When season 10 of The Goldbergs debuts next month, it will be missing its patriarch. After Jeff Garlin’s exit from the hit ABC sitcom, which followed an HR investigation and complaints of on-set misconduct, the series has opted to kill off his character.
“Well, [Garlin is] not going to be on the season, obviously,” coshowrunner Alex Barnow recently told Entertainment Weekly. Murray, his character, “will have passed, and we are sort of starting from a place of multiple months removed from his death.” Barnow said that the Goldberg family, led by Wendi McLendon-Covey, will be “very freshly” mourning the husband and father. “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…. 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.”
The actor, who previously told Vanity Fair’s Maureen Ryan that he had “not been fired from The Goldbergs,” didn’t have creative input as to his character’s fate. “I’ve had a conversation with Jeff and he’s aware that he’s not being replaced,” Barnow said. “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.”
When asked about allegations of misbehavior while filming, including physical and verbal conduct that reportedly made his coworkers uncomfortable, Garlin denied any wrongdoing to VF: “My opinion is, I have my process about how I’m funny, in terms of the scene and what I have to do,” he said last year. “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. And I’m on a comedy show. I am always a kind and thoughtful person. I make mistakes, sure. But my comedy is about easing people’s pain. Why would I ever want to cause pain in anybody for a laugh? That’s bullying. That’s just uncalled for.” He is set to continue his role on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm when the show returns for its upcoming 12th season.
Garlin initially departed The Goldbergs in the middle of shooting the show’s ninth season, creating a scenario in which a stand-in was used. He was continually paid for his appearances on the show, despite not being present on set, Variety reported. Coshowrunner Chris Bishop told EW of the 10th season, “It honestly feels like a huge reboot for us.”
Season 10 of The Goldbergs premieres on September 21.
News Credits: Vanity Fair
