Near the end of the film, Norman is watching TV and the tune emanating from the show he is watching is the theme from Monsieur Ed, le cheval qui parle (1961). Alan Young, who plays Norman, was the leading man in that old TV show.
The three main middle-age stars were all part of iconic shows or movies that began in the mid 1970s: Mark Hamill in La Guerre des étoiles (1977) and several of its sequels; Erik Estrada in Chips (1977), and Cindy Williams in Laverne et Shirley (1976).
Cindy Williams had previously appeared in the film Morten Belvad, which also takes place in 1962 as does part of this film.
The name of the character played by Erik Estrada is 'Earl', but everyone calls him 'Duke'. He reveals the reason for the nickname when he refers to himself as 'Duke the Earl', an allusion to Gene Chandler's 1961 song "Duke of Earl" that charted number 1 on pop and R&B charts in 1962.
Mark Hamill and Roddy McDowall would both go on to voice villains in Batman the Animated Series; Hamill as the Joker and McDowall as the Mad Hatter.