SDCC 2019: ‘The Goldbergs’ to Channel ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ in Season 7 Premiere

ABC’s The Goldbergs is famous for its tributes to iconic 1980s movies and franchises, and the series is finally going to do an episode centered on one of the most famous comedies of the era. The Goldbergs are going to hit the road in the Season 7 premiere for a tribute to National Lampoon’s Vacation, actor Troy Gentile revealed at San Diego Comic Con Saturday.

“The first script [of the season], we’re doing Vacation,” Gentile, who plays the rambunctious Barry Goldberg, told Entertainment Weekly at the convention. “I’m not going to tell you guys where, but we’re going on vacation.”

The Goldbergs creator Adam F. Goldberg and his team usually launch each season with an episode that mirrors the plot of their favorite ’80s hits. The Season 6 premiere was based on Sixteen Candles, while a baseball episode referenced Major League. The Season 5 premiere mirrored Weird Science, while Season 4 was a tribute to The Breakfast Club.

“Usually our first episode is some rendition,” Gentile told EW. “Right off the bat!”

Coincidentally, Wendi McLendon-Covey, who stars as Goldbergs matriarch Beverly, told EW in 2017 she wanted to see the family take a vacation like the Griswolds.

“I would really, really love to see this family go on vacation like the Griswolds,” she said at the time. “Like the first Vacation movie, they have the station wagon, so I want to see these idiots go on a road trip. I need to see that.”

The Vacation franchise kicked off in 1983 with Vacation and was followed two years later with National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Christmas Vacation followed in 1989 and Vegas Vacation was released in 1997. In 2015, Ed Helms played a grown-up Rusty Griswold in John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Vacation reboot.

The Goldbergs has been a consistent performer for ABC on Wednesdays and even earned its own 1990s-set spin-off Schooled. Both series take loose inspiration from Adam F. Goldberg’s childhood and young adulthood.

The Goldbergs also stars Sean Giambrone as Adam, Hayley Orrantia as Erica, George Segal as Pops and Jeff Garlin as Murray. Patton Oswalt narrates the show.

“It’s really wild. It flew by, but I’m so grateful that I have the opportunity to be working on the show as long as we have,” Orrantia told PopCulture.com at CMA Fest last month. “And we have a spinoff show, called Schooled, which is set in the ’90s, that I was really happy to cameo on a little bit this last season. And they got picked up for season 2. So I’m really crossing my fingers that I can jump in on that some more.”

The Goldbergs Season 7 premieres on ABC Wednesday, Sept. 25.

Stay tuned to PopCulture.com for more from the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Photo credit: ABC