The Goldbergs: The Story of America's First Family Sitcom

The family sitcom has been around since the early days of network television and has never gone out of style. The style of the shows themselves has certainly changed over time, but in essence there is almost no difference at all in the basic set-up from Make Room for Daddy to Even Stevens. What may surprise you is that the very first family sitcom in American history actually told the story of a Jewish family.

When you consider that even during the 70s, 80s and today there have been preciously few family sitcoms that focus on a distinctly Jewish family, the very idea that America's oldest and most beloved sitcom genre originated from the basis of a story that not only was populated by a family whose religion and culture were at odds with the overwhelming majority of the populace, but much of the humor stemmed from lead character Molly Goldberg's Jewish advice given in a manner of speech that came to be known as Mollypropisms.

The show was called The Goldbergs and while it was mainly a big hit among the urban crowd with a high incidence of those who immediately understood its uniquely ethnic sense of humor, it maintained a certain level of popularity even in Middle America. After all, despite the Bronx setting and the Jewish milieu, America's first family sitcom was basically a representation of many actual households.

There was a mother, father, and two kids. (Back then sitcom kids were polite and respectful.) Much of the credit for the success of a show that featured a cast outside the mainstream demographic was that The Goldbergs had already been a big hit on the radio. Since radio listeners were already intimately familiar with Molly Goldberg and her clan, the transition to a visual medium was perhaps far smoother than it would have been otherwise. The fact that the actress playing Molly Goldberg fit the visual image that had been created for her also helped a great deal.

The Goldbergs might well have gone on to sitcom legend status like the wildly overrated and, frankly, not particularly funny I Love Lucy if good old-fashioned communist witch-hunting hadn't been dedicated to destroying as many utterly innocent lives as possible. About a year into the show's TV run a book was published that listed Philip Loeb as a communist sympathizer. Loeb played Molly Goldberg's husband. The show's brave and courageous sponsor, General Foods, caved in record time, putting the squeeze on Loeb to quit. Loeb refused and General Foods, in the grand tradition of cowardly corporations that continues to this day, turned tail and run.

Only after it was clear no other sponsor would take up the reins and get behind The Goldbergs until Loeb was fired would the inevitable sad outcome of this story be realized. Loeb was out and a new actor was hired. Despite never having committed a crime, Philip Loeb's career was over. Five years later he killed himself. In addition to a new actor playing Jake Goldberg, other changes were made, including sending the family from the Bronx to the suburbs. It didn't help. What had made The Goldbergs a success was diluted to the point where it basically became nothing more than Molly Knows Best. By the middle of the 50s it was canceled. Nevertheless, the legacy of The Goldbergs can be felt in TV shows as varies as The Addams Family, Married with Children, and even The Simpsons.