From Toni Basil to the Eurythmics, from friendship bracelets to whip-it's, the summer of 1984 was about as 80s as the 80s ever got. Stuck right in the middle of it is Eric Hunter, heading towards his senior year, and passing the summer working at a local amusement park in the fast food restaurant. He is joined by his long time girl/friend Maggie, as they don their ugly brown polyester uniforms and face the world.
At her father's funeral, Junior Talmadge remembers back 30 years to the last time she saw her Dad: the summer of 1979. Junior was graduating from college and had just gotten engaged. Her dad surprises the family when he arrives with a brand new motor home. He entices his kids into a final "family summer vacation," the only way he knows how: he tells them he has cancer. Thus begins the family's road trip to California, and their quest to become a real American family, the old-fashioned way, by being on a real American TV game show. As the family arrives in LA to audition for the show, secret after secret is revealed about their dad, forcing Junior and her brothers to confront the reality of who their Dad really is.