ABC’s The Goldbergs is a love letter to the 1980s and is chock-full of pop culture references to the decade that brought us Prince, The Breakfast Club, and leg warmers. While it’s nearly impossible to mention every single 1980s reference on The Goldbergs, we’re going to run down some of each episode’s geekier and more obscure pop culture moments.
Please note that this column tries to cover only the “unique” references that appear in each episode, while passing on the posters, toys and other background pieces that appear in every episode and are irrelevant to the plot.
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The Breakfast Club
As the title suggests, tonight’s episode is a homage to the classic movieย The Breakfast Club. Directed by John Hughes,ย The Breakfast Clubย shows a group of disparate teens bond over the course of a Saturday detention. Each cast member represents a different high school stereotype, including the “Jock”, the “Nerd”, and the “Basket Case”.ย
The Breakfast Clubย has become synonymous with the 1980s and is considered to be one ofย the most important movies from that decade. Not only didย The Breakfast Clubย change how Hollywood marketed and made teen movies, it also spawned countless homages and parodies. The movie poster has been homaged countless times,ย including a photo shoot featuring the cast ofย Spider-Man: Homecoming.
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Barry Manilow
In his desperation to recreateย The Breakfast Club, Adam tries insulting Principal Ball’s wardrobe using a line from the movie about Barry Manilow, but Ball instead outs himself as a “Fanilow”. Barry Manilow, of course, is a well-known singer whose popularity peaked in the 1970s. Ball doesn’t look or dresses like Manilow, who usually rocks a casual blazer and a dress shirt, but he’s definitely of the right age to be a big Manilow fan.ย
John Hughes
This isn’t the first time thatย The Goldbergsย has paid homage to a John Hughes movie. Last season opened with a homage toย Risky Business, while Season 2 featured a homage toย Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.ย
Hughes was one of the biggest movie directors of the 1980s and made his fame making classic coming-of-age movies. In addition to the three movies listed above, he also directedย Pretty in Pink, Home Alone,ย andย National Lampoon’s Vacation. Hughes tended to use the same group of actors for his films and helped launch the careers of stars likeย Matthew Broderick, Anthony Michael Hall, andย Macaulay Culkin.
Hughes retired in 1994, but continued to write screenplays until his death in 2009.ย
Revenge of the Nerds
After abandoning his “Loner” wardrobe, Adam shows up to school wearing aย Revenge of the Nerdsย t-shirt.ย Revenge of the Nerdsย was another coming-of-age movie from the 1980s, featuring a group of nerds who form a fraternity and inexplicably become the “big men on campus” after besting a frat full of bullies and jocks in a series of Greek Games.
Revenge of the Nerdsย never quite reached the same level of fame asย The Breakfast Club, but it was a great movie for nerds like Adam who often felt bullied and repressed by their peers.ย ย
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Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald
There’s more than a few references in the episode to Judd Nelson and Molly Ringwald, two of the stars ofย The Breakfast Club. Nelson played “the loner” inย The Breakfast Club that Adam dresses like throughout the episode. Nelson also starred inย St. Elmo’s Fire, another classic 1980s film. Nelson’s career peaked in the 1980s, but he still is active in Hollywood. His more recent roles included roles inย Cabin by the Lake,ย Two and a Half Men, andย Empire.
Molly Ringwald was the “Princess” inย The Breakfast Clubย and became a teen star thanks to her roles in various John Hughes films. Ringwald briefly datedย Breakfast Clubย co-star Anthony Michael Hall (the “Nerd”) but eventually transitioned into more mature roles before becoming a TV actorย inย The Standย andย The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
