The Fate of Jeff Garlin’s The Goldbergs Character Has Been Revealed
So that's how it ends.
Fans of the ABC series The Goldbergs have been waiting on pins and needles to see what would become of Jeff Garlin’s character after the actor departed the show amidst on-set misconduct allegations. According to the showrunners, Murray is being killed off. Not only is the death off-screen, but the upcoming season will take place months after Murray’s death. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, co-showrunner Alex Barnow said “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.” Clearly, it looks like a lot of the show’s tenth season will be dealing with some emotional fallout.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom for The Goldbergs. While the family is losing Jeff Garlin’s character, Barnow emphasized that there will be a focus on a more optimistic development — a new baby for Erica (Hayley Orrantia) and Geoff (Sam Lerner). Barnow added, “So we’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.”
Barnow did clarify that Jeff Garlin was aware that his character in The Goldbergs would not be replaced, but that they hadn’t spoken about the specific way his character was being removed from the show. While fans of Garlin’s character might be disappointed to see him go, it’s good to know that the showrunners have a plan in place. There have been plenty of shows where the sudden departure of a character due to external issues has been jarring, but that doesn’t seem like it will be the case with The Goldbergs. The showrunners also talked about how Pop-Pop (Judd Hirsch) would be a more prominent character in the upcoming season. Also, apparently, David Hasselhoff may be playing himself in a guest role.
Jeff Garlin officially exited the show in the middle of filming Season 9 of The Goldbergs. While Garlin wasn’t there to film the rest of the season, off-screen dialogue was used to cover up his absence. At the time, Garlin was still get getting paid for being on the series. The misconduct allegations against Garlin state that he was engaging in verbal and physical conduct that made others on set feel uncomfortable. A few of the allegations include an incident with a stand-in that turned physical and verbal, hugging that made others uncomfortable, and an inappropriate text that was sent to a female colleague. Garlin spoke with Vanity Fair about the allegations in an interview, denying that the stand-in incident turned physical and saying that he didn’t send a text like that “to his knowledge.” He did admit to hugging, but he said that HR never approached him about hugging. You can check out the Vanity Fair interview here to get Garlin’s full thoughts on the matter. Garlin left the show days after the interview came out.
Although you won’t be seeing Jeff Garlin on The Goldbergs anymore, you can tune in for the tenth season when it premieres on ABC on September 21. The series also stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, Hayley Orrantia, Patton Oswalt, Kenny Ridwan, and more. Meanwhile, Jeff Garlin is set to appear in the upcoming Damien Chazelle film Babylon which chronicles Hollywood’s transition from silent films to talkies. Brad Pitt, Olivia Wilde, Margot Robbie, Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving, Katherine Waterston, Jean Smart, Phoebe Tonkin, and Eric Roberts also star. Babylon is due out on January 6, 2023.
