The Goldbergs have officially sacked Jeff Garlin. It was confirmed by the show’s creators on Tuesday, August 30, that by the time The Goldbergs Season 10 premieres on September 21 in Garlin, Murray Goldberg will have passed away for 10 months.
Murray’s fate was uncertain because Garlin had officially quit the series in 2021 as a result of concerns about his conduct on-site. As a result, he was largely absent from The Goldbergs Season 9; the only time he was shown in the finale was in a very quick scene where he was present for Adam’s high school graduation. Chris Bishop and Alex Barnow, the show’s creators, gave an explanation of their approach to EW.
The first episode of the season will begin with a time jump that strikes at the birth of Erica (Hayley Orrantia) and Geoff’s (Sam Lerner) first child.
“This is going to be a family that has not reconciled the fact that their father’s gone but has sort of moved on and has dealt with a lot of that,” Barnow said. “So we’re starting with optimism about a baby coming and looking forward to the future. It’s an opportunity for this interesting emotional basis for the way people are behaving.”
“It honestly feels like a huge reboot for us. So we have tons of momentum rolling into this new season,” added Bishop.
Season 10 will also feature a special guest cameo by David Hasselhoff, who is going to appear as himself from the 1980s. Beverly Goldberg and Erica, played by Wendi McLendon-Covey, will argue both during and after the baby is born. Additionally, according to the showrunners, Murray’s passing will strengthen the bond between the family members, which will lead to Pop-Pop making more appearances.
“[Garlin is] not going to be on the season, obviously. [Murray] will have passed, and we are sort of starting from a place of multiple months removed from his death,” Barnow said. “The family has already grieved, unlike Pops [George Segal] and the premiere of Season 9 where they’re dealing with it sort of very freshly… but Jeff won’t be in the series this year, and so far the stories have been largely about looking forward rather than looking back.”
