Bob Dorough's beloved '80s classic "Schoolhouse Rock" will appear in an episode of "The Goldbergs" airing Wednesday, May 9.
Adam F. Goldberg, executive producer of "The Goldbergs," is a lifelong fan of the educational shorts that appeared regularly on Saturday morning cartoons during the 1980s.
Goldberg bases his show on his real-life experiences of growing up in a Philadelphia suburb in the 1980s and will use a snippet from the "Schoolhouse Rock" collection of how a bill becomes law in a politically themed episode titled "Space Balls."
"Growing up, I was never slightly interested in politics," Goldberg admitted. "My only reference to anything remotely political was Bob Dorough's music, which would play during the cartoons I was obsessed with. Those songs are engrained in my head forever."
In the upcoming "Spaceballs," young Adam Goldberg (Sean Giambrone) gets himself into a political discussion with his girlfriend's parents. Devoid of any political knowledge, he uses "I'm Just a Bill" to help him fudge his way through the heated debate.
"Bob Dorough was brilliant," said Goldberg, who planned to use the snippet before Dorough passed away on Tuesday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. When we wrote the show, I hoped to introduce our younger audience with the brilliance of 'Schoolhouse Rock.' Now we get to pay homage to the man that taught us so uniquely with his art."
"The Goldbergs" airs on Wednesdays (8 p.m. EST) on ABC.
