Pop Cultures in The Goldbergs – Weird Al

ABC's The Goldbergs is a love letter the 1980s and contains a veritable cornucopia of pop culture references and jokes about decade in each and every single episode. While it's next to impossible to list every single 1980s reference on The Goldbergs, we're going to run down some of each episode's geekier and more obscure pop culture moments. Please note that this column tries to cover only the "unique" references that appear in each episode, while passing on the posters, toys and other background pieces that appear in every episode and are irrelevant to the plot.

Weird Al

One of the world's best known musical parodists, Weird Al Yankovic was both the subject of this episode and one of The Goldbergs biggest guest stars to date. Yankovic rose to fame in the 1980s with several popular musical parodies and faithfully recreated music videos, as well as a slew of polka covers and medleys. Because he focuses on contemporary pop hits, Weird Al has stayed relevant for over 35 years and even scored his first No. 1 album in 2014 with his latest release Mandatory Fun. In recent years, Weird Al has also added a burgeoning television career to his lengthy list of accomplishments. In addition to guest starring in countless comedies, Weird Al also voice acts and has played Animal Man, the Dollmaker and Darkseid in various DC cartoons.

Weird Al's glasses, permed hair and moustache are all a throwback to his "classic" look during the 1980s. He's since ditched the eye glasses, shaved the moustache and grown out his hair considerably. He still wears the Hawaiian shirts though.

UHF

Adam appropriately wears a movie t-shirt from Weird Al's 1989 film UHF while trying to convince his mother to go to the Weird Al concert with Dana. UHF starred Weird Al as the new owner of a "ultra high frequency" television network on the verge of bankruptcy. Weird Al and team of eclectic employees turns the station's fortune around by staging a series of goofy new television shows, many of which parodied popular TV series and music videos. UHF bombed with both critics and at the box office, but Yankovic's fans helped turn the film into a cult classic with a devoted following years after its release.

Ecto-Cooler

In an attempt to rekindle their relationship, Adam offers Dana an Ecto-Cooler while sitting in his treehouse. The Ecto-Cooler was a Ghostbusters themed green citrus drink produced by Hi-C for much of the 1980s and 1990s. While Coca-Cola, the owner of Hi-C, discontinued Ecto-Cooler in 2001, there's rumors that Coke is bringing back the drink for the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot.

Super Mario Bros

Adam and Dana played some Super Mario Bros. this episode, which was hilarious mainly because Adam's grandfather referred to the game as "Super Immigrant Plumbers."

Holding Up the Boombox

Dana holds up a boombox outside Adam's bedroom window, similar to the classic John Cusack scene from Say Anything. Adam previously pulled that trick in Season 1, when he tried to convince Dana to date him. That Say Anything scene is probably one of the most homaged scenes in all of cinema, despite anyone under the age of 30 not knowing what movie it came from.

The Green Lantern Ring

Dana tries to give Adam back his Green Lantern ring, which Adam had originally given to her as a promise ring. If you're reading ComicBook.com, you probably know who Green Lantern is and why his ring is so important.