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DVD Review The Goldbergs: The Complete First Season DVD Review (1 Viewer)

Todd Erwin

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The Goldbergs: The Complete First Season DVD Review

One of the surprises of the 2013-2014 television season was The Goldbergs, a semi-autobiographical, and loving, look back at growing up in suburban Philadelphia the 1980s. If it weren’t for its strong writing and cast, the series could have easily been written off as a Wonder Years knockoff set in the era of Reaganomics.

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Studio: Sony

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 480P/MPEG-2

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English 5.1 DD

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French

Rating: TV-PG

Run Time: 8 Hr. 15 Min.

Package Includes: DVD

Disc Type: DVD-9 (dual layer)

Region: 1

Release Date: 09/09/2014

MSRP: $45.99




The Production Rating: 4.5/5

Set in 1980s Jenkintown (a suburb of Philadelphia), The Goldbergs is based, rather loosely, on creator Adam F. Goldberg’s childhood, videotaping his family and documenting the insanity of living in that household (actual clips often are used in the end credits of various episodes). The family consists of father Murray (Jeff Garlin), who runs a furniture store and lovingly refers to his children as “morons.” Smother Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is a woman who controls and manipulates everyone around her, refusing to acknowledge that her home will become an empty nest in a few short years, and has a tragic story that warned of the dangers of everything. Older daughter Erica (Hayley Orrantia) is a moody, rebellious teenager with a nerdy interior. Middle son Barry (Troy Gentile) is a wannabe jock and rapper with anger management issues. Youngest son Adam (Sean Giambrone) is a film geek struggling with puberty and dealing with bullies. Finally, Pops (George Segal) is a widower turned ladies man who loves his grandchildren but gets easily frustrated (yet is always around to provide advice). Patton Oswalt lends his voice to narrate the show as the grown-up Adam.The combination of the talented team of writers and the main cast are what make the show work. It is extremely evident that the writers enjoy writing for these characters as much as the actors have in portraying them. You can tell under the surface of the characters that they all really do love and care for each other, even when they are playing cruel jokes on each other. And quite often, we understand the reasoning behind some of Beverly’s misguided attempts, such as when she tries to sabotage Erica’s study habits for the SATs by feeding her large portions of turkey and milk while providing tickets to see Rick Springfield the night before the big test and creating flashcards of fake vocabulary words. None of the first season episodes are duds, although the weakest episode is quite possibly the pilot, entitled Circle of Driving, but that has more to do with not quite finding the right tone for the series and the actors not settled into their characters yet, as is the case with most pilots. Thankfully, the show found its footing by the second episode, and the writing and acting improved with each episode. The three-disc set contains all 23 episodes from the first season, and I’ve noted my favorites with a *. When it originally aired, I was not very fond of A Wrestler Named Goldberg, mostly because the network, ABC, over-hyped the episode’s subplot of Adam getting ready to see Return of the Jedi, but now seeing it months later without the Star Wars-themed promos, it has become one of my favorites of the season.Disc OneCircle of DrivingDaddy Daughter DayMini Murray *Why’re You Hitting Yourself?The RingWho Are You Going To Telephone? *Call Me When You Get There *The KrempsDisc TwoStop Arguing and Start Thanking *Shopping *Kara-Te’ *You’re Under FootThe Other SmotherYou Opened the Door *Muscles MirskyGoldbergs Never Say Die! *Disc ThreeLame Gretzky *For Your Own GoodThe President’s Fitness Test *You’re Not InvitedThe Age of Darkness *A Wrestler Named Goldberg *Livin’ On A Prayer *Some have criticized the show for being too loose on its 1980s timeline (in one episode, Adam tricks his grandfather into taking him to see the 1982 film Poltergeist instead of Disney’s 1986 animated film The Great Mouse Detective), and I’ll admit that it did bother me during the first few episodes, but eventually pushed past it and agreed with the producers that for many people, timelines tend to get a little blurry or fuzzy after several years. Major kudos, also, for not ending the season with the almost mandatory cliffhanger that plagues most television series, but actually providing closure to the season with the finale Livin’ On A Prayer that could have passed as a series finale had the show not been renewed for a second season.


Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: NA

The Goldbergs is broadcast on ABC in 720p, and the episodes are presented on this DVD set in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen in 480p. For DVD, these look pretty darn good, with solid colors and black levels, and fairly good detail. My cable company, Cox, seems to heavily compress all of their channels, so in some ways, the DVD is actually an improvement with far fewer compression artifacts, if any.



Audio Rating: 3.5/5

The Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, at 448 kbps, are about what one would expect from a sitcom. Dialogue is clear and mostly directed to the center channel, with some occasional left, right, and surround activity when the 1980s soundtrack kicks in.


