History Film / Diner

* TheGamblingAddict: Boogie. He gets into all kinds of trouble for this, [[spoiler: until Bagel pays off his bet.

** When Shrevie is at work at the appliance, we can see the 1949 movie version of ''LittleWomen" playing on one of the televisions.

** [[LALaw Stuart Markowitz]] is an aluminum siding salesman trying to get Boogie to work for him.

* ArcWords: After Boogie is brushed off by a woman on horseback (ItMakesSenseInContext), Fenwick, who's been watching, says, "Do you ever get the feeling that there's something going on that we don't know about?"

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Part of the script involved Eddie and some of the others going to see the 1959 NFL championship between [[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_NFL_Championship_Game the Colts and the New York Giants]], but Levinson couldn't afford to shoot anything at the football stadium, so the sequence had to be scrapped.

* TheAlcoholic: Fenwick.

** Eddie's football quiz for his bride-to-be Elyse.

** When Billy is at the TV station trying to get Barbara to talk to him, we can see the 1949 movie version of ''LittleWomen" playing in the background.

** Eddie constantly annoys his friends by asking them who they prefer, [[FrankSinatra Sinatra]] or [[JohnnyMathis Mathis]]. When Boogie answers "[[ElvisPresley Presley]]", it sets off Eddie's BerserkButton.

Though not a big hit on release, thanks in part to ExecutiveMeddling, this became a cult hit on video, and helped launch the careers of [[Film/AngelHeart Mickey Rourke]] (Boogie), [[PoliceAcademy Steve Guttenberg]] (Eddie), KevinBacon (Fenwick), [[MadAboutYou Paul Reiser]] (Modell), [[CitySlickers Daniel Stern]] (Shrevie), [[TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension Ellen Barkin]] (Beth), and [[{{Wings}} Timothy Daly]] (Billy). It's also one of the first films to feature SeinfeldianConversation, and according to many of its fans (including JuddApatow, Nick Hornby, and JerrySeinfeld himself), may be the UrExample.

Though not a big hit on release, thanks in part to ExecutiveMeddling, this became a cult hit on video, and helped launch the careers of [[AngelHeart Mickey Rourke]] (Boogie), [[PoliceAcademy Steve Guttenberg]] (Eddie), KevinBacon (Fenwick), [[MadAboutYou Paul Reiser]] (Modell), [[CitySlickers Daniel Stern]] (Shrevie), [[TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension Ellen Barkin]] (Beth), and [[{{Wings}} Timothy Daly]] (Billy). It's also one of the first films to feature SeinfeldianConversation, and according to many of its fans (including JuddApatow, Nick Hornby, and JerrySeinfeld himself), may be the UrExample.

* BerserkButton: Do not, under any circumstances, mess with how Shrevie files his records, as Beth finds out.

* RefugeInAudacity: In-universe - [[spoiler: Boogie best the other guys he can get Carol Heathrow to touch his penis. So, when they're at the movies that night, at one point he opens his fly and puts the popcorn box over his penis. Eventually, as she's reaching for the popcorn, she touches it, freaks, and runs out of the theater. When he catches up to her in the girl's bathroom, he explains he only opened his fly because she got him excited, so he wanted to try and calm down. However, a certain point in the movie made him get excited again, and the penis just went through the bottom of the box. She seems to buy it.]]

* RecycledInSpace: IVitteloni set in Baltimore.

Though not a big hit on release, thanks in part to ExecutiveMeddling, this became a cult hit on video, helped launch the careers of [[AngelHeart Mickey Rourke]] (Boogie), [[PoliceAcademy Steve Guttenberg]] (Eddie), KevinBacon (Fenwick), [[MadAboutYou Paul Reiser]] (Modell), [[CitySlickers Daniel Stern]] (Shrevie), [[TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension Ellen Barkin]] (Beth), and [[{{Wings}} Timothy Daly]] (Billy). It's also one of the first films to feature SeinfeldianConversation, and according to many of its fans, may be the UrExample.

** Fenwick has his own moment; after he gets turned down for a loan by his estranged brother Howard, he goes by an outdoor Nativity scene, and notices the life-sized Baby Jesus is missing. So what does he do? He strips down to his shorts and sits in the baby crib himself. And when Shrevie, Eddie and Billy try to get him out of there, he refuses to leave until the police come by.

* ThrowItIn: Steve Guttenberg couldn't react coherently to the answer of "Presley", but Levinson kept it in because it was funnier.

** Eddie constantly annoys his friends by asking them who they prefer, Sinatra or Mathis. When Boogie answers "Presley", it sets off Eddie's BerserkButton.

** Also, a minor character can quote SweetSmellOfSucces by heart, much to Eddie and Modell's annoyance.

** Also, a minor character can quote ''SweetSmellOfSuccess" by heart, much to Eddie and Modell's annoyance.

* MoralEventHorizon: {{Defied}}; in order to come up with much-needed cash for a gambling debt, Boogie bets his friends he can sleep with Carol Heathrow, but when she bails, claiming illness, he asks Beth, who's still upset over Shrevie, and who once dated Boogie, to go out with him. She agrees, he gives her a wig to disguise herself, and they go to a motel. However, once there, Boogie decides not to go through with it, and confesses to Beth.
* PlatonicBestBuds: Barbara and Billy started that way, until they slept together one night; she wants to return to that relationship, but he wants something more.

** Eddie constantly annoys his friends by asking them who they prefer, Sinatra or Mathis. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny When Boogie answers "Presley"]], it sets off Eddie's BerserkButton.

** Eddie constantly annoys his friends by asking them who they prefer, Sinatra or Mathis.

Though not a big hit on release, thanks in part to ExecutiveMeddling, this became a cult hit on video, helped launch the careers of MickeyRourke (Boogie), SteveGuttenberg (Eddie), KevinBacon (Fenwick), [[MadAboutYou Paul Reiser]] (Modell), DanielStern (Shrevie), EllenBarkin (Beth), and [[{{Wings}} Timothy Daly]] (Billy). It's also one of the first films to feature SeinfeldianConversation, and according to many of its fans, may be the UrExample.

* BeserkButton: Do not, under any circumstances, mess with how Shrevie files his records, as Beth finds out.