Television series

The Goldbergs

Name: The Goldbergs
Genre: Comedy, Family
Released: 2013
Cast: Wendi McLendon-Covey, Sean Giambrone, Hayley Orrantia, Troy Gentile, Jeff Garlin

An adult Adam Goldberg narrates his own chaotic 1980s childhood, filmed on his ever-present camcorder, complete with a smothering mom, a dad who communicates mostly in grunts, and a wall of needle-drops and pop culture references timed like gunfire. It's warm, loud, unabashedly sentimental sitcom comfort food — a hug disguised as a clip show, best watched when you want nostalgia without subtlety.

TVMaze rating

7.5

If you liked this

Fresh Off the Boat2015

Same bones — narrated childhood, a fierce matriarch, a decade rendered in specific, loving detail — but the family and the culture clash are entirely different, so it never feels like a repeat.

But Cancelled abruptly after six seasons, so the ending feels rushed rather than earned.

Everybody Hates Chris2005

Chris Rock narrates his own '80s Brooklyn childhood with the same wistful exaggeration Adam brings to the Goldbergs, but sharper, funnier, and with real teeth about race and class.

But Harder-edged than The Goldbergs; the comedy sits closer to real hardship, not just embarrassment.

Malcolm in the Middle2000

Another loud, loving, borderline-feral family sitcom, filmed with direct-to-camera confessionals instead of narration, and just as committed to the chaos of raising impossible kids.

But Meaner and more anarchic than the Goldbergs' warm fuzziness — less hug, more headlock.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Meet Me in St. Louis1944

Same engine: an adult's rose-tinted, deliberately exaggerated memory of a loud, loving household during one specific, cherished era — nostalgia as the actual subject, not just the setting.

A Technicolor musical about a big, loving, argumentative family looking back at a beloved turn-of-the-century year — the same nostalgia machine The Goldbergs runs, just built four decades earlier and in song.

But No irony, no pop-culture gags, and musical numbers — a very different comic register than modern sitcom.

That '70s Show1998no page yet

Swap decades and swap the family focus for a friend-group basement hangout, but the period-specific needle drops, fashion gags and nostalgia-forward writing are cut from the same cloth.

But Less about family dynamics, more about teenage friend-group hijinks — a different emotional center entirely.

Young Sheldon2017

Another adult narrator looking back fondly on a loud, overbearing household and a misfit kid who doesn't quite fit — this time Texas in the '80s and '90s instead of Philadelphia.

But Gentler pace and less pop-culture density; it trades zaniness for quieter, slower-burn sentimentality.

American Housewife2016no page yet

A modern-day sibling in spirit — same ABC family-sitcom DNA, same overbearing-but-loving mom archetype, same rapid-fire jokes about suburban parenting absurdity.

But No nostalgia hook at all; if the period setting was half the appeal, this won't scratch that itch.

Speechless2016

A fiercely protective mother, a house full of loud personalities, and genuine heart under the jokes — this one just centers a family navigating disability instead of decade nostalgia.

But Only three seasons and less pop-culture saturation; a quieter, more grounded show overall.

The Wonder Years1988

The actual blueprint — adult narrator, childhood video-diary structure, a specific decade rendered with aching fondness. Everything The Goldbergs does, this one did first and gentler.

But Slower and more melancholic than The Goldbergs; the comedy is dry where Goldbergs is broad and loud.

Schooled2019no page yet

The actual spinoff, set at the same school with familiar faces — a comfortable extension for anyone who just wants more of this exact world and era.

But Diminishing returns; it leans on the parent show's goodwill rather than building much new.

American Splendor2003

The Goldbergs is built from Adam F. Goldberg's real home movies, dramatized and narrated by his adult self — American Splendor does the identical trick, splicing the real person's own footage and voice into a scripted version of his life.

A film that mixes real interviews with the actual person alongside dramatized reenactments of his ordinary, cranky life, blurring documentary and fiction the way Adam's camcorder footage blurs memory and performance.

But Downbeat and dryly comic rather than broadly funny; no laugh track, no big family reconciliations.

Shtisel2013no page yet

Strip out the jokes and the '80s soundtrack and you're left with the same core: a family whose love is expressed almost entirely through interference, and a story more interested in generational memory than plot.

An Israeli drama about a loud, meddling, deeply loving ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem — an overbearing father figure, sibling rivalry, a grandfather who won't behave — all the same DNA, played with real weight.

But In Hebrew and Yiddish with subtitles, slow-paced, and genuinely sad in places — not a laugh-a-minute watch.