Viewers of ABC's The Goldbergs were curious to see how the sitcom would navigate Jeff Garlin's exit. The actor, who starred in the series as family patriarch Murray Goldberg, left during season nine following complaints about his on-set behavior. The season 10 premiere, titled If You Build It, aired this Wednesday, quickly tackling what was on viewers' minds. As a camera panned to Murray's now empty favorite reclining chair, narrator Patton Oswalt could be heard:
“That year, there was one change that made everything stop. Just a few months ago, out of nowhere, we lost my dad. We will always love you, Dad. Always. And we will find a way to continue on together. Because, after all, we’re the Goldbergs.”
As one may conclude from the title of the episode, there's a Field of Dreams storyline where Adam (Sean Giambrone) convinces Barry (Troy Gentile) that a mysterious voice is telling him to build a Wiffle ball field in their yard. Before that, Adam comically tells his grandfather Pop-Pop (Judd Hirsch) that he has not finished the film and that it's about baseball and corn, so the film's themes of loss, hope, and reconnecting with a deceased father are lost on him. That is, until Barry's friends fill Adam in.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, showrunners Alex Barnow and Chris Bishop discussed the sentimental season premiere.
"Field of Dreams is sort of like the ultimate second chance about reconnecting with somebody who’s gone, and whether that relationship is fraught or not, you take for granted the people in your life when they’re here. Then when they’re gone, you wish you had a second chance to address those relationships. We tried really hard to thread the needle on this one emotionally," Barnow said. "Last year we lost George Segal for real and it affected all of us personally and we wanted the premiere last year to be an homage to him, firstly, and also the character. It was rawer and it was real. Losing not the person but losing the character in a season premiere just required a more delicate touch, in a way. In the sense that we wanted to honor this character, but the actor wasn’t dead. So we wanted to leverage something that was, I think, an important movie to a lot of people who were growing up in the ’80s. It was an opportunity to not make it as sad. Building the field in the backyard given that opportunity to be funny and silly but all to have that sort of sweet recall at the end."
Following his character's death in the series, Garlin took to Instagram to reveal that he struggles with bipolar disorder. He never mentioned the show, but the timing of the post left many wondering if it was in response to his on-set problems.
The Goldbergs Move Forward
While the series had its struggles in recent years with the death of Segal and Garlin's exit, the showrunners did share positive news about the future of The Goldbergs:
"Everybody is incredibly enthusiastic about doing this thing. We’ve gotten to the point where everyone feels lucky. No shows do 10 years. I think everybody appreciates what we have and I think its legacy at this point is doing 200 episodes in all. It’s such a big part of our lives. I really enjoy what we do. I think the cast enjoys what they do. I know the crew is incredibly enthusiastic about it. Like any family, any business that’s been around for 10 years, there are highs and lows. It’s a very long season. But I have to say my conversations with Wendi and the rest of the cast have been enormously positive and grateful for everything we have," Barnow said.
The Goldbergs stars Giambrone, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Gentile, Hayley Orrantia, Sam Lerner, Oswalt, and Hirsch. It airs on Wednesdays on ABC.