I don't like most modern sitcoms because they're not
funny enough for me. I like the show to have lots of jokes.
I don't care if the characters are nice, or likable, or if I
can relate to them, or if they tug at my heart strings, or
if they are even particularly realistic as long as they make
me laugh. That's the #1 priority. I've said this MANY times.
Yet today's sitcoms often seem to care more about showing
quirky or silly characters or situations that are not all
that funny. Maybe they make you smile at best. "Modern
Family" is one of those shows, and so many new sitcoms today
are trying to copy that show.
"The Goldbergs" could be funnier, but at least it's
fairly original. It's not "Modern Family" and it's not "That
70's Show" or anything else you've probably seen on TV. It's
set up like "The Wonder Years", with the main character
doing a voice over from his future self. The show is based
on the childhood of writer/executive producer Adam Goldberg.
He tells the story of his family as he was growing up in the
80's and videotaped everything.
His family is a little too sitcom-zany for me, but they
do seem like a real family and there are some laughs. It
just needs more of the laughs. I would give it a few
episodes to see if it gets funnier. It's definitely funnier
when George Segal shows up as the grandpa. The relationship
between him and little Adam is great. The voice-over is done
by actor/comedian Patton Oswalt (Too bad he's not writing
the show because he's very funny).
If you're looking for a show that's accurate about the
80's...well, this is not "Mad Men". They don't talk like
it's the 80's. The kid said "'sup?" to a girl he was trying
to impress. I don't think we said that back then. That's a
fairly modern idiom. There were a few other things I had my
doubts about as well. But I don't really care as long as
they make me laugh. I guess they are supposed to be Jewish,
but other than the name, you wouldn't really know it. I
guess they are afraid of making the show too "ethnic", but
they could use a little more flavor in the show and some
good jokes about ethnicity might make it funnier.
The only other complaint I have about this show is that
they make a joke in the description about how there were
no peanut allergies back in the 80's. I know they're
just trying to be funny, but this is definitely not true. My
husband and his sister both have had life-long nut
allergies, and they were born in the 60's. Allergies have
been around a long time, but they didn't have very good
testing for them until the late 70's, so that's probably why
we didn't hear as much about them; without accurate testing,
it's hard to know which foods you're allergic to or what is
causing your symptoms (testing is still not 100% accurate).
There are other reasons, too. People sometimes die from food
allergies, especially if they also have asthma, and back
then kids did die more often from asthma. Also,
families were more private and didn't talk about their
personal medical history like they do now. There was no
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or 24-hour cable news. It's no
laughing matter for those with severe food allergies.
Anyway, I'm pulling for the show because it would be a
nice to have a good and funny family sitcom on the air
again. It's got a lot of competition against The Voice,
Supernatural, NCIS: Los Angeles and New Girl.
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