While The Goldbergs is crazy about all things nostalgic, the sitcom has always pointedly avoided one '80s sitcom staple, the Christmas special, and for good reason. The Goldbergs has always been built on nostalgia for the '80s. The decade that brought the world a slew of family sitcoms about lovable kids and their dysfunctional broods is an ideal setting for the story of Adam Goldberg, the show’s real-life creator, and his chaotic clan who inspired the characters of The Goldbergs.
However, not every '80s TV tradition lines up perfectly with the real-life people The Goldbergs takes its inspiration from. For one thing, the real Goldberg had two brothers, rather than the brother and sister duo that his fictionalized counterpart in The Goldbergs has. Similarly, Goldberg noted that his real-life family celebrated Hanukkah rather than Christmas due to their Jewish faith. However, instead of ignoring this for the sake of staging annual Christmas specials, The Goldbergs broke sitcom tradition with the show's Hanukkah specials, and season 10, episode 10, “Worst Grinch Ever,” highlighted this with a storyline that directly addressed the ubiquity of Christmas in '80s pop culture.
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While every holiday special in The Goldbergs focuses on the tension between Christmas celebrations and the family’s Hanukkah traditions, “Worst Grinch Ever” features the show’s most in-depth discussion of what Hanukkah means to its characters. In season 3, episode 10, “A Christmas Story,” Beverly changed Hanukkah traditions so much that the family almost celebrated Christmas — until Jeff Garlin’s Murray Goldberg reminded his wife of the reason for the season. However, in “Worst Grinch Ever,” the tables were turned as Beverly was horrified to discover that Erica wanted to raise her baby to celebrate Christmas.
Initially, Erica wasn’t even that interested in what holiday her child celebrated, but she was annoyed to see Beverly scandalized by this rejection of Hanukkah in favor of Christmas when Beverly didn’t know much about Hanukkah, to begin with. This led to a conversation about tradition, faith, and parenting that eventually resulted in Geoff and Erica setting some intentions around keeping their child in touch with their Jewish faith. Since The Goldbergs killed off Murray before Erica’s baby arrived, this was a touching way to bring the family’s faith back to the forefront in a Christmas special that doubled as a Hanukkah episode.
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Adam Goldberg told Entertainment Weekly, “My mom was always trying to figure out ways to make Hanukkah exciting and compete with our neighbors, the Kremps, who always had these amazing blow-out Christmas parties.” This is reflected in The Goldbergs, which ensures that its Hanukkah episodes are as dramatic, funny, and ambitious as the Christmas specials staged by most sitcoms in the '80s. From Adam jeopardizing his current relationship by messily attempting to woo his ex to Beverly’s battle with Erica, to a romantic moment under the mistletoe, The Goldbergs managed to make a Hnnukkah episode that also worked as a tribute to the Christmas special of the '80s.