https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptl2P2RU0vE
The Goldbergs is in its third season and can you believe they haven’t done a Chanukah episode until tonight at 8:30p on ABC? That’s right, television’s favorite Jewish family is finally going to celebrate the Festival of Lights in their own special way.
Recently, I visited the set when they were filming this episode and Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays Beverly, described it as, “Bev has the assumption that they (her best friends and neighbors across the street) are really good at family. The reason, they are good at it, is because they celebrate Christmas. This is such a wonderful thing that they pile so much into one night. We need to do that too.”
So how does sMother Goldberg feel about finally doing a Chanukah episode? She said, “It is thrilling for us because we finally get to acknowledge that we are Jewish. I don’t know why we haven’t done one until now, but it is so fun.” Then she explained, “Because we’ve done Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is always a big deal. Halloween is always a big deal. Now we really get to delve into the Christmas/Chanukah situation.” Then she told us she is excited for this “very ambitious episode” because there is a lot to cover. What that means, she didn’t elaborate, but she did reiterate that she is thrilled for tonight’s show.
She isn’t the only one on the family sitcom who feels this way. Hayley Orrantia and Troy Gentile, who play her kids Erica and Barry, also like that their characters are revealing who they are. Gentile said, “It finally puts out there that The Goldbergs are a Jewish family. No more questions on that.” Then he informed us, “It is a Christmas/Chanukah episode. It actually has both elements to it, so everyone can relate to it.”
Can the actors, who celebrate Christmas, relate to it? For Orrantia, this is the first time she celebrated it. What did she learn from it? She said, “That’s the funny part, in this episode we kind of play on things that aren’t actually celebrated with Chanukah. So I don’t think I learned anything about Chanukah so far.” Then Gentile chimed in and said, “I used to play Dreidel!”
This season Barry has got to play with a girlfriend and AJ Michalka, who plays that role had a different take on it. She told us, “I think for Lainey, not growing up, I am assuming not in a very religious home, since she hasn’t had her mom around since she was 12, for her this really feels like a family moment.” Then she related it to her own personal experience, “For me, it reminds me of the Thanksgiving that I have with friends who don’t necessarily have family here. So it is like she is being adopted in the same way we do for them. We do a Friendgiving, and she is having that with The Goldbergs, which is a special moment for her. I’m loving it.”
I am sure we are going to be loving tonight’s Chanukah themed episode of The Goldbergs, so tune into watch it tonight at 8:30p on ABC.