Special Features Rating: 3.5/5

Disc One:Audio Commentary on Call Me When You Get There: Series creator Adam F. Goldberg, episode writers Stacey Harman and Niki Schwartz-Wright, producer Doug Robinson, and cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Troy Gentile, and Hayley Orrantia discuss the episode.Blast From the Past: Making Season One (17:47): The cast and crew discuss the series.Our House: The ‘80s Revisited (11:51): Production designer Cory Lorenzen takes us on a tour of the Goldberg’s home.Disc Two:Audio Commentary on Kara-Te’: Series creator Adam F. Goldberg, episode writers Andrew Secunda, producer Doug Robinson, and cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Troy Gentile, and Hayley Orrantia discuss the episode.Audio Commentary on You Opened the Door: Series creator Adam F. Goldberg, episode writers Alex Barnow and Marc Firek, episode director David Katzenberg, and cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Troy Gentile, and Hayley Orrantia discuss the episode.Audio Commentary on Goldbergs Never Say Die!: Series creator Adam F. Goldberg, writer Andrew Secunda, producer Doug Robinson, episode director David Katzenberg, and cast members Troy Gentile and Hayley Orrantia discuss the episode.On Set With Jeff Garlin (9:43): The actor who plays Murray takes us on a tour of the sets and behind the scenes.Disc Three:Audio Commentary on Lame Gretzky: Series creator Adam F. Goldberg, episode writers Stacey Harman and Niki Schwartz-Wright, producer Doug Robinson, and cast members Wendi McLendon-Covey, Troy Gentile, and Hayley Orrantia discuss the episode.Patton Oswalt: Adam Grows Up (8:29): Patton Oswalt discusses his voice over work on the show.Costumes of the ‘80s: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (5:38): Costume designer Keri Smith takes us on a tour of the wardrobe department for the series.Previews (0:34): A rap music promo for the series.


Overall Rating: 4/5

I may be a bit biased towards the series, as I grew up not too far from Jenkintown, PA, right down the road in Hatboro, up until the mid 1980s, and actually went to the same afterschool and summer filmmaking program as Adam F. Goldberg did (Cinekyd), so the era and locale have a special place in my heart. This is a very funny and nostalgic series that is well-written, directed, and cast. It will be interesting to see if they can top this first season.


Reviewed By: Todd Erwin


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Adam Gregorich

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This is one of our favorite shows that almost wasn't. I watched the first episode because I heard it was set in the 80s, and it was only so-so. We decided to give it another try with episode 2 and were hooked from there. Loved the Goonies episode and the Presidential fitness. In fact I agree with most of the episodes you have marked as favorites. There are so many good ones!
 

Todd Erwin

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One thing I forgot to mention in my review, having to do with Erica's bedroom - if she really was a teenage girl living in suburban Philly during the 1980s, she would have a poster of the local rock band The Hooters on her wall, as my sister and most of her friends had.
 

Jake Lipson

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I love the show and was glad to get the season set so cheaply this week even if there is no Blu-ray. However, can we talk about how inept this packaging is? Stacking the three discs on top of each other -- really, Sony? Would it have been that much more expensive to produce a 3-disc keepcase with individual holders and hubs for each disc? This packaging method seems to invite discs getting scratched or damaged.
 

Matt Lucas

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This would have been an instant purchase for me, but there is no blu-ray version. Anyone know why this wonderful show wasn't released on blu-ray?
 

Adam Lenhardt

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Adam Gregorich said:
This is one of our favorite shows that almost wasn't. I watched the first episode because I heard it was set in the 80s, and it was only so-so. We decided to give it another try with episode 2 and were hooked from there. Loved the Goonies episode and the Presidential fitness. In fact I agree with most of the episodes you have marked as favorites. There are so many good ones!
I sort of had the mirror image experience to yours. Watched the first episode, thought it was so-so, and just had too much else to watch that night so I dropped it. The bits I've seen since then made me wish I'd stuck with it.
Matt Lucas said:
This would have been an instant purchase for me, but there is no blu-ray version. Anyone know why this wonderful show wasn't released on blu-ray?
It's a Sony Pictures Television release. They're pretty selective as to which shows get the Blu-Ray treatment. As far as I know, Warner Bros. is the only studio that releases most of its scripted TV programming on Blu-Ray.
 

steve jaros

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Todd Erwin said:
One thing I forgot to mention in my review, having to do with Erica's bedroom - if she really was a teenage girl living in suburban Philly during the 1980s, she would have a poster of the local rock band The Hooters on her wall, as my sister and most of her friends had.

FWIW, although I lived far from Philly back then, I did see the Hooters in concert late in 1985 in Tampa, after their "Nervous Night" record broke big nationally. Good record by a one-album wonder.

That said, I also think your comment highlights why after 5-6 episodes I gave up on this show: Even though Adam Goldberg lived that era, somehow for me his first-hand knowledge doesn't translate into the show. To me, the Goldbergs has the feel of a show written by 2014 twenty-somethings who only know about the 1980s from having read history books. I say "having read" because the show is chock-full of most of the tropes of that era that have come to define it in the public mind three decades later. But, it by and large lacks the subtle touches and nuances that indicate the deep immersion that can come from only having lived through it. In that respect, the Goldbergs compares unfavorably to, say, the Americans, and even the otherwise flawed Halt and Catch Fire, both of which really do take you back to their parts of the 1980s.


I also contrast it with That 70s Show, but in a different way: IMO, That 70s Show failed to capture the 1970s in the same way that the Goldberg's comes up short about the 1980s. It has all the superficialities, the passed-down cliches, but little of the look and feel of its era as well. But what saved That 70s Show was that even stripped of the nostalgia factor, it was insightful and clever enough just in terms of dialogue and character development to keep one's interest. It captures human dynamics that transcend any era. The Goldberg's doesn't, at least not for me, so it lives or dies on the nostalgia factor, and for me it died.
 

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