuse, they agreed to join me for the performance of my life. During the day, before the performance, I called my Mom and told her what I was planning on doing. I was completely surprised at her response. She said, “Well, if you’re going to do it…then really shake it!”
After changing from my self-made toga, I was now walking up the stairs and onto the stage in front of the entire university Greek life with my two giggling backup dancers. I saw the shocked looks on my brothers’ faces, turned and waited for the music. Once the music started, I turned back to the audience in a tight pink tank top and a short pink skirt and mouthed the words, “let’s go girls.” Yes, I lip-synched and danced to Shania Twain’s empowering anthem “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.” An unexpected standing ovation later and everything had changed forever for the better. I could comfortably talk to girls, including one girl in particular that I had a crush on (who was one of my backup dancers…) like never before and had confidence like never before. And all it took was being random, goofy and dressing like a woman. Who knew?
Barry, who after being caught by his furious parents for throwing a massive party, gave a sincerely inspiring speech about his disappointing year. This convinced Murray to give him 10-minutes to live out his “glory days.” Mine and Barry’s dancing opened us both up to throw our instincts of embarrassment and fear out the window and to follow Bon Jovi’s words to just ‘live on a prayer’ and have fun.
“You’ve seen him run. He needs this.”
There are moments in life when the setting is perfect for letting loose and taking a shot. Barry finally got the genuine attention of Lexy Bloom by letting go of trying to impress her with cheesy lines by just being his carefree self in those glorious 10-minutes while wearing a fly, quintessentially ’80s Adidas track suit before being grounded for the summer with sweater dry cleaning duty (plus a kissing sesh with Erica’s BFF on the dance floor to make Lexy jealous!).
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how we look when we take a shot in life, it’s just a matter of if we can get it in the hoop.
The Goldbergs: Season 2 is happening this Fall at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday nights on ABC!
P.S. Let’s do this, ’80s style!
The Goldbergs ‘R’ Good Enough
Spoiler Alert: This is a Recap of “The Goldbergs” from March 4, 2014
Using our imagination to create something out of nothing is a skill and, in some cases, a magically inspiring art form. This random, cognitive creativity can be accelerated to levels unbound when influenced by a mythical story, like say the 1985 cult classic The Goonies.
“I’m just about to watch the good part. Which is all of it.”
Unfortunately for Adam, his love for The Goonies was discovered and exposed by Barry and Erica, his older brother and sister. This led to an adventure of epic proportions that took Adam and his cast of Goonie-dressed friends (plus Barry and Erica) directly across the street by way of riding their movie-inspired bikes to, according to the “treasure map,” look into opening of the neighbors tree, which revealed…
That Adam had to (once again) endure the tortuous pranks by his older siblings. His friends were sympathetic, but his journey was destroyed by a sibling prank. Even his friend designated Chunk (with the help of a pillow) was complaining about having to eat a chocolate bar instead of a granola bar.
For fans of the movie, the latter was the final bullet hole in the Jeep Cherokee.
The thrill of discovering a lost treasure on a giant pirate ship hidden deep below his suburban street was gone. Mikey Adam had to face the reality that his quest for finding buried treasure had come to an end.
Or so he thought…
While famous scenes and characters from The Goonies were perfectly recreated with an unforgettable soundtrack, Beverly and Murray were insisting that Pops get his finances in order. The days of 3 massages/week and buying pancakes for everybody in the local diner were over (who likes Bloody Mary’s?). Beverly was searching for and desperate to find jewelry that Pops had insisted he had given to her years ago. However, both Pops and Beverly knew he never did, but they entertainingly danced around that reality for a little while when Beverly decided to clean the entire house to prove her point.
While some may describe this effort as a waste of time, how else would Beverly have found a small collection of household necessities like throwing stars, delicious snacks hidden in secret places and a machete?
Okay, after reading what she found, I know what you’re thinking…What kinds of snacks did she find? The answer: the best kinds!
During this third-degree investigation into the affluent life of Pops (where a half-birthday in a couple months equaled $20), he was panicking to remember where he put the jewelry meant for Beverly. Enter Adam. Despite a failed first attempt for precious gold and silver coins, he, (like the Goonies) was relentless in his quest for treasure. Adam took the case and enlisted his Goonies crew once more.
Feeling bad for teasing their younger brother (and the fact he said they were “dead to him” in that fun, sibling kind of way), Barry and Erica got back in character to find Pops’ missing bag of jewelry. Returning back to their attic of secrets, a ripped piece of sheet music + a forgotten framed picture = “X/the spot.”
Riding their bikes to Cyndi Lauper’s classic, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough,” the Goldbergs and friends ventured down to Pops’ old/Murray’s currently-owned furniture store. They needed to find an old piano in storage. With Barry’s help to life a heavy box (still easier than a boulder), Adam crawled under to find the piano and opened it up to find…
The treasure/bag of jewelry!
Even without a ghost pirate ship passing by in the distance, it was still an unequivocal success.
Adam got his Goonies adventure, Beverly got her promised bag of jewelry and Barry and Erica started to realize just how much fun it was to escape reality for a day with their movie-obsessed little brother.
For Adam (and Pops), it all worked out.
And things especially “worked out” for Barry and his private aerobic instructor: his mom Beverly.
Big Tasty got fit with a parade of awesome mother-son bonding.
“Hey, you guys,” these fun, goofy moments and random adventures are the ones we all treasure forever.
“Goonies/Goldbergs/Your Last Name Never Say Die!”
Jimmy's Daily Planet 