The Goldbergs: The Complete First Season

The comedy maxim, “It's funny ‘cause it's true” certainly doesn't apply to The Goldbergs. Set in the 1980s in suburban Philadelphia, this semi-autobiographical sitcom is based on show creator Adam F. Goldberg's own family. And it's just what we need in primetime: another dysfunctional unit in which the father (Jeff Garlin) calls his children morons, the matriarch (the usually appealing Wendi McLendon-Covey) is an overbearing “smother,” and the preferred mode of communication is yelling at and insulting each other. Older brother Barry (Troy Gentile) is a particularly obnoxious character; delusional, entitled, and unpleasant, he makes Axl on The Middle look like John Boy on The Waltons. As the grandfather, George Segal's effortless charm goes a long way towards redeeming his character, who is at once an addled geezer and a womanizer. The show's central conceit has Adam (Sean Giambrone), the geeky youngest member, using a video camera to capture his tumultuous family life. A miscast Patton Oswalt narrates as the grown-up Adam, summoning up inevitable comparisons to the vastly superior and more heartfelt The Wonder Years. The only wonder here is how The Goldbergs got on the air. Compiling all 23 episodes from the 2013-14 first season, extras include episode commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes. Not recommended. (D. Liebenson)