Jeff Garlin's 'Goldbergs' Character Is Getting Killed Off
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Jeff Garlin is officially exiting The Goldbergs. As the show gears up for its 10th season—and following accusations of on-set misconduct—showrunners have announced that the actor's character will be killed off and that Garlin will not join the fall production. The timeline of the upcoming season will take place months following the characters' passing.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunners Alex Barnow and Chris Bishop discuss Garlin's departure from the series, touching on both the complaints against the star as well as the resulting HR investigation. The accusations claim that Garlin, who also stars on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, used inappropriate language during production, addressed longtime female crew members by offensive nicknames, and frequently handed out unwanted hugs.
The actor addressed these claims directly in an interview with Vanity Fair in December, shortly after reports first surfaced. In the interview, he dismissed many of the claims as silly and misconstrued. "It’s always the same thing," Garlin said, "It’s about me and my silliness on set. They don’t think it’s appropriate. I do. That’s where we’re at." He later added, "My opinion is, I have my process about how I’m funny, in terms of the scene and what I have to do. They feel that it makes for a quote 'unsafe' workspace. Now, mind you, my silliness making an unsafe workspace—I don’t understand how that is."
Garlin had also confirmed that he had actually not, at the time, been fired from the show. Now, the show runners are revealing that is no longer the case. In the EW interview, Barnow said, "Well, [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… 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."
In regards to whether or not Garlin knew of his character's fate, Barnow said, "I've had a conversation with Jeff and he's aware that he's not being replaced. The truth is, I don't know if he knows what his fate is, but I'm assuming he knows, would be the answer to that question. We haven't had a subsequent conversation since the beginning of writing that he would have any specific clarity on that."
Despite Garlin's departure, the show is also set to welcome a new, very tiny cast member. In the Season Nine finale, it was revealed that newlyweds Geoff (Sam Lerner) and Erica (Hayley Orrantia) were expecting a baby. Since the new season will be set several months after the last, we will not only see the family recovering from the death of their patriarch, but also new dynamics as the baby is introduced into the mix.
“[W]e’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. 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.” Barnow said.
Bishop also added,"Beverly's going to be that overbearing smother turned into an overbearing grandmother. So we're excited about that," he said. "It honestly feels like a huge reboot for us. So we have tons of momentum rolling into this new season."
Season 10 of The Goldbergs will premiere September 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
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