Follow TV Tropes

Following

Trivia / Good Morning, Vietnam

Go To

  • California Doubling: The film was mostly shot in Bangkok, and at the time, several hundred male students from the International (American) School of Bangkok (ISB) were recruited as extras to perform in the multitude of shots showing American GI's throughout the film. As a courtesy, Robin Williams actually came to ISB and put on a stand-up routine for all students in the 10th grade and above.
  • Harpo Does Something Funny: It is impossible to write dialogue like Cronauer's radio broadcasts. They just pointed Robin in the general direction they wanted him to go and let him run.
  • Making Use of the Twin: The two news censors were played by real-life twins Dan and Don Stanton.
  • Production Posse: Bruno Kirby, Richard Portnow, and J. T. Walsh had all appeared in Barry Levinson's previous film that year, Tin Men.
  • Revival by Commercialization: Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" wasn't successful in the United States when first released in 1968note  and its enduring popularity today is largely owed to it being featured in this film. It was released as a single off the soundtrack in February 1988 and charted in the Billboard Top 40, far outperforming its original release.
  • Star-Making Role: Although Robin Williams was known before this film he was known for television and this film helped him receive an Oscar nod.
  • Stillborn Franchise: In 1992, Mark Frost wrote a sequel screenplay, Good Morning, Chicago. The film would have featured Cronauer as a journalist at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The project was eventually scrapped, due to disagreements between Robin Williams, Barry Levinson, and The Walt Disney Company, over the film's direction.
  • Throw It In!: All the funny bits were ad-libbed by Robin Williams.
  • What Could Have Been: The original story treatment, written by Adrian Cronauer himself, was an attempt to create a TV series which combined elements of WKRP in Cincinnati and M*A*S*H, two of the most popular shows at the time. This was virtually completely retooled as a vehicle for Williams' improv.

Top