Factual error: There is an episode where Reagan is running for president in 1984, and later in this episode they are watching "America's funniest home videos" which started in 1989.
Factual error: Occasionally one of the characters will make a key reference to some film or other cultural event that took place in 1989 or later. Like the neighbor stating she saw Ghost, which came out in 1990.
Factual error: The Phillies were in the World series in 1980. Talk into remote controls did not come out till 1989. The party in the park the kids are dancing to the song "Tricky" by Run DMC which came out in 1986.
Suggested correction: The Phillies were in the 1983 World Series as well (which is the likely year as they lost), and the Goldbergs didn't have a talk in remote - the kids said they had just to wind up their father.
Factual error: Towards the end, Beverly is wearing Crocs. They only came out in 2002.
Mini Murray - S1-E3
Factual error: Adam and Pops go to the movies and watch Poltergeist which came out in 1982. The following morning Adam is at the table eating breakfast with Erica, and he is wearing a Top Gun T-shirt. Top Gun didn't come out until 1986. (00:06:42)
Factual error: As Murray and Adam first walk into the VHS rental, a pan shot displays a cardboard cutout of C-3PO and R2-D2. The cutout features artwork from the TV series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" which first aired in 2008, where as "The Goldbergs" take place in the 1980's. (00:04:30)
Factual error: The model UN uses the new South African flag, but this flag only came into use in 1994.
Factual error: In the video shop, when Adam and Murray wants to borrow Temple of the Doom there's a cardboard banner with C-3PO and R2-D2 behind Adam. But it's version of these droids from TV series The Clone Wars, which started in 2008 and built on the prequels which started in 1999.
Mama Drama - S2-E2
Factual error: Murray and Barry go to a Philadelphia Flyers home game. In the episode the Flyers are wearing orange jerseys. In reality the home team wore their white jerseys in the 1980's. When they watch the replay of Ron Hextall's goal on TV, you see the Flyers wearing white. (00:05:00 - 00:06:00)
The Facts of Bleeping Life - S2-E3
Factual error: The main theme of the episode was the "Royal Wedding" (Lady Spencer and Prince Charles) which happened in 1981. Erica and Lainey are singing Eternal Flame by the Bangles which wasn't release until 1988.
Factual error: Adam doesn't want to tell Emmy how he broke his arm, so he says he rode a hoverboard. He says he watched the whole BTTF trilogy, but only part 1 was released in 1985. Part 2 was released in 1989, and Part 3 in 1990.
The Most Handsome Boy on the Planet - S2-E9
Factual error: At the very beginning of the show, they are standing in line to watch the movie ET in "1980 something." The kid starts asking if Yoda was just a puppet and if ALF was just a puppet. ET came out in 1982. ALF did not come out until 1986. Later in the show, they mention Kokomo by The Beach Boys which did not come out until 1988. ET was out of cinemas by then.
DannyDonnieJoeyJonJordan - S2-E10
Factual error: In this episode Adam and Barry are mocking Erica for being a fan of New Kids on the Block when she was younger - she must have gone off them pretty quickly as NKOTB only became well-known outside of Boston (their home city) on the release of their second album in 1988.
Just Say No - S2-E20
Factual error: In a previous episode, Adam's uncle gives him a power glove and they talk about "The Wizard" which came out in 1989. A few episodes later, they talk about Reagan getting reelected, which happened in 1984.
Suggested correction: The series is constantly going back and forth through the 80s (Adult Adam always refers to the year in question as 1980 - something in his narration) - episodes are set in earlier times than previous ones.
A Chorus Lie - S3-E2
Factual error: A key plot point of this episode is the revelation of the Milli Vanilli lip-syncing scandal and that they didn't sing on their album, which happened in the fall of 1990, outside the 1980s setting of the series.
Suggested correction: The first public sign that the group was lip-syncing came on 21 July 1989, during a live performance on MTV at the Lake Compounce theme park in Bristol, Connecticut. As they performed, a hard drive issue caused the recording of the song "Girl You Know It's True" to jam and skip, repeatedly playing the partial line "Girl, you know it's..." through the speakers. "I knew right then and there, it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli," recalled Pilatus of the incident.
The mistake didn't point it out, although the episode did, but the issue wasn't the fact that they lip-sync'd but the fact that they didn't actually do any singing. The minor incident you mentioned wasn't news that "shook the country." The news that it wasn't Milli Vanilli singing on their own album didn't come out until 1990.
My point exactly; while Milli Vanilli were revealed to be lip-syncing during a single live performance in the summer of 1989, it wasn't confirmed that they didn't sing at all on their debut album until November 1990.
I Caddyshacked the Pool - S3-E4
Factual error: We Are the World was new on TV (came out in 1985) but later Adam is seen playing a Gameboy, which was released in 1989.
Factual error: Whilst Adam and Erika discuss their grandfather buying a timeshare in Florida Adam states that their Grandfather is 80 years old. Erika responds that he was born in 1903 - thus setting the episode in 1983. However Adam is wearing a "Queen A Kind of Magic" T-shirt - an album that wasn't released until 1986.
Double Dare - S3-E13
Factual error: When watching a game, Barry mentions what the Eagles need to tie he mentions a two-point conversion. The NFL didn't adopt this until 1994, so it wouldn't have been an option in the 1980s.
Factual error: Older Adam says "33 years before Adele's Hello, there was Lionel Richie." Lionel Richie's Hello was released in 1984, Adele's version was 2015.
Factual error: In the parking lot at Live Aid, the logo of the PAC 12 conference is visible on a sign in the background; an athletic conference that's made up of schools in the western U.S. and did not exist during that time period. (00:04:54)
