'The Goldbergs' Season 10 Takes 'Reboot' Turn After Major Character's Death
As The Goldbergs enters a rare 10th season for a sitcom in September, the hit ABC will experience a soft "reboot," picking up after the death of Jeff Garlin's Murray. Garlin left the series in December 2021 following an investigation into his on-set behavior, and producers used a combination of CGI, stand-ins, and outtakes to include Murray in the second half of Season 9. By the time Season 10 begins though, Murray is dead.
Although the Goldbergs have lost one family member, there will be another. Erica (Hayley Orrantia) and Geoff (Sam Lerner) will welcome their first child. That will give Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) another child to smother. This will provide plenty of drama between Erica and Beverly, who disagree on how to raise Erica's baby. There will also be more appearances from Judd Hirsch, who plays Beverly's father. David Hasselhoff will guest star, continuing the show's habit of bringing 1980s superstars back to the decade.
Season 9 ended with Beverly worrying about an empty nest, but Season 10 will see everyone still at home. Barry (Troy Gentile) has to move back home after he failed to fill out his housing paperwork on time. Adam (Sean Giambrone) was accepted by NYU, but he chose to stay home for a year to help his mom, executive producer Chris Bishop told Entertainment Weekly. Geoff and Erica move back in to save money before their baby is born. Hirsch's Pop-Pop is also moving in! "I feel like it's going to help us a lot with driving stories. It honestly feels like a huge reboot for us," Bishop said. "So we have tons of momentum rolling into this new season."
The show is also surprisingly staying in the 1980s, despite the reboot. Bishop joked that President Ronald Reagan will need a third term in their universe. "The secret to the longevity of the show is that we have this sort of equal balance of comedy and heart, and we do these big, crazy comedic things set in the backdrop of this insane sort of day-glow decade," Bishop explained. "But we have this magical thing where, if we can ground it with the love of the family, it's just this perfect balance. It's special. We've been very lucky."
The Goldbergs Season 10 will also feature tributes to more '80s hits, like Uncle Buck and Field of Dreams. Hasselhoff also signed on to do multiple episodes, executive producer Alex Barnow said. "The family drives [Hasselhoff] crazy until Adam gets a job," Barnow told EW. "And then in a very surprising twist, he ends up giving the commencement address and a makeshift graduation for Erica, who's raced to graduate so she can have a diploma before she has a baby. So we're utilizing him a lot. It's awesome to have him." The Goldbergs Season 10 debuts on Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. The entire series is streaming on Hulu.