The Goldbergs has been delivering laughs for 10 seasons and every season is packed with wonderful 80s nostalgia and outrageous yet heartwarming storylines. I love the family dynamics and somehow every episode is relatable! The Goldbergs’ latest episode “Uncle-ing”, shows an exhausted mom-to-be Erica who demands a “babymoon.” Like most pregnancies, things take an unforeseen turn, as Geoff is tasked with producing a memorable babymoon. Meanwhile, Adam and Barry seek out advice on “uncle-ing” from some unexpected sources.
That’s IT LA spoke with The Goldbergs actor Wendi McLendon-Covey who plays one of my favorite tv moms “Beverly Goldberg” as well as Hayley Orrantia who plays Beverly’s daughter Erica Goldberg.”
We screened the episode which is funny, heartwarming, and filled with surprises! Here are some highlights from the interview!
What kind of Mom will Erica be?
Hayley: I think that Erica She’s can be a little selfish. So I think you’re going to kind of see you’re going through a phase of like, realizing that her identity is not. It’s her and the baby and a lot of attention is going to be on the baby. But I think that having grown up with Beverly as a mom, I have a feeling we’re going to see smothering tendencies.
Wendi: I think she’s gonna be exactly like her mother while denying that she is anything like her mother, telling Beverly that she’s wrong.
What can we expect from Beverly as a grandmother?
Wendi: You can expect a spoiled grandchild that’s going to, you know, butt heads with mom. You know Beverly is now a widow. So she’s trying to find her place in the world again without a husband. So what’s she going to do? She’s babysitting all the time. Is she going to drag the baby off? On some of her adventures? Yes. Yes, she is because, you know, that’s just a good grandmother who wants to show off the baby. She wants compliments on the baby.
How did Hayley prepare for this moment?
Hayley: It’s tough because I have not given birth myself. So I just talked to a lot of my friends who are new moms and kind of got their advice on the experience. And I feel like the writers did a pretty good job of trying to showcase what that journey was going to be. And, at the end of the day, despite any tension, Erica has with her mom and being sassy like a teenager. She just wanted her mom there. And I feel like a lot of my friends relate to that as well. While some of them didn’t, some of them for sure did not want their moms in the room. So, it’s a personal thing.
Any crazy uncles in their lives?
Wendi: Well, I have some crazy aunts and uncles who used to just like, throw us in the air and do dangerous things with us as infants. And always like, Oh, your mom doesn’t want you to do this or that? Well, I’ll, I’ll help you do it. Like I had those aunts and uncles. And they were my favorites. And that’s how it should be. I think that the natural order of things, is your parents should always say no. And your aunts and uncles should always get you into trouble. The rule you know, or at least show you how to hide your troublesome things.
Hayley: I agree with that. I didn’t have uncles that I was close to growing up. But all I remember growing up was that I had a couple of aunts that would throw what we call diva parties, which is probably why I’m such a diva now. But we would like to put on shows on the fireplace and we would have flashlights like spotlights.
Advice for moms
Wendi: To new moms, I would say give yourself some grace. Because none of this is going to go according to the books, okay, you can use those as a reference, but you’re going to have to improvise this entire thing. Make friends with baby wipes, because you’re not going to get a shower. Because it’s, you don’t have control over a lot of this. So just give yourself some grace. And yet it is going to be a fun time you are going to miss it when it goes. Now I’m only saying that because that’s what I saw my friends go through. But I again can’t stress it enough. I am not speaking from experience. I have no children. And when I learned we weren’t gonna have real babies on set. I had to say I don’t know how to hold a baby. So somebody showed me.
The Goldbergs episode “UNCLE-ING” will air on ABC Wednesday, October 19.
