Anna Daniels
Posted on Saturday, January 11th, 2020 by Fred Topel
The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg stepped back from the series based on his own family in season seven. But Alex Barnow and Chris Bishop have continued telling the stories about Adam Goldberg (Sean Giambrone) and his family in the 1980s.
Sean Giambrone was at ABC’s reception for the Television Critics Association and spoke with /Film about the current season. The good news is that he says things haven’t changed on the show since Goldberg’s departure, and he still contributes to the show. Find out more in our The Goldbergs season 7 interview with Sean Giambrone below.
Seven years is a long time to run a show, so it’s understandable that Adam F. Goldberg needed a break. Still, when the show is literally based on his own childhood, there’s really no one else who can represent him. Thankfully, having trained writers for six years to learn all the intimate details of his life, Goldberg’s presence is still very much felt on the show. Giambrone said
“Because the two that took over were from the beginning of the series, Alex Barnow, Chris Bishop, it doesn’t feel that big of a difference. They did a good job of keeping that up.”
Plus, even though Goldberg isn’t there day to day anymore. he still chimes in remotely. “I do miss seeing him because Adam’s one of the coolest people,” Giambrone said. “I’ve loved him since the first audition but I know each script he still gives his input and stuff so he’s still there.”
Giambrone still has Goldberg’s number and they talk, but not about the show. “I’ve reached out to just check up on him but not really to ask anything about character stuff,” Giambrone said.
Despite Goldberg being away from the show, the episodes are still based on Adam F. Goldberg’s home videos, and those real life clips will still be playing at the end of each episode. Giambrone said:
“All of Adam’s tapes keep coming in so I kind of just play off of that. I don’t think we’ll ever run out. It’s really bizarre. We’ll just, I guess, decide to end or something before the tapes will end. He’s just got such a stash.”
Adam F. Goldberg must be the most well documented human being prior to the age of cell phone cameras.
Even though the making of the show and its subject matter hasn’t changed much, Giambrone has noticed that his own character seems to be evolving a bit more this season. He said:
“I have noticed a slight change in the character this season. There’s like more confidence maybe in the character or something so there was more of a learning curve this year than other years.”
One big change this season is a new romance for Adam coming up in the next Valentine’s Day episode. Giambrone teaased what’s in store for Adam and his new love interest
“Adam’s had some serious flames throughout the series. Each one kind of makes him respond differently. This new one has a totally different flavor. How Adam responds is totally different than in the past. He’s kind of more tongue tied. With Dana it was kind of more like the young thing. That was Adam’s first love interest and they were sweet and childish. The next one, there was a lot more kissing involved with Jackie. So Jackie was more we were nerds but this new one, I just get tongue tied right off the bat. It’s different.”
As for Adam’s love of movies, will that end up being part of the rest of the seventh season? It sounds like the premiere’s homage to National Lampoon’s Vacation may have been the last movie-based episode for a little while. But that doesn’t mean the 1980s nostalgia is taking a break. Giambrone said:
“We have one based on a song coming up. We still do those movies. I’m sure we’ll get one more before the end of the season.”
As for whether or not we’ll be getting an eighth season of The Goldbergs, Giambrone feels good about the prospect:
“It’s looking good. We’re feeling pretty confident. After season six, and we didn’t know about season seven, I was like technically this could be it. This could be the final one, but no, I think the network’s feeling good about it. We’re liking the ratings and reviews and what’s been going on, so I think we’re feeling pretty optimistic and like we can postpone the ending a little bit more.”
The Goldbergs returns from the mid-season break on Wednesday, January 15 on ABC.
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