'Goldbergs' show throwback love to Super Bowl champ Eagles
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia Eagles might want to make room on the shelf for some Emmys next to the Lombardi Trophy.
The real Philly Special was throwing it back to the '80s on an episode of "The Goldbergs."
The casting call for an Eagles ensemble came last year when "Goldbergs" creator Adam Goldberg picked a football theme for his latest Philly sports episode. The furry green Philly Phanatic had guest starred and Flyers gear is much a part of the fabric of the show as Bev Goldberg dropping a "schmoopie" reference. So it seemed fitting the Eagles would eventually get co-billing, and they do, on Wednesday night's "Hail Barry " episode.
About the only thing Goldberg couldn't script was a perfect ending: He watched the Super Bowl at a party in Los Angeles and had to skip a hopeful trip to the Eagles' championship parade in Philadelphia because of a time crunch to write this season's final episodes.
One cool part of being the boss of your own show is getting the chance to invite your idols to the set. His Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, family was part of a group that shared Flyers season tickets from 1985 to 1994 and older brother Barry was a die-hard Eagles fan. The 41-year-old Goldberg said his older brother arranged his wedding around an Eagles game, and is still a season-ticket holder even though he lives in New York. "The Goldbergs" featured an episode on Eagles' gameday superstitions but Goldberg went straight to the source for this week's homage - 1980s star wide receiver Mike Quick.
Quick, a five-time Pro Bowl pick in the 1980s, was Barry Goldberg's favorite player and plays an assistant high school coach in "Hail Barry." Eagles president Don Smolenski, vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and radio announcer Merrill Reese all make cameos. The Eagles executives made an appearance on the set when the team spent a week in Los Angeles in December between road games at Seattle and Los Angeles.
Goldberg also taps into the NFL pop culture of the day with a shoutout to the Eagles 1988 rap video , "Buddy's Watchin' You ."
Quick, a color commentator for the team radio broadcast, was a natural on set.
"He crushes every joke to the point where the writers are like, can he come back as a cast member. I'm like, this guy has a real job," Goldberg said. "He's so funny. If he went out here and went on auditions, he would get work."
Barry Goldberg, who swore he would never act on the "The Goldbergs," broke his vow for the shot to live out a boyhood dream by playing catch with Quick . Barry Goldberg and his real-life Jenkintown Posse (JTP!) buddies play a game of touch football with their TV counterparts.
At the end of the episode, the cast gathers for an "E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles" chant as the screen shows "Dedicated to Eagles Fans Everywhere ," and Queen's "We Are The Champions" plays.
"I knew the Eagles would win," Goldberg said.
Because of talent?
"The minute I knew that (Barry) couldn't go to the game because he got the flu , I said they're going to win," Goldberg said.
Ah yes, some good-natured teasing between brothers, 3,000 miles from the City of Brotherly Love.
The season five finale hit a bump this week when director Kevin Smith said he had a heart attack after performing at a Los Angeles comedy show Sunday night. Smith credited a doctor with saving his life after the 47-year-old "Clerks" filmmaker suffered a total blockage of his left coronary artery, often referred to as "the widow maker." Smith was set to start shooting the finale of the hit ABC comedy on Monday but Goldberg said a staff writer will take his place for the episode.
"I'm just happy he's OK. I emailed him and told him don't worry about my dumb comedy show," Goldberg said . "Get better and we'll have you back ASAP."
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