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How the Flyers connect fathers and sons will be theme of 'The Goldbergs'

Adam Goldberg, executive producer of "The Goldbergs," says when he was growing up that he and his dad bonded because of the Flyers. That will be the theme of Wednesday's episode on ABC.

Jeff Garlin, left, who plays the dad (Murray Goldberg) and his TV son (Sean Giambrone, who plays Adam Goldberg) are shown in an episode of The Goldbergs that revolves around the Flyers and father-son bonding. It will be aired Wednesday on ABC.
Jeff Garlin, left, who plays the dad (Murray Goldberg) and his TV son (Sean Giambrone, who plays Adam Goldberg) are shown in an episode of The Goldbergs that revolves around the Flyers and father-son bonding. It will be aired Wednesday on ABC.Read moreABC TV

If you've ever watched The Goldbergs, the popular ABC sitcom, you know it has a distinct Philadelphia flavor and frequently has the actors wearing T-shirts or jerseys that celebrate the city's sports teams.

Especially the Flyers.

The show is based on executive producer Adam F. Goldberg's experiences of growing up in Jenkintown in the 1980s.

On Wednesday, the show will have a Flyers segment that includes a game at the Spectrum. In the episode, young Adam Goldberg (played by Sean Giambrone) attends his first Flyers game and his dad is by his side. Tim Kerr and Dave Brown, who were Flyers at that time, get mentions in the segment, and high-scoring forward Brian Propp crushes a Winnipeg player into the boards.

As part of the plot, Adam tries to introduce theater to his dad and uses hockey tickets as a way to connect with him.

After he is offered the tickets, the dad, Murray Goldberg (played by Jeff Garlin), tells his son: "Once you discover the magic of hockey, then you'll see what I see and you'll become a puck head."

The real Goldberg said it is art imitating life. He said the episode is a real-life recreation of how he and his father actually reconnected.

"When I was 12, my dad got season tickets, and when he brought me to my first game, it was instant love," Goldberg said on Monday. "I finally learned how the game worked and it was such a rush seeing it live. My best memories are going to the Spectrum with my dad. He was a grumpy guy who parented from his TV chair. Those games brought him to life in an amazing way and it was where we did our best bonding."