Matt Buckler: 'Goldberg' star has a tasteful exit

Sep. 22—It was obvious last season that actor Jeff Garlin no longer fit into Season 10 of "The Goldbergs."

He was accused of sexual misconduct while being involved with the show and instantly stopped appearing.

His departure, however, created a problem. Because Garlin had a key role — the patriarch of the Goldberg family — the producers just couldn't have him disappear from the set without mention, as if the character never existed.

During Wednesday's season premiere we found out that the plan is — killing off Murray Goldberg without revealing how he died. It was a tasteful way to handle it.

"The Goldbergs" did it the right way — getting rid of a major character without mentioning what could have been gory details.

Delivering details

The strength of a local newscast can be in the details — delivering a major story and telling you more facts about it than you can get anywhere else.

WFSB-TV3 passed that test Wednesday night when it covered the story of a voyeurism arrest at a health club in Naugatuck on its late newscast.

Reporter Eliza Kruczynski told viewers that the 23-year-old manager, Jordan Hill, hid in the ceiling to take photos of his customers in the tanning room. Kruczynski also talked to a long time member who said she was shocked because Hill was always nice to her.

If you're going to have a lead story, you might as well give plenty of information.

WTIC-TV61, meanwhile, had a major Manchester story in the lead block of its 10 p.m. newscast — a Manchester business has been charged with 17 safety violations, putting its employees at serious risk.

There are occasions where a national sports story can become a local one. New York Yankee star Aaron Judge's quest to break Roger Maris' single-season home run mark of 61 certainly qualifies. It has baseball fans buzzing.

Three of the late local sportscasts — WFSB-TV3, WTNH-TV8, and WVIT-TV30, presented Judge and the Yankees as their lead story, and rightfully so.

WTIC-TV61 and anchor Jonah Karp, however, didn't mention Judge during the entire 10 p.m. sports report. I had to watch the sportscast a second time to make sure I wasn't seeing what I thought I wasn't seeing — it was as if Judge didn't exist. Ignoring Judge's Wednesday night accomplishment only serves to do one thing — send the sports fans in your audience to ESPN's "SportsCenter."

Karp did have an extensive report on UConn quarterback Zion Turner, which made UConn fans happy and also had a list of the men's basketball recruits. You have to give Karp credit — still providing comprehensive coverage of UConn football even though the team is off to a rough 1-3 start.

It also had lengthy New York Mets highlights focusing on their loss to the Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the day.

Judge, however, was a no-show. It almost appeared that the sports report was taped earlier in the day, before the Yankees' game was finished, because there weren't any Red Sox highlights either.

There should have been an exception made, however, to show Judge. It may be a long time before a player has a season like this again.

When it comes to UConn, WTNH-TV8 went the extra mile by showing highlights of the UConn men's basketball team's newest recruit, Youssouf Singare, a 7-footer. Included in the package was even a defensive highlight.

That's exactly what UConn fans want — video evidence.

Barr's back

Since Roseanne Barr was booted from her TV show, "Roseanne" three years ago, we haven't seen too much of her. For one of the few times in her career, she is keeping a low profile.

That, however, is about to change. The New York Post is reporting that Barr has signed on to host a comedy special on Fox Nation, Fox's streaming service.

And the best part is that nothing is off-limits. Considering how outrageous Barr can be, a subscription to Fox Nation could be in order.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.