The Goldbergs: Season 8

A week before school starts again, Beverly makes a huge announcement to the family - she is flying them all to Miami for a family vacation! Geoff, Brea, and Ren are also invited to join the trip. While at the airport, however, Beverly tells Murray a huge secret: they are really flying to Miami for a Bar Mitzvah in the family, but doesn't want to tell the kids because she knows they will get mad at her. Barry and Ren try to get first-class seating after Barry finds out how rich Ren's parents are,

Adam shows up for his senior year in school with contact lenses, a healthier complexion, new hairstyle, and the popular Brea on his arm. This endears him to the jocks and other popular kids but, to Adam’s dismay, makes him an outcast among his old nerd group. Adam makes multiple efforts to bring the two groups together, with all backfiring, until Glascott assures him there are so many things he can be that don’t align with either the jocks or the nerds. At home, Beverly enjoys smothering Erica a

After a campaign visit from the candidate for Jenkintown Comptroller (Adhir Kalyan), who is running unopposed, Beverly decides she will run against him even though she has no idea what the position entails. She enlists Adam and the local yentas to run her campaign, which is a mass of fluff and lies. Pops asks Murray why he isn’t stopping Bev from her self-sabotage, with Murray replying he’s grown tired of his wife’s constant attempts to reinvent herself. As Erica and Barry return to college, Bar

Beverly interrupts the courthouse nuptials of Bill Lewis and his fiancée Dolores, convincing them she can plan a real wedding for them despite it having to be done in 24 hours so they can leave for their honeymoon in Tahiti. Bev enlists family and friends alike, but things quickly go awry, forcing her to begrudgingly ask her nemesis Jane Bales for help. Meanwhile, local psychic Karen English tells the Goldberg children that on the day of the wedding, a relationship for one couple will end. After

Beverly becomes concerned when she secretly reads letters that Adam and Brea are writing to each other (the result of Murray angrily removing every phone in the house), especially when they bring up being married in the future. Bev shares her concerns with Vicki Bee, Brea's mother, and is taken aback to learn that Vicki is divorced. Thinking Brea, being a child of divorce, will hurt her schmoo if they get married, Bev sets out to sabotage the kids' relationship. Meanwhile, a newly-single Barry w

After Adam watches Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, he gets a new perspective on racism, but thinks it's only confined to Brooklyn. Classmates Dave Kim and African American Brian Walls assure him that racism is prevalent in their own school, so Adam wants to do something about it. Glascott convinces him to make a film, but when the film's story completely misses the point, Adam realizes how sheltered his life has been. Elsewhere, Geoff is shocked when Erica backs into another car, but she and Bar

Murray's father Ben ("Pop Pop") says he's booked a cruise for the family for Hanukkah. When he says it's a cruise to "St. John's", the family assumes the ship is going to St. John in the Virgin Islands, and dresses accordingly. When they board, they learn they are on a cut-rate cruise to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Murray learns his father only booked the cruise to ask for money, including money to pay for the cruise itself. He later learns that Ben is worried about taking care of him

After watching the film Clue with Adam, Beverly invites the neighborhood for a murder mystery dinner party, with Adam serving as butler/host. Murray reluctantly agrees to be the dead body, but he gets impatient and reveals the who, with what and where, ruining the mystery. As the guests prepare to leave, Bill Lewis has an allergic reaction to eating a mushroom cap with crab meat in it, while Ginzy Kremp notices her coat has been bedazzled. The guests suspect Bev engineered the latest "crimes" as

When Pops falls asleep during the movie Cocoon, which ironically is about elderly people recapturing their youth, Adam worries that his best friend no longer has the energy to enjoy life. After seeing Barry, Andy and Naked Rob taking a bodybuilding powder and displaying unusual pep, Adam thinks it might work for Pops. He asks Dr. Katz if the powder is safe. Katz says the ingredients will do no harm, but are basically useless, then explains the placebo effect to Adam. Nevertheless, Adam gives Pop

While shopping with Erica, Geoff decides to update his look with a new ivy-style cap, which gets him some attention on campus but earns the ire of Barry. Barry is also against Andy and Naked Rob making new fashion choices. Barry asks Erica to update his wardrobe with something awful so he can stick it to his JTP pals, but Erica's preppy outfit actually has the reverse effect. It turns out Barry's concerns over change is because Matt Bradley is out of town for work, and he fears the JTP will all

With 68 days left in the school year, Beverly looks for any role she can fill at William Penn to be sure she spends those days close to Adam. As luck would have it, a teacher leaves to deliver her baby, providing Bev an opportunity to substitute teach. Adam inadvertently lets Beverly know about senior skip day. Bev confronts Ball and a few teachers, who are fully aware of the skip day and are actually looking forward to it. Desperate to make sure Bev doesn't mess up their plans, Ball assigns her

