12 non-Christmas episodes for the rest of us
By Sundi Rose
The Goldbergs: “A Christmas Story”
The Goldbergs are one of the few out and proud Jewish families on network TV. The show’s portrayal of an American Jewish family is honest and authentic, as much as a TV family can be. So, it was a little jarring to see them do A Christmas Story-themed holiday episode. But leave it to The Goldbergs to infuse their “Super Hanukkah” with the 80’s spirit and invoke the decade’s most popular holiday movie, even if said movie wasn’t even remotely about Hanukkah.
In “A Christmas Story,” overzealous mom Beverly is disappointed at her family’s lack of enthusiasm over their Jewish celebration. She ups the ante by invoking a “Super Hanukkah” to make it seem more exciting. Her efforts don’t really move the Goldberg kids very much because everything she forces on them is just so Christmas-y, it seems a little hokey. This plays out against a subplot in which Adam feels jealous of his brother’s girlfriend and “triple dog dares” him to a really stupid stunt, a la the 80’s classic.
The Goldbergs relies heavily on our childhood nostalgia, so invoking this very, very Christmas-y movie is mostly forgivable, especially because they give us the gift of Beverly’s bedazzled Hanukkah sweaters that only get louder then the one before.
“A Christmas Story” is the tenth episode of the third season and you can watch it on ABCGo.