History Main / NoFameNoWealthNoService

* In ''Anime/SpeedGrapher'', Suitengu's Roppongi Club is this: Due to its outrageously high membership fees, the only people who can get in are the fabulously wealthy, and most of its members are of high prestige around Japan. As it turns out, Suitengu founded the Roppongi Club and cultivated its elite status so he could gather as much of the rich, powerful, and influential people as he could and [[spoiler:kill them all by locking them in the building and bombing it from the inside.]]

** David Lee Roth tells stories of coming off VanHalen's wildly successful first tour and not being able to get into Studio 54.

* In ''[[{{Uglies}} Extras,]]'' the world's economy is based off fame/popularity, with a rating given to every person in the city. You receive better clothes, food, and invitations to parties the higher your rating is.

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Basil Fawlty lived by this trope. He either showed fawning obsequiousness for anybody with money, a title, or a sufficiently fancy car, or contempt for everyone else, especially his hotel's residents, out-of-town work crews staying at Fawlty Towers on business, foreigners, and families with kids. The real fun comes when Basil mistakes the former for the latter, then realizes with horror what he's done.

* Happened in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' to Lucille and Lindsay. After being refused entrance to the trendiest bar/nightclub in town, they retreat to [[strike: Denny's]] [[BrandX Klimpy's]] where a smiling hostess greets them with "Sit anywhere you like!" Lucille is appalled at finding herself in such a non-selective restaurant...

* Oprah Winfrey got this treatment at a certain very exclusive boutique in Zurich, a sales assistant apparently not believing she could afford a thirty thousand dollar handbag. Now, admittedly TheOprahWinfreyShow never really got much airtime outside North America, but the UnfortunateImplications did not go unnoticed.

* In ''JustShootMe'', Dennis goes to a club with his new wife Adrienne, a well-known fashion model. The bouncer lets her in, but shuts Dennis out, not believing his claims of being married.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Anna and Bates celebrate their anniversary by going to a posh restaurant. Even though they did make a reservation, they are rejected by a stuck-up maître d' t because "lady Graham and her friends are inside", obviously implying Anna and Bates are not important enough to enter. Lady Cora appears then behind the maître d' , happily greets Anna and Bates and innocently asks if they are coming inside. After Anna mentions the maître d' t said there's not enough tables for them, Cora invites them to her table and ([[PolitenessJudo with the most polite smile on her face]]) ask maître d' t is this a problem. He quickly tries to cover up his mistake by saying he just lost Anna and Bates reservation but he found it now and they can enter. After the maitre is gone, Cora with a huge smile says "I'm pretty sure you won't have problems with getting a table here ever again". Said maitre is then extremely polite both to Anna and Bates for the whole evening. Cora then humiliates the maitre even further, by casually mentioning Anna and Bates can use her limousine to go back to Downton and acting like it was happening often, all while the maitre was near their table.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Anna and Bates celebrate their anniversary by going to a posh restaurant. Even though they did make a reservation, they are rejected by a stuck-up maître d' t because "lady Graham and her friends are inside", obviously implying Anna and Bates are not important enough to enter. Lady Cora appears then behind the maître d' , happily greets Anna and Bates and innocently asks if they are coming inside. After Anna mentions the maître d' t said there's not enough tables for them, Cora invites them to her table and ([[PolitnessJudo with the most polite smile on her face]]) ask maître d' t is this a problem. He quickly tries to cover up his mistake by saying he just lost Anna and Bates reservation but he found it now and they can enter. After the maitre is gone, Cora with a huge smile says "I'm pretty sure you won't have problems with getting a table here ever again". Said maitre is then extremely polite both to Anna and Bates for the whole evening. Cora then humiliates the maitre even further, by casually mentioning Anna and Bates can use her limousine to go back to Downton and acting like it was happening often, all while the maitre was near their table.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Anna and Bates celebrate their anniversary by going to a posh restaurant. Even though they did make a reservation, they are rejected by a stuck-up maître d' t because "lady Graham and her friends are inside", obviously implying Anna and Bates are not important enough to enter. Lady Cora appears then behind the maître d' , happily greets Anna and Bates and innocently asks if they are coming inside. After Anna mentions the maître d' t said there's not enough tables for them, Cora invites them to her table and (with the most polite smile on her face) ask maître d' t is this a problem. He quickly tries to cover up his mistake by saying he just lost Anna and Bates reservation but he found it now and they can enter. After the maitre is gone, Cora with a huge smile says "I'm pretty sure you won't have problems with getting a table here ever again". Said maitre is then extremely polite both to Anna and Bates for the whole evening. Cora then humiliates the maitre even further, by casually mentioning Anna and Bates can use her limousine to go back to Downton and acting like it was happening often, all while the maitre was near their table.

* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': * Anna and Bates celebrate their anniversary by going to a posh restaurant. Even though they did make a reservation, they are rejected by a stuck-up maître d' t because "lady Graham and her friends are inside", obviously implying Anna and Bates are not important enough to enter. Lady Cora appears then behind the maître d' , happily greets Anna and Bates and innocently asks if they are coming inside. After Anna mentions the maître d' t said there's not enough tables for them, Cora invites them to her table and (with the most polite smile on her face) ask maître d' t is this a problem. He quickly tries to cover up his mistake by saying he just lost Anna and Bates reservation but he found it now and they can enter. After the maitre is gone, Cora with a huge smile says "I'm pretty sure you won't have problems with getting a table here ever again".

