The Goldbergs (season 3)

The Goldbergs (season 3)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	24[1]
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 23, 2015 – present

The third season of the American television comedy series The Goldbergs premiered on ABC on September 23, 2015. The season was produced by Adam F. Goldberg Productions, Happy Madison Productions, and Sony Pictures Television, and the executive producers are Adam F. Goldberg, Doug Robinson, and Seth Gordon.

The show explores the daily lives of the Goldberg Family; a family living in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania in the 1980s. Beverly Goldberg (Wendi McLendon-Covey), the overprotective matriarch of the Goldbergs is married to Murray Goldberg (Jeff Garlin). They are the parents of three children, Erica (Hayley Orrantia), Barry (Troy Gentile), and Adam (Sean Giambrone).

ABC renewed The Goldbergs for its third season on May 7, 2015.^[2]

Cast

Main cast

• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Beverly Goldberg
• Jeff Garlin as Murray Goldberg
• Hayley Orrantia as Erica Goldberg
• Troy Gentile as Barry Goldberg
• Sean Giambrone as Adam Goldberg
• George Segal as Albert "Pops" Solomon
• AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (millions)
48	1	"A Kick-Ass Risky Business Party"	Seth Gordon	Chris Bishop	September 23, 2015	301	7.62[3]
Barry, Erica and Lainey plan a kick-ass Risky Business style party while Lainey's father is out of town at a flooring convention in Atlanta. But the party plans are put on hold when Beverly becomes a "temporary smother" to Lainey. Much to Barry and Erica's surprise, Lainey actually likes the motherly attention, that is, until Bev becomes too overbearing and pushes her new "daughter" away. Meanwhile, Murray is deeply annoyed by the amount of time Adam spends on the phone talking to Dana, who moved to Seattle, and he cancels his long-distance phone plan. After Adam gets in trouble for using the fax machine in the teacher's lounge to send Dana a love letter, Murray remembers being away from Bev for six months while he was at ROTC. He compromises and allows Adam ten minutes of talking to Dana every night. The love birds share a moment watching Halley's Comet together.
49	2	"A Chorus Lie"	David Katzenberg	Marc Firek	September 30, 2015	302	7.39[4]
No longer in his cute kid phase, Adam is going through puberty; his arm pits smell, he has pimples, he's seeing every woman he comes across in a new light, and worst of all, his voice is changing. Despite that last change, he wins the solo in the school production of A Chorus Line, mainly because his classmates' voices are equally bad. Barry tries to help Adam through his "pubening", but only gives him bad advice. After hearing the news that pop duo Milli Vanilli deceived the public by not actually singing on their albums or at their concerts, Beverly asks Miss Cinamon to let Adam lip sync in the school musical, and to their surprise, she agrees. Meanwhile, Murray hears Erica is shunning the homecoming dance and calling all the boys at school "morons", including Barry's friend Geoff Schwartz who is infatuated with her. Murray and Lainey inspire Erica to be less selective, and she decides to go with band geek Johnny Akins, a ponytail-wearing, saxophone-playing, pompous moron. Upon learning that she is one of two girls Johnny is taking to the dance, Erica decides Geoff Schwartz is at least a "nice moron" and asks him to go, but they happily end up hanging out at the Wawa instead.
50	3	"Jimmy 5 is Alive"	Lew Schneider	Alex Barnow	October 7, 2015	303	6.60[5]
Murray has a new passion for the Weather Channel, one of the only five channels on TV. In order to get a robot, Adam tricks Murray to buy him one by going though Beverly, saying it's a "learning-based project". They end up building the robot together, but Murray's attempt at bonding with Adam goes awry when the two start fighting over the robot's specs and he tells his son to grow up. Learning from her Strawberry Shortcake doll smelling fetish, Erica advises Adam it's time to grow up and move on from his childish robots. Taking their advice, Adam quits his robots and begins to watch the Weather Channel like his dad. However, with Pops' advice, Murray buys Adam a Johnny 5 robot from Short Circuit and re-encourages Adam for his love of robots and creativity. The two wait in the rain, hoping that lightning will strike the robot, similar to the scene from the original movie. It never strikes, but they create a memory that neither would ever forget. Meanwhile, Barry makes a huge mistake when he accidentally tapes over Beverly's beloved video of his 5th birthday party, recording "Monster Jams" with the Jenkintown Posse. In an attempt to hide the evidence, he frames his own mother for the mistake. However, Beverly doesn't take the news well and spirals into a depression, and can't even Jazzercise. Wanting to cheer her up, Barry creates a "Momtage", revealing to his mom that he accidentally erased the tape. In retaliation, Beverly admits to Barry that he isn't good at basketball, and now he's the one that's depressed. Beverly, seeing Barry's attitude, consoles him. She tells him that he has so much more talent outside basketball and makes her own video of Barry's best moments, and the two reconcile. Barry realizes what her children's tapes mean to his mom and asks her to watch him film his next slam dunk "monster jam" session. Later, Barry shows an old video he found to the JTP, revealing an embarrassing moment of a nerdy Erica playing with her dolls.
