300 cheer 'Goldbergs' season premiere in real-life Jenkintown
When is it acceptable for a mayor to strip off his pants on stage in front of a roomful of constituents?
When is it acceptable for a mayor to strip off his pants on stage in front of a roomful of constituents?
When the borough is Jenkintown, the mayor is Ed Foley, and the occasion is a Season Two premiere screening of ABC's hit show The Goldbergs.
Under those circumstances Tuesday night, Foley's stunt - an homage to the show's Murray Goldberg, an irascible 1980s father who usually appears in tighty whiteys - got a huge round of applause from the crowd of nearly 300.
The show is based on writer Adam F. Goldberg's childhood in Jenkintown. Residents recognize many of the local scenes and themes: keg parties in Alverthorpe Park, shopping at Willow Grove Park, and Eagles and Flyers fandom.
The Hiway Theatre on Old York Road, where the screening was held, was replicated on a studio lot for Season One as the site where nerdy 11-year-old Adam camped out to see Return of the Jedi.
Many residents said that seeing those local landmarks makes the show all the more entertaining.
Karen Pizer, 42, and her husband both grew up in Jenkintown and stayed to raise their two daughters there.
"It was exactly like the show says - spin the bottle, Rubik's Cubes. My mom still has the same couch that they have on the show," she said, laughing.
Goldberg couldn't make it out from Los Angeles for the screening. But in an e-mail to Foley, he said the show "is not just a love letter to the '80s and not just a love letter to my family. It's a love letter to Jenkintown ... the greatest little town in the world."
Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb of less than half a square mile and 4,500 residents, Foley said, gave the writer a wealth of material. "It's a weird . . . crazy little bubble town, and you can't make this stuff up," he said.
Lisa Miller came to the screening from King of Prussia with her sister and nieces. To look the part, they dug out their brightest '80s clothes, and donned bright pink blush and emerald eye shadow.
"A lot of stuff reminds me of growing up. Like, 'Call your mother!' " she said, recalling an episode in which Beverly Goldberg goes off the deep end when her teenagers don't call to check in. "I'm 50, and I still have to call my mother," Miller joked.
Drew Kremp - who in real life was middle brother Barry Goldberg's best friend, and on the show was recast as the hunk who broke sister Erica's heart - said the show had seeped into their everyday lives.
At the Kremp family's flower shop in Willow Grove, Drew Kremp said, "there's not a day that goes by that people don't want to come in, take pictures, ask us if Barry was really like that or if Bev really did that."
Kremp answers them all without hesitation: Yes, Murray did remove his pants as soon as he walked in the door. Yes, Beverly was that loud and overprotective. And, yes, Barry thought he was the best at everything, although he was less tightly wound than the character.
Before the screening, Beverly Goldberg held court at the front of the stage, taking photos with fans and signing autographs on paper, clothing, anything that was put in front of her.
"When we go out with her, we get free hors d'oeuvres," said Linda, a longtime neighbor. "She tells everybody who she is, of course."
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