The Goldbergs: Arcades and Star Wars - Yep, it's the 80s!

When I was a kid, I loved our big family get-togethers. So much, in fact, that I used to turn the memories of them into stories and tell them to my younger brother. Cousins became princesses, an aunt's farm became a castle in the country, and our uncles became knights. I once considered making my favorite of the stories into a children's book, but scrapped that idea when I realized that the events weren't that spectacularly interesting to outsiders. However, it never occurred to me until the season finale of The Goldbergs that maybe the world would be more interesting in my family stories in a television format... interesting idea. It makes me wonder if Adam designed The Goldbergs for television originally or if he had another medium in mind at first. How would you prefer to tell stories of your family memories?

The Goldbergs "The Age of Darkness" (S01E21): It's April 29th, and the boys head to the arcade, where Punch-Out is the hot new game. [I'm actually surprised that "the mall" hasn't been a bigger thing on this show, which I point out now because our only arcades were inside malls.] Barry is addicted and soon borrows money for quarters to keep playing, before cashing in a $100 savings bond that's only worth $6, and then pawning some of Adam's stuff. When the intervention that Pops and Adam stage isn't successful, Adam unplugs Barry's game when he's on a roll, and Pops helps by getting Barry hooked on real boxing.

Meanwhile, Erica's in love with the boy across the street, Drew Kremp. [nice to see the Kremps again.] So, when she gets dumped, Bev tries to get the scoop from Drew's mother. When that doesn't work, she tries to one-up the boy by setting up Erica with the college-aged son of her podiatrist. [how random!] But, the older guy winds up getting in trouble at dinner by giving alcohol to minors, and Murray has to come pick up Erica. Erica trashes Drew's car in revenge. [eek!]

The Goldbergs "A Wrestler Named Goldberg" (S01E22): Return of the Jedi is about to open, and Adam blackmails Erica into waiting with him in line for tickets to opening night. [fun fact: I went and stood in line to see Phantom Menace at the 12:01am showing, then was able to brag to all my friends at school (while dead tired) that I had already seen it.] They sit in line for days, but Adam goes to the bathroom and Erica dips out to have a cheesesteak with a friend, losing their places in line. [I totally would've killed Erica if I was Adam!] Adam swears never to see the movie, but Erica bribes the theater manager to get them in. [that kinda made me mad, as I'm sure those exceptions are really made, too.]

facebook.com/TheGoldbergsABC

Barry is invited to join the wrestling team, so Murray and Pops try to get Barry to lie to Beverly. But, he's not very good at it and has to pretend he's rehearsing Daddy Warbucks in Annie. And, although he says he'll quit if his mother pops into a single rehearsal, Beverly discovers the truth. Barry isn't great at wrestling (stemming from the fact that he didn't realize it was Greco-Roman, not WWF), but when it comes to his first match, she interrupts and humiliates him. Fortunately, Murray convinces her not to let their son be a laughingstock, so it works out. [first boxing, now wrestling? Plus he also plays basketball and hockey... that Barry is an All-American 80s kid, huh?]