51	4	"I Caddyshacked the Pool"	David Katzenberg	Stephen Basilone & Annie Mebane	October 14, 2015	304	6.38[6]
Now that Adam's body is changing, he is afraid to take swim class with the rest of his classmates for gym. It's awkward for them; the boys have to take off their shirts and just wear trunks and the girls have to wear one-piece swim suits, so Adam makes up several excuses not being able to swim. But when Mr. Meller tells Beverly that Adam is failing gym and he must swim or risk repeating the 8th grade, Beverly decides to buy Adam Jams to make him feel better, but Adam tells Beverly it's his body he is afraid of. Beverly then tries to tell Adam he has a beautiful body and when she fails, she makes Murray say it to him, and he thinks back to that phase in his childhood. Still wanting to get out of swimming, Adam and Pops watch Caddyshack, where Adam gets the idea to put a Baby Ruth candy bar in the pool and make it look like poop, just like in the movie. However, Mr. Meller recognizes that someone "caddyshacked" the pool, and says since it's a serious offense, the culprit will be in big trouble. Instead, while Adam hides his wrongdoing, the class runs laps. When Emmy Mirsky frames Dave Kim and he gets punished, Adam confesses to caddyshacking the pool, but Mr. Meller listens to his reason, and lets the class swim with shirts on so they won't be uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Erica is bored hanging with her popular friends who only talk about scrunchies. After getting inspired by the "We Are the World" video, Principal Ball and her start a Social Awareness Club. Barry calls Erica a "poser" for it but he joins her club anyway. When Barry decides to rival Erica's club with a donut donation charity club he calls "Barity" to buy new Air Jordans, Erica gets upset. Barry then shuts down his club, admitting that he is a "poser" as well. In the end, Erica and Barry combine clubs and try to come up with reasons to save the world together.
52	5	"Boy Barry"	David Katzenberg	David Guarascio	October 21, 2015	306	6.48[7]
Lainey is getting annoyed by Barry constantly being needy (this being due to Erica constantly telling him Lainey's out of his league). So much so, she asks Erica to help "fix" her brother, but Erica has a little fun and tells Barry he needs to be more like Boy George to stay with Lainey. Barry dresses up as the famous singer and calls himself "Boy Barry". Barry discovers it was a lie and, mad at Lainey for suggesting he needed to be someone different, breaks up with her. A devastated Lainey attempts to win him back, and even creates her own version of Barry's Big Tasty called "Mc DLT" to show Barry she doesn't care what people think. Together with JTP, she does a rap to confess her love for him, but it fails; she's just too popular and her classmates assume she is doing it to embarrass Barry. However, Barry has an endearing talk with Erica, who is sorry for what she did, and he races to Lainey's house in the rain to get back together. Meanwhile, Beverly feels threatened by Murray's friendship with Bill. She hates their new Magnum, P.I. moustaches, especially after Murray doesn't do what Beverly says anymore and only listens to Bill. After having a talk with Bill that doesn't go well, Beverly shaves off Murray's moustache while he sleeps and later tells Murray he must choose between her and Bill. Murray of course chooses his wife, though tells her that while he's used to her always being in charge, he hates that she didn't like his only friend. In the end, Beverly realizes Murray needs Bill and, like Barry, she races in the rain to Bill's house to tell him to go back to her husband.
53	6	"Couples Costume"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Andy Secunda	October 28, 2015	307	6.88[8]
When Adam wants to spend time as a couple with Dana by dressing up as Alien and Ellen Ripley on Halloween instead of his mother and her "couples costumes", Beverly decides to teach him a lesson by demonstrating trick or treating safety. She creates a visual aid to show him the dangers from getting candy with strangers without his mother by putting razor blades inside candy. But it's not needed when Barry and Erica talk Adam into taking Dana to a haunted house in town to feel more grown-up. Murray throws the razor blade candy away without telling his wife, and Beverly combs the neighborhood for it by taking kids' candy bags. Meanwhile, the haunted house is just way too scary for Adam and he even uses Dana as a human shield, causing her to lose her promise ring somewhere inside the house. Adam enlists Barry and Erica to go in and get the ring, but they're no help. Barry twists his ankle and Erica reunites with a fraternity guy who offers her some beer. Adam then needs his mom's help and it's "scary mom" as Predator to the rescue! Beverly goes to the haunted house, rescues Barry, and saves Erica from herself, and most importantly, Adam finds Dana's ring, realizing he and mom still make a great team. Adam returns the ring to Dana and apologizes, and their first "adult Halloween" ends like their adolescent ones always did, with him and Dana getting candy. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
54	7	"Lucky"	Lew Schneider	Marc Firek	November 11, 2015	308	7.01[9]
When Erica throws her annual Troop Beverly Hills pajama party with Lainey and their friends, Adam and his friends spy on them by hiding his video camera during the party to gain insight into young womanhood. But when Beverly catches them, she can't resist and enjoys becoming a secret member by watching Erica and her friends gossip, make prank calls and give beauty tips. It doesn't last long because one of Erica's friends discovers the hidden camera and Beverly is caught. In retaliation, Erica "grounds" her own mother from her life, saying she isn't allowed to participate in it ever again. Within a week, Erica and Lainey are busted by an undercover cop posing as a concert scalper and they land in jail. Erica refuses to use her one phone call to talk to Beverly so she settles for Pops, who gets arrested himself for driving without a license. In the end, Erica realizes that she still needs her mother. After mom bails her out, Erica throws a mother-daughter "Troop Beverly" campfire party. Meanwhile, Barry and Pops discover the new pet store at the mall. Barry was told by Murray all his life that he is deathly allergic to dogs, but that doesn't stop him from playing with the puppies. To his surprise, he's totally fine and realizes Murray lied to him about the allergy. Barry asks his dad for a dog every single day until Murray finally gives in and gets him a dog that Barry names "Lucky". But Lucky recognizes Murray as the alpha male and hangs around only with him, making Barry jealous. Later, Barry learns how to bond with Lucky, but sees that Murray really loves the dog by now. The two share the dog as all three watch the Eagles game together.
