The Goldbergs pay homage to the classic 1980s John Hughes' film "The Breakfast Club" when the kids start off a new school year by earning themselves Saturday detention courtesy of a new substitute teacher, who just happens to be their mom.

Erica and Lainey attempt to find Bill an interesting woman using a new dating technology; the pair enlists Adam to create a demo reel while Beverly insists on finding someone the old fashioned way; Barry decides to be a gym teacher.

Erica and Adam both take the lead from TV's "The Brady Bunch" and "George Glass" their crushes. Adam risks bodily harm in an intense game of paintball, and Erica might be embarrassed when her friends see through her fake college-aged boyfriend. Meanwhile, Murray's stubbornness causes Beverly to miss seeing the Beach Boys at Live Aid.

Murray and Pop-Pop wage in a war of words after the Goldbergs get their first-ever answering machine. Fed up with their fighting, Erica, Barry and Pops hope to broker a peace using a trip to a hockey game as leverage. Meanwhile, Beverly worries about Adam's social standing after he begins spending his lunch period with some lovable geeks in the computer room.

Adam decides to start writing horror stories after being inspired by Stephen King; when Beverly finds out that the monster in Adam's story is based off of her, she makes him stay home on Halloween to rewrite the story to depict her in better light.

Adam uses Murray's revelation of love for action movies to ask him for the money to film his own action film; the production is put in jeopardy when Barry goes missing while playing lead and an unlikely replacement actor is brought in.

A shared love of "Knight Rider" brings Murray and Uncle Marvin together, until Adam ruins it; Beverly invites Lainey and Bill to Thanksgiving dinner, so Barry won't split his time between the two houses.

Barry starts to make fun of Adam for wanting to join theater until he finds out that Adam and Lainey have been cast in roles that require them to kiss; Barry decides to sabotage the production by joining the stage crew.

Adam becomes fascinated after attending a Globetrotters game and tries to make up his own tricks on the court; Adam cuts a video that looks like he won against Barry; Beverly throws a surprise party for Murray's 50th birthday against his wishes.

After finding out there is only going to be one Hanukkah song in the Holiday Pageant, Beverly convinces Erica to create the perfect song to bring some excitement to the holiday. Erica sees her shot to break into the music business while Barry does his best to prove he too can be a hit maker with music. Meanwhile, Adam's childlike wonder with movies and entertainment is called into question when things he loved as a child aren't as good as he remembers.

Barry is mortified by Beverly, who, inspired by Mr. Keating from "Dead Poets Society", attempts to inspire his classmates as the substitute chemistry teacher. Meanwhile, Adam asks Erica for advice on how to be a better friend to Emmy.

Adam and Barry learn about Murray's fear of snow when a snow day cancels school; the boys try to exploit Murray's weakness for their own ends and take advantage of him; Beverly find's Erica's college application.

Adam feels like he's losing his best friend, Chad, so he attempts to join the tennis team. When Chad picks Dave Kim as his partner, Adam vows to take him down with Barry in a tennis match, changeling Andre Agassi. Meanwhile, with the help of Beverly, Erica deals with her post-break up depression just in time for Valentine's Day.

When both Barry and Erica gets jobs working at Spencer's Gifts, Erica gets jealous at how good of an employee Barry is. Meanwhile, Muray is thrilled that two of his children have jobs, so he insists that Adam gets one, despite Beverly's adamancy that he should focus on filmmaking,.

Adam gets jealous about seeing his friend on television and asks Beverly to help him become an actor; Beverly asks a child talent agent for help, but when she says he will be typecast as a nerd, Beverly tries to make Adam a teen heartthrob.

Adam and the other Adam Goldberg are inspired to settle their long-running feud with a karate match inspired by "The Karate Kid"; Barry and Adam ask Uncle Marvin for help training, but just end up cleaning his apartment.

Barry feels threatened when school deadhead Matt starts hanging out with the JTP and soon finds himself kicked out of the group when he becomes too controlling.

While Erica receives her college acceptance letters, Barry decides to become a doctor and looks at schools with good medical programs; Lainey announces that she is going to a school without a medical program, making Barry rethink his idea.

Barry puts together some romantic gestures for Lainey; Erica and Geoff attempt to go to prom together, but it doesn't go as planned; Adam is flattered when a nerdy but cute junior asks him out, but he gets scared when Beverly gets involved.

Barry feels left out, so he tries to create a divide between the relationship of Adam and Pops, while they debate the merits of a movie; Erica intentionally messes up her college interview so she can go to her first choice.

Murray is recognized as one of the top businessmen in Jenkintown, Pa.; Beverly is dismayed when she finds out that Murray doesn't have any discernible hobbies, which leads her to help him find some; Barry schemes to steal golf carts.

After a TV movie airs, Barry takes it upon himself to try to convince Murray to build an underground bunker; Erica and Adam give excessive gifts for Mother's Day before they make important requests to Beverly, but their plan backfires.

Barry and Erica are curious to know if they will be voted for in the year book, and since Adam works on the staff, they pressure him for the rough layout; Murray is irritated when Marvin visits for money, but Beverly convinces Murray to help him out.

As graduation quickly approaches, Erica can't wait to leave home, until she realizes how much Beverly's love means to her; Barry's plans for him and Lainey fail; Dana makes an unexpected visit just as Adam and Jackie make their relationship official.