Nathan's usually good about staying in character, but occasionally someone will say or do something so bizarre, he breaks in a subtle-but-obvious way.
After he sees the ludicrousSimon Sees pitch tape, the TV producer has a big smirk and literally has to hold his fingers to his mouth to stop himself from laughing.
Defictionalization: Summit Ice jackets, Jack Garbarino's workout bookThe Movement, and The Banzai Predicament's"blues smoke detector"-filled hit "Orphaned Skies" are all available for purchase (The Movement actually became a bestseller on Amazon after the episode first aired). Nathan also set up a special one-day-only Summit Ice retail store in "Vancouver's historic outdoor apparel district" in conjunction with his donating $150,000 worth of Summit Ice proceeds to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Center.
Reality Subtext: According to Fielder, part of the origin of the show is based on the 2007-2008 financial crisis and how human relationships were affected. This factors into the show itself, as the struggling small businesses are often too nice to say 'no' to Nathan's ideas.
Write What You Know: By his own admission, Nathan's character is partly based on himself exaggerating aspects of his personality (past awkwardness, missing social cues). In particular, his attempts to seem more charismatic and sociable that only result in further awkwardness and humiliation are lifted from him trying to mimic his more outgoing friends as a teenager.
jackets, Jack Garbarino's workout book