The title, "What Makes Sammy Run?", is a cultural reference to the 1941 novel of the same name by Budd Schulberg about his father's rise to power in 1930s Hollywood. The novel was later made into a 1949 teleplay of the same name adapted by Paddy Chayefsky for the Philco Television Playhouse. Finally, the novel was adapted into a 1965 Broadway musical of the same name.