55	8	"In Conclusion, Thanksgiving"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Dan Levy	November 18, 2015	305	7.08[10]
For this year's Thanksgiving, Beverly insists the entire family get together, including inviting Murray's estranged father Pop-Pop, who didn't like her cooking way back when they got married. The tension starts when Uncle Marvin shows up dressed in medical scrubs as he's almost a fully licensed chiropractor. In order to keep the family toasting tradition alive, Pops and asks Erica to take over as "toastmaster general", but a jealous Barry wants his fair shot and turns the holiday toast into a contest. When Adam shows Murray a music video he made with the father/son relationship song Cat's in the Cradle, which really speaks to him, but to his surprise it spoke to his dad even more. With that emotional impact, Adam subliminally uses lyrics from the song to manipulate Murray to pay for a pricey wide-angle lens to make more serious videos. Beverly sees this and instead of punishing Adam, she uses the song to get Murray to invite Pop-Pop so he could see what an amazing cook she is. However, tension continues to build when Barry actual beats Erica with his entertaining and dramatic toast, while Marvin tricks Pop-Pop into thinking he will pick him up for turkey dinner and never does. Murray now has to get his dad, arguments ensue over the mind-trick, and he throws his back out. In the end, Erica makes a rousing speech, arguments stop, Murray's back is aligned by Marvin, and even Pop-Pop devours Beverly's food even asking for second helpings; Turkey Day is saved! Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
56	9	"Wingmom"	Lew Schneider	Lew Schneider & Marty Schneider	December 2, 2015	310	6.46[11]
Barry wants to be a badass fighter pilot straight out of Top Gun, so he enlists in ROTC at school. After Beverly forbids signing the permission form to start basic training, Murray secretly signs it, thinking it will toughen his son up. Unlike the glorious depiction displayed in the movie, it's not what he expected. There's no nicknames or call signs, boot camp is too hard, and Captain Wallace (Marlon Young) calls him a loser and worthless. This causes Beverly to wage war on Wallace and enlists to be his "wingmom" to help her son. Beverly then sees she helped Barry so much through the years that he became a quitter, and he decides to fly solo from now on. Meanwhile, when Adam hangs out with Pops at the mall, they check out a time share presentation in order to get free movie tickets. However, Pops actually gets sucked in by all the amenities and buys a condo in Florida, but Adam hates the idea that his best bud will be away from him for months out of the year. He then tries to bond with Pop-Pop to make Pops jealous, and sees Pops having fun hanging with Erica. In the end, Adam realizes that Pops is getting older and should have his own enjoyment elderly people his age needs, and makes his own presentation that shares their good times together, just like the friendship between Goose and Maverick. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
57	10	"A Christmas Story"	Lew Schneider	Lacey Marisa Friedman	December 9, 2015	309	7.02[12]
After seeing the Kremps' getting into the holiday spirit together as one happy family, Beverly wants to be—as she says—"good at family" too. She decides to spice up her family's Jewish traditions and creates "Super Hanukkah". But it's practically the same as Christmas with decorating the house, hanging blue and white lights, and opening presents under a Hanukkah bush on one night. Pops dislikes this new celebration and tries to guilt Beverly into ending it by doling out sad family heirlooms as gifts from his "sack of shame" and singing depressing songs of their people's oppression. Meanwhile, Adam is upset that Barry would rather hang out with Lainey during Winter break than him. Barry shares their brotherly holiday traditions like playing their made-up game of Ball-Ball and watching "A Christmas Story" with his girlfriend instead of his little brother. In an attempt to get Barry to stay, Adam breaks the one rule in the house; never issue Barry a dare because he has no regard for his well-being. Getting the idea from the film, Adam triple-dog dares him to sick his tongue to a frozen tether-ball pole in the backyard, and not only does Barry gets stuck, Adam gets tricked into a hug and gets stuck as well. In the end, the bush burns down, the brothers reconcile, and learning the Kremps' Christmas ham is burnt, Beverly invites them to have dinner with her family at a Chinese restaurant, a Goldberg tradition.
