Referenced By / On the Waterfront

Films — Live-Action

• Queens Logic: Vinny's attempt at a Funny Answering Machine message involves him imitating Charlie's I Coulda Been a Contender! speech. Neither Al nor Eliot find it funny.

Literature

• In I Think I Love You, Zelda tells Bill, "You have proved yourself surprisingly good at pretending to be someone else. You could have been an actor. Or a spy." Bill mutters, "Or a contender."

Music

• Billy Joel: "The Great Wall of China", from Joel's last album of new songs, River of Dreams, has this lyric:
  You coulda had class, you coulda been a contender
  Charlie, you shoulda looked out for me