While The Goldbergs season 10 is struggling to make the show’s premise work, the family sitcom could be helped by moving into the ‘90s. It is tricky for any sitcom to drop its central gimmick. How I Met Your Mother kept the search for the titular mysterious love interest alive until its final season, while That ‘70s Show never moved on from its eponymous decade and into the ‘80s. However, although The Goldbergs is a nostalgic family sitcom about growing up in the ‘80s, The Goldbergs season 10 is proving that the show needs to leave the decade behind, and soon.The biggest problem in The Goldbergs season 10 is that the three Goldberg children, Erica, Barry, and Adam, all still live under one roof despite how much their lives have changed since the show debuted. The Goldbergs season 10, like every other season of the show, is set in the vaguely-defined “1980something,” a gag that allows the series to reference iconic trends, fads, and pieces of pop culture from throughout the decade. However, while Erica, Barry, and Adam were all in high school when the series debuted, in The Goldbergs season 10, Erica is now married with a child, Barry is in medical school, and Adam has graduated from high school.
Why The Goldbergs Should Enter The ‘90s
The nostalgic family sitcom has been on the air for almost a decade now. As such, the second half of The Goldbergs season 10 should see the ‘80s give way to the ‘90s as the show’s setting. While this could seem like a death knell for the sitcom, the success of That ‘90s Show proves that nostalgia for the ‘80s is now giving way to ‘90s nostalgia. Furthermore, admitting that time has passed would allow the Goldberg children to grow up, move out, and move on with their lives. This, more than anything, could give The Goldbergs season 10 a new lease of life.
While The Goldbergs season 10 could have shaken up the long-running show’s well-established routine when Jeff Garlin’s Murray Goldberg was killed off, the sitcom failed to capitalize on this opportunity. Since The Goldbergs season 10 wasted its best story by failing to depict the impact that this event had on the main characters, transitioning into the ‘90s is the smartest way for the series to make up for this mistake. The Goldbergs already set one episode in the ‘90s, so there is a precedent for this change, although a major issue will hold the show back from updating its setting.
Why The Goldbergs Will Struggle With The '90s
Despite the likes of grunge and gangsta rap, the ‘90s is not a decade of immediately recognizable fashions, fads, and cultural touchstones in the way that the ‘80s are. The cultural artifacts of the ‘80s were considered cartoonish, kitsch, and over-the-top even during the decade, whereas the ‘90s had a more muted and subdued feel in pop culture terms. However, if the show has enough temerity for The Goldbergs season 10 to replace Murray mere episodes after his death, then making the ‘90s a recognizably funny era shouldn’t be impossible for the series. As such, The Goldbergs season 10 should update its setting and let the show’s heroes move on with their lives.