58	11	"The Tasty Boys"	Christine Gernon	Steve Basilone & Annie Mebane	January 6, 2016	311	6.61[13]
After seeing Virginia Kremp's new kitchen, Beverly wants to remodel her own kitchen, but afraid of change and a creature of habit, Murray isn't willing to do the makeover. Getting inspiration from Bob Vila, Beverly devises a plan to do the work herself by destroying her old kitchen on purpose to force Murray into fixing it. But he sees through her manipulation and gets Bill to help him put back the kitchen exactly the way it was. In the end, Murray tries to accept change and compromises by putting in a lazy Susan spice rack and trying New Coke. Meanwhile, after making music videos of their favorite rappers, The Beastie Boys, Barry and Adam form a super-group called The Tasty Boys. They hold an audition to find their third member who turns out to be Geoff Schwartz, who only joins to impress Erica and winds up with stage fright. At school, the three create a hype train and get to perform at the pep rally in the gym. Musically-inclined Erica, who hides in her room writing chick songs that are not ready to perform, is now jealous of her brothers' attention. However, they spend way too much time on their fresh-style, appearance and getting an entourage, and no time writing songs and rehearsing. After Geoff leaves the group, Erica steps in to rescue her brothers. She joins Barry and Adam in lip-syncing the Beastie's "Shake Your Rump" in front of all their classmates, and it's a success. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
59	12	"Baio and Switch"	David Katzenberg	Alex Barnow	January 13, 2016	312	6.33[14]
For different reasons, Barry and Erica both sign up to be part of the Hands Across America charity event in their town, which is being coordinated by Coach Meller. However, he is overwhelmed and Beverly takes over so she can get one photo in the newspaper of her and her kids looking happy together, but Barry and Erica decide to drop out of the event. To keep them interested, Beverly lies and says she got Scott Baio to ditch the Philadelphia event and come to Jenkintown. The kids then argue over which one will get to hold Scott Baio's hand. Elsewhere, Adam invites Emmy Mirsky to the Harvest Hop school dance after seeing how upset she is when a boy she liked shuns her. Adam is then shocked to see that Dana has come to town and expects him to take her to the dance. He enlists Pops' help, along with Dave Kim to develop an elaborate scheme where he can take both girls to the dance without either knowing, but Dana is staying with Emmy and they find out anyway, ending with both girls getting mad at both Adam and Dave Kim and refusing to speak to either of them, especially Adam after Dana looks at the scheme plot and says that is "disrespectful" and Emmy seeing that Adam made her the Hulk in his scheme. Adam later takes Murray's advice of "don't be a moron", and apologizes to both girls, saying he didn't want to upset either of them for different reasons. After the apology, Emmy and Dana both accompany Adam to the dance and he was able to do what some of his favorite television show characters couldn't — take two girls to the same dance. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
60	13	"Double Dare"	David Katzenberg	Chris Bishop	January 20, 2016	314	6.21[15]
Adam and Emmy Mirsky learn that their favorite game show, Double Dare, is coming to their school for auditions and quickly pick each other as partners. However, things go bad when Adam picks Pops as his partner behind Emmy's back. When Emmy finds out, she gets mad at Adam and in retaliation, she picks Adam's one-sided rivalg/enemy, "Handsome" Ben, as her partner: they land the spot, but Ben reveals to Adam that Emmy has been practicing with Ben two months prior, leaving Adam with no partner because Pops failed the messy obstacle course. This leads to Adam and Emmy constantly tormenting and fighting with one another until Handsome Ben ditches Emmy for their classmate "Regular" Amy. When Handsome Ben and Amy win the audition, Adam sees Emmy on the bleachers, crying, and they make up. Meanwhile, Murray and Barry are upset by the Eagles' losing streak until Barry is convinced that when Beverly is in the room, the Eagles score, so Beverly starts watching the games with the boys, leaving Murray annoyed because football is his time "away from his wife," and Bev is ruining that. Thus, Beverly asks Bill and Erica to teach her football, and she is able to learn quickly and watch the games. When Beverly finds out how Murray feels, she stops watching the games and, seeing how Beverly is trying to learn one of his hobbies, Murray tries scrapbooking, one of her Bev's hobbies, and it fails. When Beverly finds out, she helps Murray scrapbook, and they both agree that football and scrapbooking are times they need alone and start to give each other some space. Note: The real Benjamin "Handsome Ben" Bauman and Amy "Regular Amy" Gross appeared as the producers for Double Dare. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
61	14	"Lainey Loves Lionel"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Teleplay by: David Guarascio Story by: Josef Adalian & David Guarascio	February 10, 2016	313	6.19[16]
Despite Lainey insisting that she doesn't want Barry to do anything "crazy" for Valentine's Day, he tries to think of something small yet romantic. Inspired by the music video for Lionel Richie's Hello, Barry tries to sculpt a clay bust of Lainey's head, but he has no artistic talent and all of his creations just look creepy. Adam and his friends want to see the R-rated movie Porky's at the new Multiplex, but he needs Beverly's permission and she strictly forbids it. They decide to buy a ticket to watch Annie, which is playing at the same multiplex, with plans to sneak in and see the sexually graphic film instead. But like his mom says, Adam is a "good boy" and he wusses out. When Murray learns that Adam could have snuck in to see Porky's but didn't, he is disappointed and feels like he's raised a wimp. Encouraged by dad to do break the rules and do something daring, Adam buys a plane ticket to see Dana in Seattle, but he ultimately chickens out when the captain announces there will be major turbulence. Elsewhere, Geoff Schwartz schemes to get into the friend zone with Erica, thinking she will eventually succumb to his charms and want to be his girlfriend, but Erica shows no signs of doing so and Geoff soon gives up the notion. However, Erica sees Barry and Lainey professing their love for each other and she wants the same thing.
