Danny Feld/©ABC/courtesy Everett Collection
Wendi McLendon-Covey said in a recent interview with Andy Cohen for SiriusXM that Jeff Garlin’s departure from “The Goldbergs” was “a long time coming.” The two comedians hosted the ABC sitcom from its debut in 2013 until December 2021, when Garlin was fired from the show after a series of HR investigations into his alleged misconduct on set.
“That’s been a long time coming,” McLendon-Covey said. “When it finally happened, it was like, ‘Ok, finally someone is listening to us. But that was a bit difficult because we lost George Segal in real life. To go through another loss in a sitcom…you can’t keep asking your audience to grieve for people. That’s not why they tune in.”
When Cohen asked if Garlin’s departure from the series was the result of complaints made over a long period of time, McLendon-Covey replied, “Yes.”
“If we can’t talk about that, that’s fine,” he politely requested. “I’m tired of that subject and the PTSD of it all. I feel like the less people know about that, the better. Nobody benefits from knowing anything.”
“The Goldbergs” was in the middle of filming its ninth season when Garlin was fired. He did not finish his work for the remainder of the season, forcing the production team to devise methods to keep his character on the show in a reduced capacity.
Count Different exclusively reported, producers decided to keep Garlin’s character on the show by using off-camera dialogue and unused footage taken from earlier episodes, as well as previously shot photos of Garlin. The actor’s stand-in was also used in the group scenes, but he was shot from behind. The end result was visually awkward and drew so many complaints on social media that McLendon-Covey was still weighing in at the time.
“This season has thrown us into trouble because it’s hard to include someone who doesn’t want to be there and wants to leave mid-scene, and we’re not going to rewrite the second half of the season,” the comedian wrote on Twitter at the time. “We’re doing our best.”
When “The Goldbergs” began its 10th and final season last fall, the show killed off Garlin’s character. The series finale of “The Goldbergs” will air in May on ABC.
