Season nine of the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs handled Jeff Garlin’s exit following an HR investigation last year by using strange-looking CGI stand-ins to replace the comedian’s character, Murray Goldberg. But as of season ten, The Goldbergs’ Murray will be killed off and the series will time-jump to a few months after his passing, according to Entertainment Weekly. Garlin was fired midway through filming the ninth season for what one employee called “extremely verbally and emotionally abusive†conduct on set. Writer Noel Murray tweeted an eerie clip of the cursed stand-in approach on March 14 with the caption “They should either cancel The Goldbergs or kill off Jeff Garlin’s character because the workarounds they’ve been using this season ain’t working.†Now he’s gotten his wish.
“This season threw us for a loop because a.) it’s hard to incorporate someone who doesn’t want to be there and wants to leave mid-scene, and b.) we werent about to re-write the 2nd half of the season,†cast member Wendi McLendon-Covey replied on Twitter at the time. “We’re doing our best.†Co-showrunner Chris Bishop is currently optimistic about the coming season. “It honestly feels like a huge reboot for us,†he told EW. “So we have tons of momentum rolling into this new season.†The Goldbergs’ season ten debuts September 21, no longer haunted by that stand-in.