Johnny Galecki is joining his former Big Bang Theory co-stars in pursuing new projects. This one holds a special place in Galacki’s filmography. In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Galecki played Rusty Griswold, the son of Clark (Chevy Chase) and Ellen Griswold (Beverly D'Angelo). Now he is rebooting National Lampoon’s Vacation as a TV show.
Johnny Galecki is already working on a new comedy with one of his Big Bang Theory co-workers. However, you can now add a National Lampoon’s Vacation TV show to his slate. Time to get into the nuts and bolts of this potential reboot! Galecki is on-board to executive produce the possible series, which would be a single-camera comedy entitled The Griswolds, per THR.
For reference, The Big Bang Theory was a multi-camera sitcom. A single-camera comedy falls in the realm of NBC’s The Office and ABC’s Modern Family. The Griswolds is slated to run for a half-hour. Time for the million-dollar question: what will The Griswolds be about?
The Johnny Galecki executive produced series will follow the family after they return home from (what else?) vacation. There is more! The premise is exploring the day-to-day experiences of the Griswold family as they live in modern Chicago. It is currently in the script development phase.
It does not sound like The Griswolds is going to go for The Goldbergs’ blast from the past scenario. The show's focus on the characters' day-to-day does bring to mind Modern Family. Considering that series will have capped its run at ten seasons, that formula clearly has some staying power. Of course, Johnny Galecki has his own experience with long-time success.
The Big Bang Theory ended its run after twelve seasons on CBS, but he won't be headed back to the Eye Network if the Griswold family comedy gets the green light. Where is Johnny Galecki’s National Lampoon’s Vacation TV show headed? Warner Bros.’ HBO Max! Yes, the same streamer that was previously reported to spend north of $1 billion securing the streaming rights to The Big Bang Theory. It now has them.
If you had any doubts that HBO Max is planning to bring it in the streaming wars to come, The Griswolds is just more proof that it intends to be a competitor. The upcoming streaming service is already set to be home to a Green Lantern series (among other DC Comics heroes). News of Johnny Galecki’s National Lampoon’s Vacation TV show comes well after HBO Max announced plans for a Grease spinoff show.
Movies-turned-television shows! They are all the rage. Along with the adaptations mentioned above, HBO Max will also be the new home of Friends after it finishes its run on Netflix. It goes without saying that The Griswolds would be in fantastic company!
The Middle’s Tim Hobert will pen The Griswolds’ script and executive produce the series with Johnny Galecki and Alcide Bava’s Holly Brown. Alcide Bava’s Cory Wood will also produce. Fans will have to wait and see if any of the film franchise’s original stars reprise their roles. That is reportedly unclear at this point.
For now, it does not sound like Johnny Galecki is set to reprise his role as Rusty Griswold for the TV show. In the world of feature films, the part was most recently played by The Office’s Ed Helms in the 2015 movie, Vacation. Whether he is on-screen or not, Galecki’s involvement does provide a cool connection from National Lampoon’s Vacation past.
Given how early everything is, Johnny Galecki’s National Lampoon’s Vacation series has not gotten a premiere date yet. If all goes well, it will bow on HBO Max. While you wait for more updates on the show, check out this winter’s premieres.
