the goldbergs "the lost boy" episode last week (spoiler)

[Obliviax]

what a great "right of passage" episode this week. Aside from a couple of great scenes where mom bedazzles the oldest son's Flyer's jersey, is the story of the youngest son and dad who go to a Phillies game at old Veterans Memorial Stadium.

ten year old has to go to the bathroom after drinking a 32 ouncer and Dad, thinking he's old enough and not wanting to miss any of the game, sends him alone. Kid finds the bathroom a horror story and goes up a floor thinking it is the higher priced area and will be nicer. As a result, kid gets lost. He can't find his dad, dad can't find him.

I've been on both sides. As a kid, I got lost at a Penn St./Pitt game at Three Rivers. I found the family but remember being half scared to death. As a Dad, I remember doing the bumper boats on a cool day with my two sons and got wet. We had just enough credits to go on the go carts that only held three and my youngest son was too small to go. I left him, about six at the time, near the railing while I raced with my older boy (age 8). When we got done, the youngest was gone. It only took five minutes to find him but those were the longest five minutes of my life. And, when I found him, he was freezing (from being wet) and crying. Some older lady was trying to comfort him and help him find me. To this day, I feel horrible about it. But, I consider it a right of passage for the kid and being a father.

This post was edited on 3/27 1:45 PM by Obliviax

This post was edited on 3/27 2:48 PM by Obliviax

 

[MontereyLion]

I can identify with you.

When my son was very young...maybe two and a half...we went to the strawberry festival in Watsonville, on
a weekend day. How he so quickly got out of our sight, we still don't know? Talk about panicked parents.
Five minutes of terror will last a lifetime in a parents brain. We obviously found him just wondering around.
Similar thing happened to my brother. They had gone to the Mall. His daughter( a week older then my son)
just disappeared. She walked from one side of the Mall thru JC Penneys to the other side. Took them about
15 minutes to find her. In this day and age you just never know what might happen to a kid that young.
I DVRd that episode of the Goldbergs and we are looking forward to watching it.

 

[Obliviax]

sorry. should have said "spoilers"

but I don't think I took anything away from it. The plot line is telegraphed and its the detailed acting and writing that really set the tone.

 

[WestSideLion]

I loved the "Veteran's Stadium" scenes...

those were obviously old footage mixed with stuff shot on a sound stage, but it was funny to see the 80s Phillies at The Vet. I spent many a day there as a kid.

 

[GringoStarr99]

War Memorial Stadium? It was Veterans Memorial Stadium.

What was scarier was my brother took me to the Connie Mack during the last year it was open. Not that going into North Philly was an adventure but I can still remember the sights and smells from in there. I seem to recall how steep the upper deck was there....

But it was a great episode last night. Lotsa Philly references. And the bathroom scenes were dead-on

 

[Obliviax]

sorry, I am not a philly guy. I changed the name. I've only been to Philly once or twice in my life.

I remember Forbes Field, Three Rivers and the multipurpose stadium in CLE. What was shocking at CLE was the women would come into the men's bathrooms because the lines for the women's rooms were so long. They'd stand in line for the johns while we'd piss into a trough.

 

[MontereyLion]

Re: sorry. should have said "spoilers"

That was OK. You only peaked my interest. We always watch the Hat Trick of Goldbergs,
Modern Family and Blackish. Just not always the same night they are on. We picked Blackish
to watch last night. I like all three for different reasons.

 

[jjsocrates]

I don't remember there being troughs at the Vet, but the men's rooms there were certainly a right of passage. Not so much at the Phillies games, but most certainly at the Eagles games. I loved it when he thought the higher levels were nicer - not sure if anybody outside of Philly got the reference to the 700 Level. (Heck, THAT would be a great name for a Sports Bar in Philly!)

There may not have been troughs at the Vet in the 700 level, but when it need, a sink usually worked. As George Constanza said "its all pipes!"

Side Note: i always liked the men's room at the Skeller best. On the Goldberg's, the dad said to aim at a cigarette butt and make a game of it, but at the Skeller, we always tried to see if we could fill the Rolling Rock ponies back up to the top.

Of course, the worst bathroom in the world is not in a Trainspottingish Scotland pub, but rather at The Brewery. I swear to God, it was literally just a hole cut in the floor. Or just a porcelain wall. Either way, it was the only time I snuck OUT of a bar to go take a piss.

 

[LionJim]

No troughs at the Vet, but hell yes at Connie Mack Stadium. ****

ftg

 

[LionJim]

I wonder if they're going to do a Willow Grove Park episode. ****

ftg

 

[Kiber]

I love the Goldbergs. Favorite comedy on TV. But ..... after I learned that they had no sister, it made me realize that many of the stories are fabricated for TV, and not real life growing up experiences for Adam. If you do a little imdb look up on the show and Adam Goldberg, you see that he actually grew up with two older brothers, not a brother & a sister. The shows creators decided to switch a bro' with a sister. So all of those story lines that involve Erica, are most likely fabricated to some degree. For example, I am sure the Mom used the guilt trip on the kids. So the guilt trip story line was probably legit. But I doubt if two older brothers would have spent a day "bedazzling" things with their Mom.

 

[getmyjive11]

Originally posted by Obliviax:

ten year old has to go to the bathroom after drinking a 32 ouncer and Dad, thinking he's old enough and not wanting to miss any of the game, sends him alone. Kid finds the bathroom a horror story and goes up a floor thinking it is the higher priced area and will be nicer. As a result, kid gets lost. He can't find his dad, dad can't find him.



This post was edited on 3/27 2:48 PM by



Actually the joke there is that the kid thought the higher levels would be pricier, but they were actually the opposite. The 700 level that the show references was actually one of the scariest places to be inside a stadium. It was filled with animals who would rather drink and fight than watch a game. Just a great reference.

 

[jjsocrates]

Originally posted by Kiber:
I love the Goldbergs. Favorite comedy on TV. But ..... after I learned that they had no sister, it made me realize that many of the stories are fabricated for TV, and not real life growing up experiences for Adam. If you do a little imdb look up on the show and Adam Goldberg, you see that he actually grew up with two older brothers, not a brother & a sister. The shows creators decided to switch a bro' with a sister. So all of those story lines that involve Erica, are most likely fabricated to some degree. For example, I am sure the Mom used the guilt trip on the kids. So the guilt trip story line was probably legit. But I doubt if two older brothers would have spent a day "bedazzling" things with their Mom.

I can overlook that. And I can overlook no troughs at The Vet, no liquor sales at WaWa (c'mon - this is PA!) and all of the other 80's anachronisms (New Kids didn't get that big until the late 80s) that they get away with by saying the date was "Nineteen Eighty Something"

Heck, I give them props for finding ways to recreate the signage of The Vet and the OLD Wawa logo that looked like something out of the 80s Houston Astros scorebook.