User reviews

So why didn't the actor who played Gigi get any recognition here? She was the best new actor on this show.

I wait every week for a new hilarious episode of The Goldbergs. What a disappointment this week was. They tried to promote a spin off and it was a terrible mistake from my point of view. I just hope they keep up with usual programming next week, as if they leave me with this episode to remember The Goldbergs by for any longer I would likely lose interest. I give The Goldbergs 10 stars easily, i would give this spin off 0 stars if it was possible.

The Golden Girls tried this tactic once years ago, forcing viewers to watch a test run for a potential spin off. That failed miserably and the episode is clearly the worst of that great series. This Goldbergs episode will go down the same path of THIS great series. Please stop trying to ruin The Goldbergs. Ug.

Concur with first post, this episode was horrible.

I'm confused, We came to see the funny family, where are they? they even changed the voiceover, omg... this is the worst episode ever.

I honestly feel cheated. I was forced to sit through the entire episode watching something that is not funny and something that I did not expect. Forcing a pilot on Goldbergs viewers/supporters without mentioning that it is a pilot without the Goldbergs is simply wrong!! This was by far one of the worst episodes that I ever watched!! I wish I could give it a zero (0).

This is not The Goldbergs! Why not just put out the pilot for your garbage spin off and see how it does, rather than burn an already gather audience?

As someone who actually lost interest in The Goldbergs I caught this backdoor pilot on Hulu. I see a review or so that tries to compare it to the Empty Nest spinoff of the Golden Girls. First, let me say, no. The Empty Nest pilot (I believe titled Empty Nests) was dull as dishwater (even though it had the talents of Rita Moreno and Paul Dooley) which resulted in a shelving and rehaul before it came into fruition in 1988 and ran to 1994. Many other shows over the years have done backdoor pilot episodes - this is seriously not uncommon. Now the show itself is very formulaic to the Goldbergs, obviously. However, what can really go on much longer with them? Aren't the kids near grown anyway at this point? Why not give this new show a chance? I myself would be more than willing to give this show a few seasons. I thought it was actually quite refreshing even based on the same formula. The casting is awesome, it's a different decade, and I think it has potential. Why do so many just want to watch the same things without new flavour? If you haven't seen it, I say give it a chance and stop being so negative!

1st. No it was not really a 9/10, more like a 6. But I HAVE to offset all the ridiculous 1 star ratings that didnt review this episode strictly for what it was, A SPINOFF. Its a different show, so dont make comparisons on how its NOT the Goldbergs. We get it, its not the Goldbergs. Though I will admit I was guilty of this the first time I watched this episode. I recommend watching it a 2nd time and you will see its potential.

I think that 1990-something does deserve a season to prove itself, especially compared to some of the other crap on TV that somehow got 1st seasons.

The normal goldbergs is great this pilot episode of a 1990 spinoff not so much. But for people crying about where's the goldberg episodes there on a break. Every show has it's breaks so reason why they aired this. There not gonna rush out the whole season of a show and have no breaks. There should be a new one at the end of February. Not that bad of a wait. Compared to Brooklyn 99 where they don't come back till April. People just need to start being patient.

This show has really gone downhill since they wrote Lainey out of the script. Then "replaced" her with that irritating valley girl roommate Erica has at the college. The school she never seems to attend.

Abomination is selling it short. Even with an introduction warning us not about what was to come, I still decided to watch. On my death bed I will denounce this 22 minute loss. Doesn't have the same spirit as Goldberg's and should be forgotten. Don't even try to salvage it. I was a fan of the That 80's show and was bummed when it got the axe. Just let the Goldberg's make its natural progression into the 1990s and I will hope one of the Men in Black will erase my memory.

Part of what makes The Goldberg's a funny show is The Goldbergs & their family antics in the 80s; which reminds a great many of us of our families. But this episode didn't have any of that and was boring, unfunny, & didn't have the same fun nostalgia with a heartwarming take. Not a fan.

Barely made it 5 minutes into this unfunny episode before I had to shut it off. Didn't laugh once. Who thought this was a good idea? Find him, fire him, and bring back the people that made this successful. If this was a tease for a spin-off, why would you make it so horrible? "Here's some garbage! You should watch it regularly!"

BOO.

Not at all what I was expecting. Take me back to 1980 something, please!

I remember when Married With Children did this a few times with episodes that were supposed to for other spinoffs that never succeeded or took off. There was one episode where Matt LeBlanc played Kelly's boyfriend and then it turned to a spinoff episode/series about LeBlanc and his Dad.....then a few years later there was ANOTHER episode of Married With Children that was a bait-and-switch pilot that was supposed to show what became of Marcy's original husband Steve Rhodes, I seem to remember the episode was very similar to this fake Goldbergs episode with Steve as the dean of a College that Bud is trying to attend

This is the single worst Goldbergs episode of all time. The Goldbergs is a good show, and I appreciate it, although I've felt that the last season has been not as great as some of the very first of its series, but this one is just plain bad. Not okay, but not horrible, no, just bad. This episode is horrible. And for some reason one of the daughters seems to be loosely based on Sue from the Middle. The daughter is very happy and optimistic, and almost 100% like her. It's like if you took Sue and made her younger and with dark hair. That's the daughter. She's almost exactly the same in my opinion. Bad episode. 1\10 for me.

Hilarious! Nice family comedy! Perfect display of life in the 90's! I loved Gigi and Coach Mellor the most but everyone overall was great! Don't drop the ball on this one again ABC! Adam Goldberg has perfected this writing recipe!

No - this first episode wasn't really a 9 - maybe closer to a 7 but seeing all the spoiled whiny slam ratings from others here I had to do something to pull up the average! I couldn't in good conscience give it a 10 but it did NOT deserve the ratings it got from a bunch of close minded people!

No this show will likely not be one of the great all time sitcoms. It won't be a Frasier or a Mork and Mindy. More likely it will be a Joey or a Grown-ish or Different World. The fact is very few shows spun off from great sitcoms have gone on to live up to the show that spawned them. But that doesn't mean that it has no potential as a stand alone comedy unto itself.

This show suffers from what sadly too many popular shows do - a tendency of fans to circle the wagons and protest any perceived threat to their beloved familiar existing show. Their method for doing this is by putting down the spinoff in the hopes that that will lengthen the original. However that's not going to happen. The Goldbergs won't last indefinitely and to the extent it does not in its present form. Adam's going to get less innocent. Once Barry goes off to college or elsewhere like Erica the family environment is going to be pulled even further apart. It hasn't happened yet but we are coming to the end of an era.

This show is clearly NOT trying to follow the Goldberg formula (beyond the style of narration). It's a different show with mostly different characters. Would I love to see more Goldbergs? Sure. But that's no reason not to enjoy this show for what it is which is a reasonably decent comedy. It's NOT the Goldbergs folks - it's going to be a separate series. The Goldbergs will go on separately - this is just an introductory episode!

Pretty much.. The episode was about like this post. WTF. Not sure why

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the show got sucked into the Twilight Zone. I couldn't even follow this through, it was so bad. I hope there are no other surprise episodes along the way because I actually enjoy The Goldbergs.

An example of a show dumping a handful of new characters on us without warning while expecting us to care about them even slightly. I don't know these new characters! How am I supposed to care about them?? I get that this is a back door pilot, but it does not belong in the Goldbergs slot. Terribly written and terribly planned out.

Even though I was disappointed by tuning in and not seeing my favorite tv family from the '80s, I for one would love to see this pilot become reality. Tim Meadows proves he is and always has been a great talent, and Bryan Callen is a true hidden gem from the main series. I am rooting for a '90s set spin-off. Well worth the watch.