Pop Culture References in The Goldbergs – Goldbergs Feel Hard

ABC’s 1980s-set sit com, The Goldbergs, is a cornucopia of pop culture references and jokes honoring the decade. While it’d be next to impossible to list every single reference on the show, it’s fun to acknowledge some of its geekier and more obscure pop culture moments. 

This column is mainly limited to “unique” references that appear in each episode, while passing on posters, toys and other background pieces that are irrelevant to the plot.

Donald Sutherland Head 

Barry notes that his local high school’s mascot costume, which features the oversized head of a Quaker, looks like the actor Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is a well-known actor, who has appeared in movies like M.A.S.H., The Dirty Dozen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Hunger Games movie franchise. He also had a small role in one of my favorite movies, Animal House. He’s also the father of 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland.

Strong as a Thundercat 

After his girlfriend tells him she loves him, Barry declares he’s as strong as a ThunderCat. This is a reference to the race in ThunderCats, a popular 1980s sci-fi/fantasy cartoon about a group of cat/human hybrids fighting against the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra. The ThunderCats were known for their popular cry “ThunderCats…HO!” Warner Bros rebooted the franchise in 2011 with a new ThunderCats cartoon, which lasted one season on Cartoon Network. While I never watched the original ThunderCats cartoon, the recent series was surprisingly deep and enjoyable to watch.

The Burial of Optimus Prime 

The episode ends with a montage of Goldberg family videos from the 1980s, including Adam reenacting the funeral of Optimus Prime, leader of the AutoBots in Transformers. In 1985, Hasbro released Transformers: The Movie, an epic animated film that bridged the second and third seasons of the Transformers cartoon series and introduced a bevy of new characters (and toys) to the line. Many remember the story as famed actor Orson Wells’ last movie appearance (as the talking robot planet Unicron) and Optimus Prime’s final battle before dying against Megatron. Shockingly, Optimus Prime didn’t come back to life later in the movie, leaving many young moviegoers traumatized. Dying became a bit of a hobby for Optimus, as the character has kicked it in almost every Transformer show, movie, and comic series at least once.

What other pop culture references did you spot in The Goldbergs? Share them in the comments below.

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