Adam is ready to leave the struggles of his high school years behind him but is distraught to discover he's been waitlisted at NYU while his girlfriend Brea has been accepted, along with his mom Beverly - who surprises everyone by admitting she applied to the same school. Adam courts the NYU dean of admissions, hoping she will change her mind on his deferral. Meanwhile, Erica, Geoff, Barry and Joanne create their own plan to convince Geoff's dad, Lou, that Erica had nothing to do with a past incident involving his prized porcelain horses.
Before there were parenting blogs, trophies for showing up and peanut allergies, there was a simpler time called the '80s. For geeky 11-year-old Adam these were his wonder years, and he faced them armed with a video camera to capture all the crazy. The Goldbergs are a loving family like any other, just with a lot more yelling. Mom Beverly is a classic "smother", an overbearing, overprotective matriarch who rules this brood with 100% authority and zero sense of boundaries.
Dad Murray is gruff, hot-tempered and trying to parent without screaming. Sister Erica is 17, hot, terrifying and not one to mess with. Barry is 16, a grade-A spaz with classic middle child syndrome. Adam is the youngest, a camera-wielding future director who's crushing on an older woman. Rounding out the family is beloved grandfather Al "Pops" Solomon , the wild man of the clan, a Shameless Don Juan who's schooling Adam in the ways of love. When Pops buys a new sports car and offers his Caddy to middle child Barry, it's enough to drive this already high-strung family to the brink of chaos.