Adam sold Disney, which owns ABC, on the concept by showing clips from home videos he'd filmed as a kid in Jenkins, Pennsylvania. As a viewer, you get to see clips in each episode, and some fans may try to thread together fact from fiction. Goldberg even uses the actual names of folks, sports teams, and schools from his hometow, which is right outside Philadelphia. (He sent out a note to folks on Facebook to see if it was kosher to use their names, and everyone, on their own accord, said yes.)

When I spoke with affable, self effacing, writer, it’s easy to see why the people he grew up with, but may not have seen for decades, trusted him. Despite the headaches of working around the clock...