62	15	"Weird Al"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Lauren Bans	February 17, 2016	315	6.39[17]
When Dana comes to town, Adam wants to spend a romantic weekend together and starts with their "greatest hits" of their childhood toys and food. But when that doesn't go over well, he announces they're going to their first concert. But, thinking it's a rock concert, Dana loses interest when Adam gets tickets to his favorite "rock god", "Weird Al" Yankovic, who inspired him to write his own parody songs, including one about Barry in the tune of Wang Chung's "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". At the concert, Dana's lack of enthusiasm shows when Adam meets his "comedian muse" and picks him over her. After seeing Adam and Dana's relationship on the rocks, Beverly demands Al put on a private concert, but he offers advice instead, and she makes a photo slideshow of their memories. The couple realizes that not only did they grow apart, they grew up and don't get each other anymore. Dana says goodbye in the same way Adam won her over two years ago, with a boombox held head high, al la Say Anything..., only she plays Weird Al's "King of Suede". Meanwhile, Barry gets involved in school and signs up to be a peer counselor when Mr. Glascott tries to dissuade him. Barry thinks this means he is a licensed medical psychiatrist and he can advise anyone on anything and they have to listen to him. He starts with JTP's personal issues and gives such horrible advice that Erica steps in, helping them behind Barry's back. She becomes a peer counselor herself after Glascott bribes her with an A in gym. Barry then challenges her to a "counsel-off" and they notice signs of depression in Murray and in order to win, they must be the first one to fix him. In the end, they do make Murray smile and are even there for Adam after losing his first love. Absent: AJ Michalka as Lainey Lewis
63	16	"Edward 'Eddie the Eagle' Edwards"	Jonathan Corn	Dan Levy	February 24, 2016	319	6.45[18]
Vainly thinking he has a shot at his school's Student Athlete of the Year award, only to be dejected and embarrassed when it goes to a much more deserving classmate, Barry resolves to be a champion at something. Inspired by English ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, he sets his sights on multiple Olympic events, but his attempts to succeed at any of them fall flat. Adam, who has always looked up to his older brother's athletic "prowess", notes that Barry is outstanding at "Ball Ball", a home game the two invented. Barry excitedly starts a Ball Ball club at school, only to have the school's star athlete, Rubén Amaro Jr. take over and soundly defeat Barry in every match. Worse, Barry expelled Adam from the club, causing Adam to reconsider the hero worship he's always held for Barry. Ultimately, Erica convinces Adam to build his brother's spirits back up, and the two boys hold their own Olympics they call "Home Games", featuring every home game they've ever created. Their ridiculous events include, "umbrella boarding", "stationary peddling" and "stair luge". At home, Adam makes his big brother into, "Barry the Eagle", and he wins all the "gold" medals. Elsewhere, Murray has become a penny-pincher at home, and Beverly soon discovers that the furniture store is failing when she sees Murray's employee Vic working in a Photo Hut. Beverly suggests that Murray start selling futons, a hot new furniture item from Japan, but the too-proud Murray refuses her help. Murray eventually caves when Pops tells him a story about his past struggles in the furniture business and getting help from his family. So, for the first time, Murray breaks down and accepts help. Soon, Beverly starts working at the store and easily talks customers into purchasing futons.
64	17	"The Dirty Dancing Dance"	David Katzenberg	Teleplay by: Adam F. Goldberg Story by: Adam F. Goldberg & David Guarascio	March 2, 2016	317	7.08[19]
After watching their favorite movie, Dirty Dancing, Erica and Beverly are determined to give the next school dance a Dirty Dancing theme. When Erica makes her case to Principal Ball, however, he strictly forbids it, and insists the dance be a 1950s-themed "soda pop hop" – that is until he sees Beverly leering through his office window, and he caves to avoid a confrontation with her. Meanwhile, Barry is equally determined to have a Footloose theme, insisting that it's a much better dance movie than Dirty Dancing. Murray, who has long resisted dancing, is convinced by Pops that he should try and learn for the sake of Beverly's happiness. Beverly soon backs off from her support of Erica's Dirty Dancing theme when she realizes the dancing may include sexually-oriented "grinding". She pleads her case to Principal Ball, asking that he not tell Erica who called off the theme, but Principal Ball has left the PA system on for the whole school to hear Beverly's pleas. Though embarrassed, Erica is not deterred, stating she and her friends will show up at the dance with every intention of retaining their original theme. At the dance, Geoff Schwartz is determined to be Patrick Swayze to Erica's Jennifer Gray and recreate the iconic "body lift" scene from the film, but it fails badly. Beverly, who is there as a chaperone, ultimately shows support for her daughter, and Erica and Geoff try the dance move again, this time with success. The kids all start dancing, and even Murray, who is also chaperoning, asks Beverly to dance.
65	18	"12 Tapes for a Penny"	David Katzenberg	Steve Basilone & Annie Mebane	March 16, 2016	318	6.69[20]
After seeing how Dave Kim stocked his huge cassette tape collection by getting "12 tapes for a penny" from the Columbia House music service, ordering several times under phony names, Adam tries to do the same. He tries to rope in Erica on the fraud scheme, but she backs out, not wanting to get in trouble, while also telling Adam that Columbia House will lock him into a contract to buy many more tapes at full price. Beverly finds out when a delivery man keeps bringing boxes of 12 tapes to the door, addressed to strange names that Adam made up, and she blames Erica, given all the trouble she's been in before. She grounds Erica for a month and makes Adam a banana split, even though Erica maintains her innocence and Adam tells the truth. Beverly assumes Adam is lying to cover for Erica, but she soon finds out about the real scheme after Pops orders tapes and says he saw Adam doing it. Erica, sick of being blamed for everything, attempts to do something worse to tick off her mom: shoplifting with her friend Carla. Beverly soon finds out after Erica gets sent to mall jail, but it turns out Erica backed out and only Carla actually shoplifted. Beverly apologizes to Erica and grounds Adam for a month. Beverly then makes Erica a banana split, which she shares with Adam, even though Beverly has banned Adam from talking with his sister. Meanwhile, Barry is trying to win over Bill Lewis and fails to do so. Murray says all dads despise their daughter's boyfriends and tries to help Barry win over Bill, but it fails when Barry sees Bill treating Lainey's ex-boyfriend nicely. In the end, Barry, with Murray's help, wins over Bill during a round of golf.