* ''SaturdayNightLive'': a rather meta sketch found a few funny ways to play with it, with the cast of the show itself trying to trade on their fame and finding that "New Cast" didn't rate next to "Old Cast".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "That's Lobstertainment": Fry and Leela, having just escaped the La Brea tar pits, are at first refused entrance to the Oscars' reception. Then the doorman sees the skeleton hanging from Fry's ankle and says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were with Mr. Stallone."

* Inverted in ''NickAndNorahsInfinitePlaylist'': it's left as a mystery for half the movie ''why'' Norah seems to know every bouncer in New York, who just let this HighSchool girl in at the front of the line. Turns out [[spoiler: her dad's a record producer]].

May overlap with RecognitionFailure.

Compare DudeWheresMyRespect, {{Bouncer}}.

* Even {{Heathcliff}} goes through this when he has ''A Nightmare In Beverly Hills''. Luckily for him, it was AllJustADream.

* The Bounty Hunter receives a rather cold reception on Alderaan in ''StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. An [[PsychoForHire unwashed mercenary]] isn't likely to be accepted or tolerated by [[BlueBlood planetary nobility]].

* The Bounty Hunter receives a rather cold reception on Alderaan in ''StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. [[JustifiedTrope Though it makes perfect sense,]] as an [[PsychoForHire unwashed mercenary]] isn't likely to be accepted or tolerated by [[BlueBlood planetary nobility]].

** Steve Rubell purposely cultivated this policy, allowing only certain celebs in (or [[ShowSomeLeg any girl willing to humiliate herself]] for the honor) to make Studio 54 look like the most happening place to be.

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''PrettyWoman'', Julia Roberts's HookerWithAHeartOfGold goes into a store on Rodeo Drive and gets treated badly by clerks, even though she has plenty of money. Later, after being served because of the intervention of a kind concierge, she goes in and asks if they get commission (extra pay depending what they sell personally). They do, so she gets to hold up all of her shopping bags and give them a short WhatAnIdiot talk.

* In ''CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', Brent is distressed to find that his status as a FormerChildStar is no longer enough to get him into a fancy restaurant while Flint gets to walk right in.
-->"You're letting ''that'' guy in? That guy's a nerd!"
* In ''{{Beaches}}'', at the height of her Broadway career, C.C. brings her best friend and their husbands to her favorite restaurant. A waiter quietly evicts another couple in the middle of their dinner because "there's somebody here who's bigger than you." The maitre'd then escorts C.C. and her party to the newly vacant spot, claiming that "we've saved your favorite table for you."

-->-- ''SaturdayNightLive''

* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Basil Fawlty lived by this trope. He either showed fawning obsequiousness for anybody with money, a title, or a sufficiently fancy car, or contempt for everyone else, especially his hotel's residents, out-of-town work crews staying at FawltyTowers on business, foreigners, and families with kids. The real fun comes when Basil mistakes the former for the latter, then realizes with horror what he's done.

* ''FawltyTowers'': Basil Fawlty lived by this trope. He either showed fawning obsequiousness for anybody with money, a title, or a sufficiently fancy car, or contempt for everyone else, especially his hotel's residents, out-of-town work crews staying at FawltyTowers on business, foreigners, and families with kids. The real fun comes when Basil mistakes the former for the latter, then realizes with horror what he's done.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* One episode of ''{{Series/Extras}}'' deals with Andy's attempts to get into the VIP area of a club. Andy finally breaks out as a C-list celebrity and gets shown to the VIP area of a club, which he rubs in to his arch rival who happens to be there. After sitting there for about a minute, he is unceremoniously booted out when David Bowie shows up, and when Bowie leaves the new bouncer doesn't recognise Andy.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

** Steve Rubell purposely cultivated this policy, allowing only certain Celebs in (or [[ShowSomeLeg any girl willing to humiliate herself]] for the honor) to make Studio 54 look like the most happening place to be.

** Even WoodyAllen was turned away at the opening of the eponymous night club.

* In ''Selena'', while looking for an outfit for the Grammy award, the singer was being brushed off by a fancy dress-store's clerks on the account of them being casually dressed Mexicans. Then one fan recognized her, and their attitudes quickly changed.

* In Film/TheMask, Stanley Ipkiss's buddy Charlie goes in, with babes on his arms... Ipkiss is stopped because "he's not on the list".

* In [[{{Uglies}} Extras,]] the world's economy is based off fame/popularity, with a rating given to every person in the city. You receive better clothes, food, and invitations to parties the higher your rating is.

* The ''PrettyWoman'' example is spoofed on ''TheOffice''. Dwight is denied service at a store for his appearance, so Andy and Kelly give him a makeover with the purpose of going back and humiliate the attendants who rejected him. Only when they get there, they find that the reason Dwight was not let in was that [[spoiler:he appeared to have blood on his hands (it was actually beet juice).]]

* Grazia's in GrandmasterOfTheft is a restaurant which only serves the rich or famous. [[MagnificentBitch Cassidy]] offers a free dinner here as bait for [[SmugSnake Narcissa]], to setup negotiations and advance plan.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "That's Lobstertainment": Fry and Leela, having just escaped the La Brea tar pits, are at first refused entrance to a fancy restaurant. Then the doorman sees the Neanderthal skeleton hanging from Fry's ankle and says, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were with Mr. Stallone."

* One episode of ''{{Extras}}'' deals with Andy's attempts to get into the VIP area of a club. Andy finally breaks out as a C-list celebrity and gets shown to the VIP area of a club, which he rubs in to his arch rival who happens to be there. After sitting there for about a minute, he is unceremoniously booted out when David Bowie shows up, and when Bowie leaves the new bouncer doesn't recognise Andy.