- Breakaway Pop Hit: The film's theme song "Goodbye Girl", sung and written by David Gates, went to No. #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1977.
- Uncredited Role: Nicol Williamson as big-time film director Oliver Fry.
- What Could Have Been:
- Mike Nichols was originally going to direct with Robert De Niro as Elliot Garfield. Artistic differences ultimately forced them both out, two weeks into the shoot, after several table readings. Dustin Hoffman lobbied for the role (the film was based on his experiences as a struggling actor) but was unsuccessful. James Caan, Raúl Juliá and Jack Nicholson were also considered.
- The original version of the script was about Elliot and Paula after they are married, and the strain on their marriage when Elliot is offered a major role in a Hollywood movie. After De Niro and Nichols left the project, Simon decided to rewrite the script from scratch and tell the story of how Elliot and Paula met.
- Working Title: Bogart Slept Here.
- Write What You Know: The disastrous production of Richard III, in which Elliot portrays the title character as gay, was based on an actual production that Marsha Mason attended and told her husband, Neil Simon, about. Like the production in the film, it took place at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in New York in 1974, and starred Michael Moriarty.
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