‘The Goldbergs’ Finale: Wendi McLendon-Covey Reflects on Emotional End to 10-Season Run

The Goldbergs are taking a bow, and bidding viewers adieu with their series finale episode, “Bev to the Future,” and star Wendi McLendon-Covey is reflecting on the emotional ending and her experience with the beloved ABC comedy.

Playing loving matriarch Beverly for ten seasons, McLendon-Covey isn’t a stranger to getting sentimental about the familial bonds this series has built. When TV Insider caught up with her before the finale, she and the team had concluded their behind-the-scenes journey long before the final product reaches viewers, “we finished, we’ve had our rap party, and we’ve packed it in,” she remarks.

Now, as viewers gear up for one final ’80s-tactic installment, McLendon-Covey is opening up about the last day of filming, finding out the show was ending, the finale episode’s storyline, and the meaningful support fans have shown her over the seasons.

What was the final day of filming like for you?

Wendi McLendon-Covey: Oh, the final day I wasn’t even working, but I came in just to see everybody. At that point, we didn’t know that it was gonna be our last [episode]. We’ve been on for ten seasons; it was gonna go one way or the other. We knew our time was coming to an end, so I went to take films of every single crevice of our set and take pictures and just see everybody and smell those smells just in case it was forever. And it turns out that it was forever. So I’m glad I did that, but wow, I’ve just never cried so many tears.

(Credit: Courtesy of ABC)

Did finding out that the show was ending bring on a different emotion than your last day on set? Does it make saying goodbye to Beverly harder?

Yeah. I don’t even know how to answer that cause I’m still processing it. It’s still pretty fresh. Our last day was [a few months] ago, and it seems like so much has happened since then. I’ve got another gig. I will never be able to tell anybody how much this past decade has meant to me, you know? How grateful I am for this experience. It was a blast playing Bev. I’m not a mom in real life, so I’m certainly never gonna be a Grandma, but I got to do that, and I got that out of my system; that was really fun.

Looking back, did you ever envision the show would reach a point where Beverly would be a grandmother?

I did envision it, but I didn’t know. People ask, “Did you know that the show would go on as long as it did?” And the answer to that is no, but I hoped it would, and I saw what we could do with it. And from the beginning, I just had a feeling about this show. Before I even said yes to it, I was reading a lot of pilot scripts, and this was the one that moved me. This was the one I was like, “I wanna gamble on this pilot. I think this is funny.” And that’s, that’s why I said yes to it. I just thought it was funny, and I always thought I was just too weird to be on a network show, so when it happened, it was like, I’m just gonna have as much fun with this as I can.

The finale has a Back to the Future element to it; what can you tease?

Yes! It should be noted that Lea Thompson, who was in that movie, has directed us several times. We love Lea as the director. So that’s another gift that this show has given us; we’ve gotten to meet so many iconic people like Lea Thompson, Anthony Michael Hall and, Stephen Tobolowsky, John Oates, Tommy Lee! But as far as the final episode goes, it’s called “Bev to the Future,” and the whole episode kind of shows you where these characters are going or where they could possibly end up. And Bev goes to a high school reunion to see about an old boyfriend and mayhem ensues as it always does with Beverly.

(Credit: ABC/Scott Everett White)

Adam F. Goldberg’s childhood inspires the series, did having a point of reference with his real mother help you in your role?

The great thing about Beverly is that she has always loved her family fiercely. And that’s a relatable thing about a lot of moms. My own mother was that way, and I dug into my own past to come up with some of Beverly’s behaviors. The great thing about Bev is that she would act first to protect her family and apologize later, and that’s not the worst way to be. I think a lot of people do that. You just act on instinct. There’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things, but, in the moment, all you can of is getting what you want, and that is to protect her kids. So I think that’s okay.

Is there a moment or memory you’re walking away from this experience with that you’re particularly grateful for?

Oh gosh. Well, working with George Segal was such an honor, and being there to watch him fall in love with this show and to see him and Sean [Giambrone] working together was blissful for all of us because they were such a great pair. And being able to work with Judd Hirsch. [They’re both such] legends. I mean, how lucky were we? Those things I will always treasure, and I will always think back to how Sean, Hayley [Orrantia], and Troy [Gentile] just blew my mind on a daily basis with some of the things that they were asked to do on the fly. Every time they were asked to do something, they did it without complaining and learned things that I would be scared to learn and do on camera. I’m just so proud of those guys.

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Would you ever reprise your role if another opportunity came up? And is there anything you’d like to say to the fans who have supported the series for so long?

Yeah, I will come back. Whenever anybody wants me to be Bev, I would never deny myself the opportunity to have this much fun again. And I have to thank our fans for keeping us on the air, for being our champions, and for giving us so much feedback all the time. When I would live tweet with everybody, that was just so much fun for me. I love doing it, but it just got to be too much there at the end. There are fans that I know by name and will never forget. The fan art, the beautiful messages that people send us. I mean, the Goldnerds have been hardcore, and I thank God for them every day.

The Goldbergs, Series Finale, Wednesday, May 3, 8:30/7:30c, ABC