After seeing Adam accept a dry, overcooked corner piece of lasagna at school and being a pushover in many other ways, Beverly is determined to teach him the Goldberg method of getting not just what he deserves, but more. Erica and Barry, who have clearly learned from their mother, pitch in to help. While it works at school and his favorite video store, Adam soon sees how his new, demanding self affects other people, and decides it's not for him. Meanwhile, when Vic abandons his non-conversationa

Barry and Geoff see a booth on campus for the college's annual male-only pageant known as Mr. Ships Ahoy, and both decide to enter. When they see that Albert Solomon (Pops) won the contest in the 1940s, Geoff seeks out his advice, but Pops' suggestions on impressing the female judges are very dated. Barry and Geoff later size up their competitors, which are all buff, handsome young men, and begin to panic. But Erica has a trick up her sleeve to help Geoff win. Meanwhile, Beverly tries to get the

As Brea heads to visit her cousin at the University of Virginia, Beverly warns Adam that it will not end well for their relationship. She convinces him to do a grand gesture to prevent Brea from choosing UVA as her college. Adam is game until an unexpected intervention by Murray stops him from making a fool of himself. Murray had correctly deduced Beverly was only acting on her own insecurity about Adam going away to NYU in the fall. Meanwhile, Geoff gets tickets to attend a taping of his and Ba

When the NFL players go on strike and the football season is threatened, Barry gets concerned that he and Murray will no longer have anything to talk about. This leads Barry to try out for the Eagles upon learning that the league will be fielding replacement players, with Murray teaching him his long-snapping skills. After being embarrassed by Jane Bales while clothes shopping with Erica, Beverly decides to join her rival in becoming financially independent by selling cosmetic products and weigh

After Brea implies that she and Adam have completely different lives, Adam gets a job at the ice cream store where Brea works to prove he isn't as spoiled as she thinks he is. Realizing that an actual job does take a lot of work, Adam tells Beverly, who chews out the manager so Adam will get fired, which is successful. However, after both Brea and Pops express disappointment in Adam, he convinces the manager to rehire him so he can learn what it's like to live in Brea's world. Meanwhile, when ne

Following Geoff and Erica's break-up, Beverly has trouble accepting that the two aren't together anymore. She not only goes to great lengths to get the two back together but also involves herself in Barry and Joanne's relationship in order to make sure they stay together. Meanwhile, Adam recruits Brea to the upcoming school play production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? when they are short on actors, but he's filled with jealousy when he notices how good of an actress Brea is. When Adam gets

Not wanting to see Erica and Geoff stay miserable for much longer, Barry and Joanne try to make the two just be friends while setting them up on separate dates. Barry and the JTP convince Geoff to go on The Dating Game, while Joanne sets up Erica with a waiter. After Erica and Geoff bump into each other with their dates at a restaurant and make things worse between them, Barry suggests to Erica that she and Geoff stay out of each other's lives for a while. Meanwhile, Murray lands a huge check fr

After Erica gets upset when Geoff returns a voucher they had saved for their fifth-anniversary dinner, Murray takes Erica out for a daddy-daughter day and they use Geoff's voucher for their own dinner, but cheering up Erica is easier said than done. Afterward, the two go roller skating, where they run into Johnny Atkins and Carla Mann, both of whom seem excited to tell friends that a great guy like Geoff is back on the market. Meanwhile, after Adam's friends use him in an attempt to pull a senio

Adam and Dave Kim are invited to a poker night by two popular kids, but Beverly learns of it and intervenes to thwart the event. She and Murray punish Adam by making him help Pop Pop with some tasks at his home. While there, Adam learns of Pop Pop's love of poker, and calls the guys to relocate the game there, with Pop Pop and Barry joining them, only to be caught by Beverly again when she brings food. Beverly was upset and threatened to punish Adam for disobeying her. She cooled off for a minut

Prodded by Beverly, Erica decides to talk with Geoff about her lingering feelings, but Barry, who has become obsessed with Paul Hogan's Crocodile Dundee, lies to Erica and says Geoff is dating a girl named Paula Hogan. After a series of near-misses with Geoff, Erica finds that there really is someone named Paula Hogan on campus, and confronts her. Paula's confusion leads Erica and Beverly to confront Geoff, but their encounter only serves to confirm Geoff has moved on. Geoff eventually goes to t

Geoff tells the JTP that he is planning on taking Erica to the Goldbergs' shore house for the weekend in order to propose to her, and ultimately gives Barry the ring for safekeeping. Although Beverly sees the ring and understands Geoff's plan, several other miscommunications ensue. Joanne sees the ring in Barry's room and assumes Barry is planning to propose to her, so she tells her parents that she isn't ready to marry Barry, but they assume she's saying Erica isn't ready to marry Geoff. Lou an