The Goldbergs
Love Is a Mixtape
"A penny? Worthless! It's the garbage of money."
-- Barry Goldberg
This comedy, based on creator Adam F. Goldberg’s kooky family, is the ultimate flashback to the Reagan era.
Like The Wonder Years, but set in the 1980s, Patton Oswald narrates the life of geeky, adolescent Adam, who uses a bulky video camera the size of a boom box to document his daily life. His (s)mother, Beverly, wears loud chunky sweaters and lacks all boundaries and his dad, Murray, likes to yell and watch TV in his underwear (tightie whities, of course). Adam's the youngest of three with his too cool for school sister, Erica, and attention-starved, Flyers fanatic brother, Barry — but his grandpa, Pops, really steals the show. (RIP George Segal.)
For 30 minutes each week, I’m reminded of everything my brother and I loved about growing up in suburban Jersey in the 80s. So hop in my time machine and see how well you know the decade of big bank accounts, big phones and even bigger hair…
Totally Tubular 80s TV Trivia
BONUS ROUND
Give yourself 1 point for each original item that you (or a sibling) owned:
Rubik’s Cube (200 million were sold worldwide between 1980-1983)
Strawberry Shortcake & Pals (a new animated special was produced each year from 1980-1985)
Trapper Keeper (went national in 1981 and taught a whole generation how to be organized)
Smurfs (just 3 apples tall with 100 different characters, their animated series ran from 1981-1989)
Cabbage Patch Kid (the must-adopt doll between 1983-1986)
Care Bears (launched in 1983 with belly badges like Tenderheart and Bedtime)
Legwarmers (made famous in 1983’s Flashdance and in Jane Fonda workout videos that are probably still stuck in your VCR)
Swatch Watch (launched in 1983 as a casual second watch)
Air Jordans (launched in 1984 after Jordan’s gold medal win in the Olympics)
A Sticker Book filled with Scratch & Sniff and Lisa Frank (the original emojis peaked as a craze in 1984)
Garbage Pail Kids (launched in 1985 with Adam Bomb)
Sony Walkman (an 80s icon, its popularity peaked in 1987)
NAME THAT SHOW
Give yourself 1 point for each correct answer:
Name the TV show: Blair, Jo, Natalie, Tootie & Mrs Garrett.
What did ALF stand for?
Name the TV show: Jason, Maggie, Mike, Carol & Ben.
What First Lady guest starred on a very special episode of Diff’rent Strokes?
Name the TV show: Angela, Tony, Mona, Samantha & Jonathan.
What was The Greatest American Hero’s superpower?
Name the TV show: Steven, Elyse, Alex, Malorie & Jennifer.
What was the name of Mork’s planet in Mork & Mindy?
Name the TV show: Edward, Kate, Ricky & Alfonso.
What was the family’s secret on Small Wonder?
Name the TV show: Dorothy, Blanche, Rose & Sophia.
Who was Kevin Arnold in love with on The Wonder Years?
Name the TV show: Sam, Diane, Cliff, Norm, Woody & Carla.
How many kids did the Huxtables have?
Name the TV show: Hanson, Hoffs, Penhall, Ioki & Booker.
Who shot JR?
KEEP ScrollING for the answers…
WHAT’s Your Score?
THE Answers
The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
ALF = Alien Life Form (1986-1990)
Growing Pains (1985-1992)
First Lady Nancy Reagan guest starred to promote her Just Say No to Drugs campaign (1983)
Who’s the Boss? (1984-1992)
The Greatest American Hero could fly (1981-1983)
Family Ties (1982-1989)
Mork was from Ork (1978-1982)
Silver Spoons (1982-1987)
Their daughter, Vicki, was a robot (1985-1989)
The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
His neighbor, Winnie Cooper (1988-1993)
Cheers (1982-1993)
Heathcliff & Clair Huxtable had 5 kids: Sandra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa & Rudy (1984-1992)
21 Jump Street (1987-1991)
JR Ewing was shot by his wife’s sister/former mistress, Kristen Shepard (1980)