Wendi McLendon-Covey says The Goldbergs killing off Jeff Garlin's character was 'a long time coming

Publish date: 2024-04-06

As the beloved, bedazzled, shredded-cheese-wielding boss of the family on ABC's The Goldbergs, Wendi McLendon-Covey's queen smother, Beverly, exudes warmth and big-shouldered affection. But during a recent interview on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show, the actress herself had no huggies or smoochies to spare for former castmate Jeff Garlin.

Garlin, who played her husband, Murray, for nine seasons, left The Goldbergs in December 2021 following an HR investigation into multiple complaints about his on-set behavior. (The actor maintained that he is "always a kind and thoughtful person.") Murray was killed off between season 9 and the show's 10th and final season, which premiered last September.

Appearing on Andy Cohen Live Tuesday, McLendon-Covey said Garlin being written off the show "was a long time coming, and that it finally happened it was like, 'Okay, okay. Finally, someone is listening to us.'"

At the same time, she added, Garlin's departure was complicated by the recent death of George Segal, who played Beverly's father. "To have to go through another loss on a sitcom, you know, you can't keep asking your audience to mourn people… That's not why they tune in."

When Cohen inquired further about the circumstances that led to Garlin's exit, McLendon-Covey asked to drop the subject, saying she was "exhausted by everything" and "the PTSD of it all."

She added, "I feel like the less people know about [the Garlin situation], the better. No one, no one benefits from knowing anything."

On a more positive note — one that Beverly surely would've appreciated — McLendon-Covey teased the Goldbergs finale, which airs May 3.

"I think the episode we ended on was a good opportunity for people to write fan fiction," she said. "Because it goes off in some interesting directions. So you know, if they ever want us to do a holiday episode or something like that, it gives us a, you know, something to work off of."

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