TV Article The Goldbergs pays homage to Dirty Dancing By Marc Snetiker Marc Snetiker Marc Snetiker is a former senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. He left EW in 2020. EW's editorial guidelines Published on January 26, 2016 02:09AM EST Photo: Everett Collection; Bob D'Amico/ABC First, there were Goonies. Then, a high schooler named Bueller took a day off. ABC’s ‘80s-set sitcom The Goldbergs has made a tradition of its annual major movie homage episode, and in its third season, the show has set its sights on a classic rom-dram: Dirty Dancing is coming to 1980-something (which, frankly, it never left). Creator Adam F. Goldberg, whose life serves as the basis for the underdog family comedy, said the episode is born from his family’s most fervent Dirty Dancing fan: his mother, Beverly, played on the series by Wendi McLendon-Covey. “I knew this was our big movie to explore this season when all of the writers on the show also had their very own Dirty Dancing memories from years ago,” Goldberg said in a press statement. Completely, totally, absolutely unrelated? ABC’s recent announcement ordering a three-hour musical remake of the 1987 Patrick Swayze film. The network has tapped Abigail Breslin and Debra Messing to star in the taped adaptation. Though Dancing will serve as the plot for the “major” homage episode on this season of The Goldbergs, the show tends to reference ‘80s films almost regularly. The season three premiere honored Risky Business, while other episodes this season have skewered Short Circuit, Caddyshack, Top Gun, A Christmas Story, and Troop Beverly Hills. The Goldbergs airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC. The Dirty Dancing episode will likely air in late February or early March.