The cast of the ABC family comedy spoke with ET ahead of Wednesday's final episode.
For Wendi McLendon-Covey and The Goldbergs cast, saying goodbye to the ABC comedy -- which officially signs off Wednesday after 10 seasons -- hasn't sunk in yet. In February, ABC announced that the long-running 1980s family comedy, created and inspired by executive producer Adam Goldberg's childhood, would be ending.
"It doesn't feel real," Goldbergs star Hayley Orrantia told ET's Deidre Behar in an exclusive sit-down interview with the cast. "Because, in a way, I still have this feeling of we just wrapped the season and I'll see them again in August. So, I think come August, it's probably going to feel a little weird -- for me, at least."
Co-star Sean Giambrone echoed Orrantia's sentiments, admitting he has moments where it "hits me" that this is it. Sam Lerner acknowledged it's "bittersweet" to wrap up The Goldbergs chapter: "I'm really gonna miss these guys. But we shared this amazing experience together, so it comes in waves."
McLendon-Covey, who plays matriarch Beverly, was visibly emotional as she reflected on a decade with her TV family, agreeing with her castmates that "the real feelings" won't kick in until it'd be the time to begin production on another season. "Check with us in August and we'll be useless. I don't know what to do with myself," the actress confessed. "My car will just drive me to Sony, I'm sure. That's what our lives have been like for so long. We're trying to handle this with grace, but it's not easy."
The 53-year-old actress also reflected on watching her onscreen kids, played by Giambrone and Orrantia, grow up over the show's 10-year run. "You're killing me!" McLendon-Covey exclaimed, tearing up. "I watched them grow up and become really good actors. And watch them buy cars and houses and get boyfriends and girlfriends and they got to see me go through menopause. So it's been a really expansive time for all of us and luckily, it happened on-camera."
Titled "Bev to the Future," Beverly (McLendon-Covey) attends her high school reunion with Adam's (Giambrone) help, where he tries to end a reality where she winds up with the wrong man.
"I just hope the fans say, 'Ah, all right. Things ended in a good way for everybody,'" McLendon-Covey said of the series' swan song. "And it leaves it open. If any of our dear fans want to write fan fiction... or in 10 years to come back and do a spinoff or a holiday special, it leaves a lot of things open."
She shared that they weren't aware that this would be the final episode of the series, but had a sneaking suspicion that it could be. "These are things that happen. We [had] 10 years. You cannot say, 'Oh, it's too soon, you know?' We have 229 shows that you can keep rewatching and you're going to be find new things in them all the time. We thought this was just our season finale, but it wasn't," McLendon-Covey said. "It went a different way. But everything happens the way it's supposed to."
"I think we were all kind of like, 'OK, this could be it,'" she elaborated. "So we better just start taking pictures of everything."
"It was very emotional," Orrantia said of the last day on set. "The last day we actually were shooting the season, we weren't 100 percent sure we weren't coming back. But all kind of had a feeling. It was just about taking in every moment, not being on our phones and letting it be just a workday and really focusing on taking in the fact that this is 10 years we've spent together and we don't know when we're ever going to get a chance to do it exactly like this again."
The entire cast confirmed they'd all be open to returning to The Goldbergs universe in the future ("Anytime, anywhere," McLendon-Covey said), with several of them even pitching possible spinoffs. Some ideas they threw out were a Geoff and Erica series, as well as one focused on Adam's college years.
As for mementos they kept from set, McLendon-Covey revealed she took Beverly's iconic wig ("It's in my office," she exclaimed), while Orrantia took a watercolor painting from the dining room, Giambrone took his character's signature glasses and watch and Lerner snagged some clothing as well.
The Goldbergs series finale airs Wednesday, May 3 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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