66	19	"Magic is Real"	Jay Chandrasekhar	Teleplay by: Mark Firek Story by: Kerri Doherty	March 23, 2016	316	6.73[21]
Barry goes to great lengths to avoid taking the PSAT test. He is further disappointed to learn that Lainey and all three of his fellow JTP members are planning to take the test, chastising all of them for giving up on their farfetched dreams. He finally confides in Murray that he is afraid to take the test because he thinks he will fail. He further tells Murray that he's afraid his friends and girlfriend will move on to great things, leaving him behind. Murray assures his son that he will do fine in life, saying he's never known anyone whose mind works like Barry's. Barry then begins studying for the test, to Erica's amazement and Lainey's satisfaction. Meanwhile, Adam is sorrowed over the end of his relationship with Dana, lamenting that he will never find anyone again. After viewing a David Copperfield special on TV, however, he is convinced that the ladies love magicians. A cute girl at school hires him for her little brother's birthday party, making Adam believe he was right. He convinces Beverly to buy a bunch of expensive items from a magic shop by telling her it is something they can do together. Adam makes Mom his assistant, but later fires her when his friends say it isn't cool to have his mom helping him. At the birthday party, Adam's magic tricks are going poorly, until Beverly arrives to rescue his act. Adam doesn't get the girl, though, as she is in ninth grade and says she cannot date a middle-schooler.
67	20	"Dungeons and Dragons, Anyone?"	David Katzenburg	Andrew Secunda	April 6, 2016	320	6.17[22]
Adam and his nerdy friends are sick and tired of always being humiliated athletically and being picked last for team sports in gym class. But Adam talks to Coach Mellor about it and he is made team captain. However, after Barry convinces Adam to pick winners, he betrays his loser friends; Dave Kim, David Sirota and "Tiny" Tyler by choosing the popular jocks over the nerds. When Adam and his new friends beat them at basketball, coach wants to make the next class fair and chooses Dave Kim to pick the next game. He picks the popular dice fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons: The Ghost Tower of Inverness tournament module. But the jocks don't know how to play, so Adam has to painstakingly teach them. In the end, both teams end up playing for four hours until it gets down to the last roll. It's up to Adam to take his team home, but decides to throw the game in order to get his friends to respect him again. Meanwhile, Erica decides to go to CMU in Pittsburgh, but Beverly and Murray aren't on board with her choice. Beverly doesn't want her daughter to be that far from home, while Murray is upset that his "princess" will be spending time on campus living with boys. And Pops, who just watched the movie Back to School, is considering going to college himself.
68	21	"Rush"	Beth McCarthy-Miller	Alex Barnow	April 13, 2016	321	6.29[23]
When Beverly gives Adam a "World's Best Son" trophy in the shape of an Oscar for his birthday, Barry complains that Beverly clearly plays favorites among her children. When Beverly eventually learns that Barry is right, she begins to shower him with the same attention she used to give to Adam, and Adam is more than happy to be rid his mom's constant meddling. Elsewhere, Johnny Atkins turns Erica on to his favorite band, Rush, and after listening to "Tom Sawyer", she becomes oddly attracted to him and joins his Rush cover band called "Speed Up". Though Erica soon realizes her attraction to Johnny was a momentary thing, she continues to date him in order to spite her father, Lainey and the JTP, whom she thinks are all trying to run her life. In the end, Erica realizes she doesn't need a boy to achieve her rock n' roll dreams, and recruits Lainey and Carla to join her own Rush cover band, and they perform at the school's Battle of the Bands. Meanwhile, Adam tries to plan the "greatest birthday ever" party by himself and fails. He turns to Beverly who throws him the most epic middle-school party with everything he's asked for; a Boba Fett walkout, knights sword fighting, a mini horse with mini sneakers, drinks with fog and a camera cake.
69	22	"Smother's Day"	David Katzenberg	Story by: Marc Firek Teleplay by: Chris Bishop	May 4, 2016	323	6.67[24]
When Barry and Erica forget Mother's Day again, they quickly improvise coupons for good deeds to give to Beverly. Fed up, Beverly decides to redeem all the coupons from the two that she has kept over the years, making Barry and Erica miserable. Elsewhere, Adam tries to convince Murray to pay for him to go to Space Camp, but Murray refuses, saying it's too expensive and an impractical dream for Adam to have. At Pops' suggestion, he and Adam visit Pop-Pop (Murray's father) to find out if there was ever a childhood dream that Murray had crushed. Pop-Pop reveals that Murray had a ventriloquist's dummy when he was nine, and that he had struck down Murray's dream of performing. Adam then brings the dummy home to try and soften up his father to the Space Camp idea.
