The Goldbergs began as a 15-minute comedy-drama program that aired on American radio from 1929 to 1946. It was later adapted into a 1948 play entitled “Me and Molly” and then into a television comedy which aired on several networks from 1949 to 1956.

Writer and actress Gertrude Berg developed the original radio program in 1928. She played the lead role of Molly Goldberg and continued act, direct and write in the television version of The Goldbergs. The CBS Television show, which aired from 1949 to 1951, co-starred Philip Loeb as Jake Goldberg. The domestic comedy centered on the home life of a Jewish family living in the Bronx. It focused on the move from Jewish tenement life to more suburban settings as well as the struggle to assimilate.

In 1950, Berg won the first Emmy Award for Best Actress for her role as Molly. The show was dropped by CBS in 1951 and subsequently picked up by NBC for the 1952-53 season and renamed “Molly.” The series aired twice weekly in a 15-minute format.

In 1954, the show moved to the DuMont network and reverted to a weekly half-hour format. The series was originally intended to run for six months on DuMont but due to financial difficulties, the network was unable to fulfill their contract. A final syndicated version was filmed in 1955 and aired on local stations until 1956.