r/TheGoldbergs • u/josiestephens • Aug 07 '25

My mom’s childhood was the plot of the Goldbergs.

My mom was a teen in the 80s. She was raised in a relatively secular Jewish household with her mom, her dad, and her little white dog, with her younger brother. She grew up in a suburb of Philly (bucks county) only one county over from where the Goldbergs live.

We still currently live in that area. When they mentioned the Willow Grove mall, I was like “I just shopped there yesterday!” Any local references they make, we know.

It’s a lot of fun watching this show with my mom who is essentially watching her childhood play back in front of us. It’s also cool that this show takes place in my own hometown!

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8

u/BabyTito_76 Aug 07 '25

I was born in the 70s and raised by the 80s (the quintessential latchkey kid). My world was the southwest/great plains (think Dust Bowl) and the Methodist church. Not important, I just thought I'd give some insight on what has partially influenced my opinion.

When I watched the Goldbergs the first time, in measured doses, I reveled in the 80s nostalgia. I've recently binged it and regret doing so. I've noticed the inaccuracies of the era and the undesirable characters in that family. The fact that the early seasons were based on real people and their lives, it makes it more cringe. A helicopter mom is supposed to just be overprotective, I guess. But Bev is manipulative, selfish, self-centered, has no self-awareness, is a bully, and just flat-out mean. She never seems to care or grow as a person. Barry is a mini Bev in many of those aspects. Can't really speak on Eric(a) because we don't know how much was strictly just a scripted character. I know it's dramaticized for tv, but there has been enough confirmation from the actual family that the portrayals are fairly accurate.

But I apologize for my rambling because I do understand the excitement around that nostalgia - especially when there's so many personal connections to it. I love that younger generations are seeing a lot of the era that was the formative years of the Forgotten Generation, Gen X!

8

u/josiestephens Aug 07 '25

Yes, I agree, the mom is insufferable. I think a lot of Jewish kids can relate, though. No one in my family was ever THAT bad, she takes it to an extreme, but I thought that was the point for the show.

I didn’t know about the little inaccuracies, my mom has never mentioned them.

5

u/SugarSweetSonny Aug 08 '25

The innaccuries on the show are really kind of time frame. Hence why they always say 198something. They just kind of mismatched the entire decade together even though stuff was years apart.

1

u/BabyTito_76 Aug 08 '25

This is so true!

3

u/BabyTito_76 Aug 08 '25

The hair really bothers me! Bev's was good, but the teenagers? No way! BIG, ratted hair was something that defined the 80s and they missed the mark big time! There are quite a few pop culture references that are before their time. My husband and I point things out often, but I can't recall any more right now. Ugh, that's a little frustrating :/

2

u/BenWallace04 Aug 08 '25

This reminds me of the King of Queen’s episode when Arthur is convinced that Charles Schultz based Charlie Brown off of him as a child.

2

u/cultpopcult Aug 08 '25

The bulbous head, the zigzag shirt, and, hey, look, he's bald.

I was bald until I was 12 years old!

1

u/BenWallace04 29d ago

“Point Number Eight: I lost my virginity to a Peppermint Patty - no, NOT the CANDY, FUNNY MAN!”

2

u/AgentZero-456 29d ago

Check out Son of a Critch on Netflix. Practically the same show but they’re Catholics in St. John’s Newfoundland.

2

u/Jaded-Permission-324 28d ago

Thanks to The Goldbergs, I call my husband “shmoopie” all the time. I also have a copy of The Goldbergs Cookbook.