The news that The Goldbergs season 10 will be the family sitcom’s final outing makes sense for numerous reasons. The Goldbergs had an undeniably good run. Debuting to largely good reviews in 2013, The Goldbergs won over a solid audience share that the series enjoyed for most of the years that followed. Based on its creator’s nostalgic memories of growing up in the ‘80s, The Goldbergs was one of the earliest shows to lean into nostalgia for the decade that has become a pop culture mainstay in the years since. However, even The Goldbergs couldn’t last forever.In early 2021, series supporting star George Segal passed away, and his character Pops was subsequently retired. Shortly after, Jeff Garlin’s Murray Goldberg was killed off in the season 10 premiere after allegations of misconduct were brought against the actor. With two of the show’s major characters gone, it was only a matter of time before The Goldbergs began struggling to maintain its well-worn family sitcom formula. As such, it was not a major surprise when Deadline reported that The Goldbergs season 10 would be the show’s final outing, with the last episode airing in May.Related: The Goldbergs Season 10 Almost Forgot A Major Adam Storyline

The Goldbergs Limited Its Time Frame From The Start

The Goldbergs characters sitting on couch in season 10

It should come as no surprise that The Goldbergs season 10 is the last season of the series since the show leaned into its time-locked period setting from its pilot. As noted in each outing, The Goldbergs is set in the “1980-something” and focuses on how the decade’s pop culture shaped its hero and narrator, Adam’s entire adolescence. As such, it makes no sense for the show to outlast the ‘80s and Adam’s adolescence. Of course, The Goldbergs could have entered the ‘90s, but this would have meant the younger characters moving out and moving on with their lives and updating the show’s cultural lexicon to include cultural touchstones from a whole new era.

As such, it makes more sense for The Goldbergs to instead cut its losses and end with season 10. Since its inception, The Goldbergs has been a throwback not only to the pop culture of the ‘80s but also to the family sitcoms of the era. The warm, cozy humor of The Goldbergs is of a piece with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Growing Pains, not the more subversive, less sentimental likes of The Simpsons or Married With Children. Moving The Goldbergs into the ‘90s would have meant changing the show’s sense of humor to better fit the decade, which would, in turn, have risked losing the nostalgic charm of the series.

The Goldbergs Couldn’t (And Shouldn’t) Keep Its Family Together

The Goldbergs season 10 biggest problem

While The Goldbergs season 10 acknowledged that Barry and Adam sharing a bedroom at 21 and 29 was weird, this was only the tip of the iceberg regarding the show’s awkward family dynamic. Outside of the sudden death of Garlin's character due to his actor's actions, The Goldbergs also struggled to justify keeping its cast together as the actors aged out of their roles and their characters living at home became increasingly unrealistic. By season 10, the youngest of the Goldberg “children” was played by a 23-year-old, and both of his siblings were played by 29-year-olds.

Barry was midway through med school, and Erica had already graduated college, had a baby, and gotten married by the halfway point of The Goldbergs season 10. However, the characters all lived under the same roof despite this. While The Goldbergs season 10 could have seen Beverly adjust to an empty nest as her kids navigated life outside the home, the series didn’t opt to take this route and stretched credulity. This was not helped by the fact that the family lived in relative financial comfort, meaning The Goldbergs did little to justify the unlikely setup of its characters.

Related: The Goldbergs Season 10 Episode 13 Release Date (And Hiatus Explained)

The Goldbergs Needed To End With Adam’s College Years

Composite image of Adam and Beverley from The Goldbergs

The Goldbergs season 1 began with Adam entering the social jungle of high school armed only with his obsessive pop culture knowledge. As such, The Goldbergs ending with Adam entering college as the ‘90s begin couldn’t be more fitting. While the many ‘80s cameos of The Goldbergs were a fun distraction, ultimately, the series was invested in Adam's coming-of-age. While Erica began the series as a late teen and even Barry was well-established in high school at the start of the show, Adam navigated the highs and lows of high school throughout The Goldbergs as well as living through the ‘80s over a decade.

If The Goldbergs were to continue into the ‘90s and Adam’s college years, the show would have no obvious end date. While graduating from college is a milestone, it is not viewed as the beginning of adulthood in the same way that graduating from high school often is in U.S. culture. Adam’s aimless story in The Goldbergs season 10 proves the show doesn’t have a major plan for his post-school life, and ending a show that pointedly revolves around a particular decade after ten seasons makes sense since there are only ten years in the 1980s.

The Goldbergs Already Spoiled Its Own Ending

Adam from The Goldbergs in season 1 and season 10

According to the short-lived The Goldbergs spinoff Schooled, which focused on Barry’s ex Lainey and her adventures in the ‘90s, viewers already know where at least one of the show’s main characters ends up. Schooled ended with high school sweethearts Lainey and Barry reconnecting, meaning viewers already knew Barry’s relationship with Joanne was ultimately going nowhere in The Goldbergs season 10. While replacing Murray proves The Goldbergs season 10 still has some potential stories to explore, there is no guarantee that the family's later lives will be as engaging as Adam's adolescence.

Barry’s eventual fate is already set in stone, making his relationship pointless. Adam’s eventual departure from the family home makes his gap year plot somewhat tedious, while Erica’s marriage, college graduation, and motherhood bring her story to a fairly natural ending. Thus, there is little left for The Goldbergs to explore, so season 10 is the perfect time to end the show before the family sitcom outstays its welcome and risks jeopardizing its positive legacy.

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