The Goldbergs Character That Fans Think Is Bad Luck

For eight seasons and counting, ABC's The Goldbergs has been network TV's most dominant period sitcom set in the 1980s. Created by Adam F. Goldberg and loosely based on his actual life growing up as a quiet film nerd in a very loud, Jewish family, the series has its fair share of larger than life personalities.

You've got all the requisite sitcom tropes right in the family. There's the disgruntled and disinterested father with a heart of gold played by comedy legend and former Conan O'Brien roommate Jeff Garlin. There's the obviously too-good-for-her-husband wife Beverly (Wendy McLendon-Covey). There's also the rambunctious gaggle of siblings, including a gender-swapped older sis (Hayley Orrantia) — the IRL Adam Goldberg only has brothers.

While all the characters that populate Adam Goldberg's fictional-ish life have a fair amount of complexity, there's apparently at least one that fans could do without. This dislike even goes a little bit deeper than most television pet peeves. According to at least one fan of the series on Reddit, this annoying character is a walking jinx.

The trouble with Dale (Ben Zelevansky) is that he's actually kind of the worst. Granted, many of the show's best laughs come from Dale's general worstness, but some fans think that's no excuse.

In a recent Reddit thread entitled "If you could remove one character from The Goldbergs, what would it be?," user dei1c3 was quick to point out that the answer has to be Dale, because aside from being the worst he's also kind of the family jinx.

dei1c3 rattles off a few of the character's choice transgressions to prove his point: "He buys a salmon love seat from Barry which kicks off Barry's ill-fated career as a salesman. This leads to a huge argument between Barry and Murray. Thanks for nothing, Dale! ... He doesn't help Murray find Adam at Veteran's Stadium! He's sitting off to the side when Murray talks to the fan in the parking lot (Diedrich Bader) and he doesn't say a single word. He knows what Adam looks like — he's been to their house!! ... He refuses to buy one of Beverly's jackets, forcing Murray to donate them instead. This leads directly to Beverly finding out that no one wants them. Nice job, Dale. Way to break Beverly's heart."

And perhaps the definitive piece of evidence that Dale trails misfortune like a skunk trails stink: "He compliments the Bitter and less than an hour later the car dies ... forever."

That's a pretty airtight case this viewer has assembled. While removing Dale from the equation might certainly improve the Goldbergs' quality of life, would it really make for a better show? Really, really? We didn't think so.