Why isn't "The Goldbergs" set in a specific year of the 1980s?

[TMC]

http://www.vulture.com/2013/11/why-g...ific-year.html

Creator Adam Goldberg wanted to set his show in 1989, but that was the end of the '80s. So he opted to set the show in "1980-something." PLUS: "The Goldbergs" can't have it both ways when it comes to the '80s.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#X1QXqIx9PYooHJPa.99

[Wawwie]

I like how the narrator always says "It was October.....1980 something......"

[Mace Dolex]

I like that it's not set in a specific year and besides you can tell it's around the mid to late 1980's, and also fun to guess what year by what movie posters the kid has in his room or the references the family makes.

On a side note I don't think it will reference early 80's since people were still tagging along the residue of 70's fashion from hairstyles to clothes.

[comedyfreak]

I'm glad it's not set in a specific year that way the show can go on a potential 8-10 season run.

[Mace Dolex]

Originally Posted by comedyfreak

I'm glad it's not set in a specific year that way the show can go on a potential 8-10 season run.

Let's hope they don't do what That 70's Show did, in it's first season they had a Star Wars themed episode clearly saying that it's 1977 but then the show lasted for 8 years and there were only 3 years left for the 1970's to end.

1977, '78, and '79 must have been the longest years ever on television.

[comedyfreak]

Originally Posted by Mace Dolex

Let's hope they don't do what That 70's Show did, in it's first season they had a Star Wars themed episode clearly saying that it's 1977 but then the show lasted for 8 years and there were only 3 years left for the 1970's to end.

1977, '78, and '79 must have been the longest years ever on television.

That's what I had in mind when I made that statement LOL.

[robyrob]

i think they are being too picky - i remember the 80's, it was all a big fat blur of hyper-neon-pastel colors and strange new catch phrases

[TMC]

http://officialfan.proboards.com/thr...7750/goldbergs

Post by willywonka666 on 19 hours ago

Any other fans of this show?

It's the first time in years, I've actually made time to sit down and watch a prime-time show and I really enjoy it.

My beef though is the timeline, they usually incorporate 3 or 4 years into the same episode, like last night's repeat had a When Harry Met Sally reference which was 1989, yet Murray was watching "That's Incredible!" which ended in 1984. It's fine I guess, but not exactly accurate, and would confuse anyone who wasn't around during the '80s, or just simply have a crappy memory.

Also, Hayley Orrantia (Erica Goldberg) is Hawt

Thoughts?

[MacLeaper]

That '70s Show and Happy Days and Quantum Leap all had similar inconsistencies. I'm sure The Goldbergs will as well. In the end, yeah- it's a bit annoying when you know that the show isn't totally historically accurate- but all you can do is either conclude that for the universe of that show- that is how events played out (even though it differs from actual history.)
Or you can just realize that the writers have allowed some inconsistencies in the show, whether by accident or knowingly- and in the end, it's not that big of a deal as the show is still enjoyable regardless.

[comedyfreak]

[Torgo]

I like that it's not set in a specific year, the show is everything the 80's. Plus as it's an adult looking back at his childhood things are blurred on specific dates. I have vivid memories of my childhood in the 80's and 70's and unless it's about a specific thing like seeing Star Wars on the big screen in 1977 I couldn't tell you what year some of these memories happened.

[James28]

If The Goldbergs were indeed set in a specific year of the 1980s decade, I would put its setting in either 1984, 1985, or 1986.

[TMC]

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/re...the-goldbergs/

Why is The Goldbergs set in "1980-something" instead of a specific year?

At the beginning of nearly every episode of The Goldbergs, the TV show's narrator (Patton Oswalt) reminds us that the current episode takes place in "1980-something." As Vulture.com points out in their interview with the real Adam Goldberg, this ambiguity with regard to time finds the characters discussing Poltergeist, released in 1982, at the same time the brother, Barry (Troy Gentile), is super-excited about the Reebok Pump, which was invented in the late-eighties. The main reason for the mildly confusing (though often easy to overlook) issue with the show's time frame is that if the show was set in a specific year, like 1985 for example, the creators would have to wait up to five years (five seasons) to include references to certain '80s staples like Say Anything (1989), the Reebok Pump and the Nintendo Power Glove.

"I should be so lucky to be five years in on a show," says the real Adam Goldberg. "And for now I only have twelve episodes. He added that for most of us, when we recall our memories of the 1980s, we usually don't remember the exact year anyway. "When I think, When did I win Legend of Zelda? I don't remember what year it was. I only remember that it was somewhere in the mid to late eighties. ... So we decided to set it in '1980-something.'" This idea of having an undependable narrator was "so liberating creatively. We could do anything ... It's kind of a melting pot of the eighties. It's how you remember it."