Doubt that it is even worth having a Season 9 thread. This week's show about Adam trying to get into NYU was painful to watch. Everything that happened was like Michael driving into the lake times 10. I just want to reach into the screen and punch the characters in their faces.

I've only watched the first episode of this season, which was a tribute to George Segal. It was ok.

You know what's actually making this show watchable for me? Joanne. I like the fast talking, witty and self-centered dialogue.

I did like the NYU Dean seeing Brea and saying "This is your girlfriend and you're trying to claim hardship??". Although I've totally lost track of how many times Brea has forgiven Adam's asshole-ness. And it appears Adam is still in high school.

They have dumped any logic or continuity with regard to that.

And Adam is now way more entitled jerk than naive nerd.

I agree - the characters are becoming more like Homer Simpson after the first few seasons - changing from a character that means well, but messes things up... to a clueless, self serving dummy that is over the top in every scene.

I haven't watched the season 8 finale since it aired, but as I mentioned in that thread my favorite part was Joanne making rather overt sexual suggestions to Barry which completely went over his head. That kinda goes into the cartoonish analogy you're making, as Barry has long gone from a realistic character.

Did he graduate last season? If not...why is this weird?

Halfway through last season, Adam was two months away from graduation. They can play with time if they want, but it is weird, at least because this episode took place in September.

Yeah, logic is out the window with timelines in the show.

Erica's supposed to be a year older than Barry and Jeff, but when she was off to college - Barry and Jeff were still in school for two more years.

I'm only watching for closure.
The first episode was very meh, but it was still a nice fitting tribute to both the Pops character and George Segal.
The second episode was blah.

That might have been an all-time low for The Goldbergs, if not television in general. Barry with poison ivy on his ass so he has to lie face down with his rear end sticking way up in the air.

I'm trying to stick this one out till the end but that really was bad, and might hasten my deleting it from my scheduled recordings.

Exactly what I thought. Half paying attention to it, and still wondering why I am watching it. Just awful.

I actually thought this week's was one of the better episodes this season because of all the great Tim Meadows one-liners. If this wasn't the last season, though, I'd probably just stop watching. As it is, I'll see it through.

Tim Meadows is always great. I kind of like Schooled better because it relied less on the "let's go an 80s movie" every other week and also the dumbing down of the characters issue.... and more Meadows.

As of today, this is not the last season. This is still ABCs #1 Comedy

I like Tim Meadows a lot too (wish they'd give him more lines on Bob's Burgers), but once I saw it was going to be Lonely Clingy Neighbor I tuned out and hoped the B-story would be interesting. And I've already said my piece about that plot.

oooooooh.

Yeah, I saw Bando's "last season" remark and wondered where he'd heard that.

I miss Schooled, where Meadows was great. At least they brought him back onto this show...in the past.

I like Tim Meadows, but this is such a late-season desperation move to make him the next-door neighbor. Maybe Bev could rent out the room above the garage to the kid who likes RUSH next.

Well, Pops is gone, so maybe they just wanted to add another full-time-ish adult cast member to the show?

The only good thing about the latest episode is that it wasn't about Bev smothering her kids - like 97% of the episodes are.
Of course, Glascott was doing his version of smothering - so it didn't feel much different.

Adam has no idea his girlfriend is a star on the school volleyball team.

... I know it's just supposed to be a joke, but don't the writers realize how unlikable they are making the characters?

I don't even want to watch anymore, my wife still likes it though so I sit through it. It's the same. fucking. plot. every. episode.

It hasn't changed since season 1. It's a formula that workED for a long time to they are sticking to it. Something happens, they either tell the same person who always makes things worse for them or they find out some other way, they make things worse, they get called out for it right before the last commercial. After the break there's a heartfelt apology and all is forgiven. Wash, rinse, repeat.

They never really paid much attention to timelines. It's always been kind of all over the place.

That part has never bothered me, and the whole "It was nineteen eighty SOMETHING" is a clear indication it's intentional and anyone who complains about continuity errors ("OMG, Adam is playing the ET video game the same week Top Gun premieres and that's like 4 years difference!!!") obviously misses the point.

But yeah, the repetitiveness does annoy me, and I'm starting to lose interest in the Joanne character, the only bright spot of the last year or so of the show.