70	23	"Big Orange"[25]	David Katzenburg	Rob Lieber	May 11, 2016	322	TBA
71	24	"Have a Summer"[25]	David Katzenburg	Story by: Adam F. Goldberg Teleplay by: Chris Bishop	May 18, 2016	324	TBA

Ratings

No.	Title	Air date	Time slot (EST)	Ratings/Share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	Viewers Rank (Week)	DVR 18–49	DVR Viewers (millions)	Total 18–49	Total viewers (millions)	Ref
1	"A Kick-Ass Risky Business Party"	September 23, 2015	Wednesdays 8:30 pm	2.4/8[3]	7.69[3]	33[26]	1.2	2.430	3.6	10.049	[27]
2	"A Chorus Lie"	September 30, 2015		2.4/8[4]	7.39[4]	35[28]	1.0	2.296	3.4	9.685	[29]
3	"Jimmy 5 is Alive"	October 7, 2015		2.1/7[5]	6.60[5]	35[30]	1.0	N/A	3.1	N/A	[31]
4	"I Caddyshacked the Pool"	October 14, 2015		2.0/7[6]	6.38[6]	39[32]	1.0	N/A	3.0	N/A	[33]
5	"Boy Barry"	October 21, 2015		2.1/7[7]	6.48[7]	41[34]	0.9	N/A	3.0	N/A	[35]
6	"Couples Costume"	October 28, 2015		2.2/7[8]	6.88[8]	37[36]	1.0	N/A	3.2	N/A	[37]
7	"Lucky"	November 11, 2015		2.1/7[9]	7.01[9]	34[38]	1.1	N/A	3.2	N/A	[39]
8	"In Conclusion, Thanksgiving"	November 18, 2015		2.2/7[10]	7.08[10]	36[40]	1.0	N/A	3.2	N/A	[41]
9	"Wingmom"	December 2, 2015		2.0/6[11]	6.46[11]	N/A	1.1	2.252	3.1	8.710	[42]
10	"A Christmas Story"	December 9, 2015		2.0/7[12]	7.02[12]	28[43]	0.9	2.174	2.9	9.191	[44]
11	"The Tasty Boys"	January 6, 2016		2.1/7[13]	6.61[13]	35[45]	1.0	2.174	3.1	8.786	[46]
12	"Baio and Switch"	January 13, 2016		2.0/6[14]	6.33[14]	34[47]	0.9	2.003	2.9	8.330	[48]
13	"Double Dare"	January 20, 2016		2.0/6[15]	6.21[15]	35[49]	0.8	N/A	2.8	N/A	[50]
14	"Lainey Loves Lionel"	February 10, 2016		2.0/7[16]	6.19[16]	38[51]	0.9	N/A	2.9	N/A	[52]
15	"Weird Al"	February 17, 2016		2.0/7[17]	6.39[17]	28[53]	0.9	N/A	2.9	N/A	[54]
16	"Edward 'Eddie the Eagle' Edwards"	February 24, 2016		1.9/6[18]	6.45[18]	33[55]	0.9	N/A	2.8	N/A	[56]
17	"The Dirty Dancing Dance"	March 2, 2016		2.1/7[19]	7.08[19]	22[57]	0.8	N/A	2.9	N/A	[58]
18	"12 Tapes for a Penny"	March 16, 2016		2.0/7[20]	6.69[20]	22[59]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
19	"Magic is Real"	March 23, 2016		2.0/7[21]	6.73[21]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
20	"Dungeons and Dragons, Anyone?"	April 6, 2016		1.8/6[22]	6.17[22]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
21	"Rush"	April 13, 2016		1.9/7[23]	6.29[23]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
22	"Smother's Day"	May 4, 2016		1.9/7[24]	6.67[24]	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
23	"Big Orange"	May 11, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
24	"Have a Summer"	May 18, 2016		N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

References

1. Andreeva, Nellie (November 17, 2015). "ABC Ups Orders For 'Middle', 'Goldbergs', 'Blackish', and 'FOTB', 'Modern Family' next". Deadline. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
2. "The Goldbergs: Third Season for ABC Retro Sitcom". TV Series Finale. May 8, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
3. Kondolojy, Amanda (September 24, 2015). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Survivor', 'Modern Family' & 'Law and Order: SVU' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
4. Dixon, Dani (October 1, 2015). "Wednesday Final Ratings: 'Empire', 'Survivor', 'Modern Family', & 'Rosewood' Adjusted Up; 'Nashville' & 'Code Black' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
5. Porter, Rick (October 8, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Empire,' 'SVU' and others adjusted up, 'Arrow' holds, 'Nashville' adjusted down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
6. Porter, Rick (October 15, 2015). "TV Ratings Wednesday: 'Empire' and 'Arrow' dip, 'Criminal Minds' and 'SVU' steady". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
7. Porter, Rick (October 22, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Rosewood' adjusted up, 'Empire' and everything else hold". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
8. Porter, Rick (October 29, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Supernatural' adjusts down, 'The Middle' and 'The Goldbergs' adjust up". Retrieved October 29, 2015.
