'The Goldbergs' Unordered Spin-Off Will Air As A Regular Episode This Season

The Goldbergs is currently in the middle of its fifth season, but you might remember that over a year ago we heard about the world of the 1980s-set sitcom expanding with a spin-off that would take us to the 1990s. Unfortunately, that series didn't get ordered to series, but the pilot was ordered and shot, and fans will get a chance to see it on this season of The Goldbergs.

Find out more about The Goldbergs spin-off pilot below.

Originally, it was reported that the Goldbergs spin-off followed recurring character Mr. Mellor, the gym teacher played by Bryan Callen who has mentored the three kids at the center of the ABC comedy series a number of times in addition to providing some bonus laughs. However, it turns out there was much more to the spin-off series that we didn't know about.

Deadline says would-be spin-off from The Goldbergs was going to focus on Tim Meadows as former high school teacher John Glascott as he has become the principal of the school. In addition to dealing with a crazy faculty with "wildly different views on how to mentor students," he also brings in his "tough-as-nails" sister Lucy (Nia Long, pictured above) as part of the staff, and she brings her teen daughters Felicia and Gigi (Rachel Crow and Summer Parker) to enroll in the school as well.

While Lucy wants to make sure her daughters don't get caught up in the social drama and pitfalls of high school, she has some difficult balancing the "nurturing and communicative approach" to parenting provided by her brother and the more tough love approach from Mr. Mellor, who believes physical competition is the key to success.

Since the series takes place in the 1990s, all of The Goldbergs kids have long since graduated high school. But that doesn't mean their mother is leaving the school alone. Beverly Goldberg (Wendi McLendon-Covey) apparently still pays visits to the school's staff. Bringing one of the favorite main characters from the series into the spin-off like this feels a little forced, but if all her kids are away at college and Beverly is looking for something to keep her occupied...well, she always loved being too involved at the school, anyway

Though ABC already passed on the chance to order the spin-off series, The Goldbergs creator and executive producer Adam F. Goldberg hopes that this airing of the pilot might change their mind. Goldberg told The Hollywood Reporter:

"I am beyond grateful that [ABC Entertainment president] Channing [Dungey] and ABC has decided to give my Goldbergs spinoff show a chance. Last spring, the '90s spinoff tested higher than the Goldbergs pilot, so I certainly had high hopes for the project. Young Sheldon has proven that fans are very loyal and will watch a spinoff, so we are hopeful that we make a real splash when it airs so we can begin the conversation again about getting this on the air."

The pilot directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers, Dukes of Hazzard) and written by Marc Firek will air as a "special event" called The Goldbergs-1990 Something on January 24, 2018.