Adam rallies his nerd pals to fight back against Mellor’s school yard pick system for gym. Mellor chooses Adam as a Captain – and the power goes to Adam’s head; he also picks the best athletes – even after Dave Kim chooses “Dungeons & Dragons” as the next team sport. Adam must train his doltish classmates to win at the game. Erica is surprised when Bev sparks to an out of state college tour; Murray turns the tables and forbids his daughter from leaving town; Erica then shares that she is not ready to leave the nest/town – at this time.

Barry spins after he overhears that Bev’s favorite is Adam and Murray’s favorite is Erica; Bev goes full tilt to try and make Barry feel special. Ultimately, Barry decides he doesn’t want the Full-Bev attention – and Adam is begrudgingly missing his mom’s intrusive attention. Erica is repulsed when she finds herself attracted to Johnny Atkins; their secret romance is soon exposed – which sends out shockwaves (mostly to heart-broken Geoff Schwartz).

Beverly is upset on Mother’s Day when she receives an obviously last-minute gift of “mom coupons."

Beverly and Lainey team up to destroy something they both despise: Barry’s favorite shirt. But once it goes missing, Adam and Erica agree to help their brother investigate what exactly happened to it. Meanwhile, Murray decides to tear down the family tree house, which makes Adam upset.

Adam and his soon-to-be freshman pals live in fear of the hazing they expect to get from the senior class, but then Adam body slams his way to earning their respect in the Season 3 finale. In other happenings, Erica and her friends decide what to put in a time capsule.

The Goldbergs pay homage to the classic 1980s John Hughes' film "The Breakfast Club" when the kids start off a new school year (and Season 4) by earning themselves Saturday detention courtesy of a new substitute teacher, who just happens to be their mom.

Erica and Lainey try to find Bill a love match using some new dating technology and Adam’s filmmaking skills. But they face some competition from Beverly, who insists on taking an old-fashioned approach to matchmaking. Meanwhile, a “failed” aptitude test leads Barry to decide to pursue being a gym teacher as Coach Mellor’s apprentice.

Erica and Adam follow the lead of Jan from "The Brady Bunch" when dealing with relationship problems; and Beverly reaches her limit when it comes to dealing with Murray's stubbornness after he causes her to miss the Beach Boys at Live Aid.

Murray and Pop-Pop wage a war of words after the Goldbergs get their first-ever answering machine. Fed up with their fighting, Erica, Barry and Pops hope to broker a peace using a trip to a hockey game as leverage. Meanwhile, Beverly worries about Adam's social standing after he begins spending his lunch period with some lovable geeks in the computer room.

Adam tries to be a horror writer in the vein of Stephen King. However, his efforts get him grounded on Halloween when Beverly discovers that she's the basis for the monster in his story. Meanwhile, a desperate Erica forces Barry to be her "date" at the school's costume dance.

Adam decides to use Murray's love of action movies to convince his dad to help him make one. But the production goes haywire when a new leading man is needed after Barry goes missing. Meanwhile, Erica goes shopping with Beverly for a new wardrobe.

Beverly surprises the family with an end-of-summer vacation to Miami; Geoff accidentally spills to Erica the real reason for the trip.