9. Porter, Rick (November 12, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Blackish' and 'Code Black' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
10. Porter, Rick (November 19, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Arrow,' 'Rosewood,' 'Survivor' and 'The Middle' adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
11. Porter, Rick (December 3, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Arrow,' 'Empire' and 'Criminal Minds' adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
12. Porter, Rick (December 10, 2015). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Criminal Minds,' 'Modern Family' and all other originals hold". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
13. Porter, Rick (January 7, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'American Idol' and 'Modern Family' adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
14. Porter, Rick (January 14, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Modern Family' adjusts up, 'Code Black' adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
15. Porter, Rick (January 21, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Mike & Molly' adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
16. Porter, Rick (February 11, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'American Idol' adjusts up, 'Black-ish' adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
17. Porter, Rick (February 18, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Goldbergs' and 'SVU' adjust up 'Survivor,' 'Code Black' and 'Hell's Kitchen' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
18. Porter, Rick (February 25, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Survivor' adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
19. Porter, Rick (March 3, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'The Goldbergs' adjusts up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
20. Porter, Rick (March 17, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'The Goldbergs' and 'SVU' reruns adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
21. Porter, Rick (March 24, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Survivor,' 'Goldbergs,' 'Criminal Minds' and 'Chicago PD' all adjust up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
22. Porter, Rick (April 7, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'Empire' and 'Modern Family' adjust up, 'Nashville' adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
23. Porter, Rick (April 14, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: 'The Goldbergs' adjusts up, 'Black-ish' and 'Nashville' adjust down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
24. Porter, Rick (May 5, 2016). "Wednesday final ratings: Wednesday final ratings: ‘Chicago PD’ and ‘Heartbeat’ adjust up, ‘Nashville’ adjusts down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
25. "THE GOLDBERGS LISTINGS". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
26. Levin, Gary (September 29, 2015). "Nielsens: 'CSI' finale, 'Empire' return". USA Today. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
27. Andreeva, Nellie (October 11, 2015). "'Empire' Hits New High, Leads Premiere Week L+7 Ratings Gains With 'Blindspot'". Deadline. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
28. Levin, Gary (October 8, 2015). "Nielsens: 'Grandfathered,' 'Grinder' debut". USA Today. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
29. Pucci, Douglas (October 1, 2015). "Wednesday Final Nationals: Positives for 'Code Black' Debut on CBS and 'Chicago PD' Season Premiere on NBC". TV Media Insights. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
30. Levin, Gary (October 13, 2015). "Nielsens: 'Walking Dead,' 'Leno's Garage'". USA Today. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
31. Porter, Rick (October 31, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 3: 'Quantico' more than doubles, 'Empire' and 'Blindspot' score biggest gains". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
32. Levin, Gary (October 20, 2015). "Nielsens: 'Truth' starts, 'Fargo' returns". USA Today. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
33. Porter, Rick (November 4, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 4: 'Jane the Virgin' premiere doubles, 'Empire' and 'Blindspot' top charts for Oct. 12-18". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
34. Levin, Gary (October 27, 2015). "Nielsens: 'Empire,' MLB playoffs". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
35. Porter, Rick (November 9, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 5: 'Empire' and 'Blindspot' have biggest toal gains, 5 shows double". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
36. Levin, Gary (November 3, 2015). "Nielsens: World Series, GOP debate". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
37. Porter, Rick (November 16, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Blindspot' top week 6, 'Quantico' doubles in 18-49 and viewers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
38. Levin, Gary (November 17, 2015). "Nielsens: Debates, 'Badlands,' 'Broke Girls'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
39. Porter, Rick (December 1, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 8: 'Empire,' 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Quantico' top charts for Nov. 9-15". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
40. Levin, Gary (November 24, 2015). "Nielsens: AMAs, Latin Grammys, 'Chicago Med'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
41. Porter, Rick (December 7, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 9: 'Big Bang Theory' makes the biggest gains". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
42. Porter, Rick (December 21, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings, week 11: 'Empire' fall finale on top, 'Vampire Diaries' leads percentage gains". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
43. Levin, Gary (December 15, 2015). "Nielsens: Dolly, Victoria, 'Telenovela'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
44. Porter, Rick (December 29, 2015). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' gets biggest bump of the season in week 12, 5 shows double in 18-49". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
45. Levin, Gary (January 14, 2016). "Nielsens: Golden Globes, 'Lip Sync Battle'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
46. Porter, Rick (January 25, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Shades of Blue' premiere gets a good lift in week 16". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
47. Levin, Gary (January 20, 2016). "Nielsens: 'Mercy Street,' 'Billions,' 'Angie Tribeca'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
48. Porter, Rick (February 1, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' and 'Modern Family' lead week 17, 'Shades of Blue' doubles". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
49. Levin, Gary (January 27, 2016). "Nielsens: NFL conference championships, 'X-Files'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
50. Porter, Rick (February 8, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'X-Files' premiere dominates week 18, 'Limitless' doubles". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
51. Levin, Gary (February 18, 2016). "Nielsens: 'Walking Dead' return, NBA All-Star Game". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
52. Porter, Rick (February 29, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'How to Get Away with Murder,' 5 other shows double in a DVR-heavy week 21". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
53. Levin, Gary (February 23, 2016). "Nielsens: Grammys, 'Better Call Saul'". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
54. Porter, Rick (March 7, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'The Blacklist' and 'The Big Bang Theory' lead week 22". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
55. Levin, Gary (March 1, 2016). "Nielsens: Oscars dip,'Grey's Anatomy' returns". USA Today. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
56. Porter, Rick (March 14, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Big Bang Theory' has biggest week 23 gain, 'Jane the Virgin' and 3 others double". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
57. Porter, Rick (March 8, 2016). "Broadcast weekly Top 25: 'The Voice' premiere leads for Feb. 29-March 7". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
58. Porter, Rick (March 21, 2016). "Broadcast Live +7 ratings: 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Blindspot,' 'Jane' and 'Quantico' top week 24". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
59. Porter, Rick (March 22, 2016). "Broadcast weekly Top 25: 'The Voice' and 'NCIS' lead a quiet week of March 14–20". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 22, 2016.