Channel Surfing: The Goldbergs - "The Circle of Driving"

Left to right: Troy Gentile and Jeff Garlin

Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.

There is an odd sort of pairing that is going on during ABC's Tuesday night line-up. Besides the mega-ratings superstar Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. carrying over the Marvel fanboys from the Avengers success, there are two comedies pinched in between a show about the lottery (Lucky 7). It is a packed night with a confusing tone that I am not entirely sure makes any sense in the long run. At most, I see these middle comedies getting moved somewhere else.

Of the two (Trophy Wife will be covered tomorrow), I am deciding to start coverage with the Goldbergs: a sitcom that is being billed as the Wonder Years, but in the 80's and with more yelling. Starring Jeff Garlin and Wendi McLendon-Covey and narrated by Patton Oswalt, this already sounded like a decent comedy. However, there's still the notion that it would have to overcome the gimmick that it takes place in the 80's. I am not claiming that doing shows in the 80's doesn't have merit, but it was a ridiculous period and no amount of satire 30 years later will top the jokes that were made five years later. Hindsight doesn't make for better material the longer you do it. Still, with an intriguing cast, there is already enough going for it.

Still, there is an immediate contemplation in the introduction of all the characters that asks: what is the point? Oswalt's voice-over work is nostalgic and humble, but everyone on screen is angry that they are being filmed. While the closing credits will reveal that these people are based on the creator, Adam Goldberg's, real family, I still have trouble grasping the appeal of it. So they are abusive and that is how they love each other? While Garlin gets a funny bit about how his insults are translated into messages of love, they are still essentially surface-level insults that don't have much of a punch.

The show wants you to love the 80's. If you don't, you're already halfway to disliking this show. Most shows treat the 80's like a gimmick, and here, it feels like it doesn't even treat it as a backdrop. Save for a few pop culture references, it is indistinguishable from the modern era. Even if the show wanted to shift focus to the family, that is more problematic and features a dynamic more dated than the references, including one for Flavor Flav, which as many internet critics have pointed out, came out with their debut album in 1987. This show takes place in 1985.

You could probably overlook small inaccuracies like that if the show was actually good. The dynamics are not much more promising. The show revolves around two plots: older son Barry (Troy Gentile) tries to get his license, but his mother (McLendon-Covey) is against it. Meanwhile, Adam (Sean Giambrone) is busy hanging out with his grandfather (George Segal) trying to learn the art of picking up women. Some of the highlights of their time together include a lot of talk of breasts and a payoff joke about the opening of a Hooters restaurant. Mind you that he is only 11 and this character already feels too mature to be playing 11. It is kind of creepy.

As expected, there are hi-jinks involved and it follows the familiar beats of a dysfunctional family sitcom. Still, along with the creepy Adam/grandpa relationship, there is a scene in which the motehr is yelling at Barry as he holds up traffic in an intersection... for a reported 20 minutes. Where is the logic there? Also, it doesn't help that since everyone is painted as nasty, that this is only perpetuating the idea that this show's humor derives from both the idea that old references are funny and that yelling can substitute for character traits.

I am not entirely sure what the appeal of this show is. Going back to Mom, which premiered this week, there was a bunch of yelling and calls to abusive relationships. There was promiscuity galore. However, that show has more promise than the Goldbergs. This is largely because I feel that these pilot episodes serve as the introductions. They are meant to be sloppy and not entirely formed. When I got through with Mom, I felt like these people were endearing enough to spend time together. They would actually have those conversations and while somewhat unlikable, they would always manage to make it into something heart warming. By the end of the Goldbergs, I just got a strong sense of "oy vey!" I don't know where this show is going, nor am I intrigued to find out how. Mom may be based around the gimmick of bad parenting, but the Goldbergs similarly is, but more desperately into the idea that abuse is stronger than story. They are not wrong, but it isn't that much more entertaining.

In a way, I blame That 70's Show for this nostalgic attempt at a show. True, there were other attempts, including the mentioned Wonder Years, but that show almost seems like an accident by the standards it set. It managed to capture the tone of the 70's and even if you could care less about the era, there were characters there that were enjoyable to be around. There was camaraderie and relative issues. It connected because they were characters that existed in the 70's, not the other way around. The Goldbergs feels like the opposite, as if you don't like the 80's, you'll have to put up with Garlin screaming, or just tune out.

Like I said, it is just indistinguishable in all other facets. The parental figures feel more like stock concepts and the children aren't all that compelling. It is more a look into someone's sad home videos than the comedy that it is intending for it to be. There are ways to do dysfunctional period pieces, but this isn't it. Off the wall, crude humor and very little sense of family may have been Adam Goldberg's real life, but I don't feel like it translates to anything worth of TV, let alone a full season.