For most Generation X'ers the eighties were arguably the best decade in which to grow up. While several modern movies have been successful at their attempt to recreate the feel of the eighties era, very few television shows have managed to properly capture that bit of nostalgia so many people in their forties and fifties long for - that is, until The Goldbergs and Stranger Things showed up.
The Goldbergs, created by Adam F. Goldberg, premiered in 2013 and immediately connected with many people who fall into the Generation X category (those born between the early-sixties and mid-seventies), becoming one of ABC's most popular sitcoms. Each of the stories told over the last three seasons are either influenced by or come directly from events in Adam's life as a kid - most of which he documented on his shoulder-mounted VHS camcorder.
By contrast, Stranger Things, created by the Duffer Brothers (Matt and Ross), is the newcomer to the eighties-era television game, but it had a highly impressive freshman run. While the horror/mystery/sci-fi show employs very different storytelling elements and techniques than the light-hearted Goldbergs, it's unabashedly set during the early-eighties. It would seem all that decade-intersection speaks directly to forty year-old Adam Goldberg, as he's apparently eager to collaborate with the Duffers on a crossover project. He recently tweeted the following:
I am 100% game for a cross-over between @TheGoldbergsABC and @Stranger_Things. Waiting by the phone, Duffer Brothers. Call me: 707-67NERD6— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) August 3, 2016
To make sure he wasn't just joking around on social media, we asked if we could quote him on that, to which he replied "Please do." The idea of a Goldbergs/Stranger Things crossover event certainly is enticing, to say the least. Between Adam's love for horror and Mike's interest in Dungeons and Dragons, surely there's a place of middle ground for the two shows to intersect, if only via cameos.
Whether the cast of The Goldbergs - Murray (Jeff Garlin), Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Erica (Hayley Orrantia), Barry (Troy Gentile) and Adam (Sean Giambrone) - would show up in an episode of Stranger Things, or the cast of Stranger Things - Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Joyce (Winona Ryder) or Jim (David Harbour) - would show up in an episode of The Goldbergs, it's obviously pure speculation at this point.
Television shows holding crossover events isn't a new occurrence, especially when both shows are on the same network. Criminal Minds had a crossover episode with NCIS (both on CBS) last season, The Family Guy and The Simpsons did it for Fox, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air once met up with the cast of Diff'rent Strokes and The Jeffersons for NBC. Friends/Mad About You, Full House/Family Matters, Archer/Bob's Burgers - the list of television crossovers goes on.
Television studios are even beginning to work with each other to hold crossover events when the intertwining of properties makes sense - as the CW and CBS proved with the highly rated Supergirl/The Flash crossover episode in early-2016. It's not farfetched to think ABC could work out a deal with Netflix - assuming both companies truly wanted to pull it off, of course.
Hopefully both the Duffers will reach out to Goldberg soon and they can discuss what a Goldbergs/Stranger Things crossover episode might look like.
Season 4 of the The Goldbergs debuts September 21 on ABC. Season 1 of Stranger Things is currently available on Netflix.
Source: Adam F. Goldberg