Jeff Garlin's patriarch character Murray Goldberg in The Goldbergs will be killed off ahead of the new season, it has been confirmed.
The actor exited the comedy abruptly last December after following allegations of inappropriate behaviour levelled at him by a crew member - claims he denied.
So swift was Garlin's departure from the show that producers had to resort to a bizarre blend of CGI footage and a body double in order to see out the season, but now it has been revealed that Murray will have died off screen.
"This is going to be a family that has not reconciled the fact that their father's gone but has sort of moved on and has dealt with a lot of that," said showrunner Alex Barnow.
"So we're starting with optimism about a baby coming and looking forward to the future. It's an opportunity for this interesting emotional basis for the way people are behaving."
The new season, which starts in the US later this month, will be the show's 10th.
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