Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin wrote that "no predictor of the future—not even Orwell—has ever been as right as Chayefsky was when he wrote Network."[35] The film ranks at number 100 in Empire magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.[36]
In popular culture
The film's catchphrase "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" and its derivatives have been referenced in a variety of media, including The Tubes' 1979 album Remote Control, the 1989 comedy UHF, "America Number One" by Consolidated (1990) and "Corporate Slave" by Snog (1992).
The "Mad as Hell" monologue is sampled by Dutch hardstyle artist The Prophet, post-rock group Maybeshewill's song "Not for Want of Trying" on their album of the same name (2008), English speaking French rap duo Chill Bump's intro to their award-winning song "Life Has Value" from their 2012 release Hidden Strings, in the song "Lullaby" by Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Cinnamon on his debut album Erratic Cinematic (2017), in the song "The New Black" from Perturbator's second album I Am the Night (2013), and in the song "Dice of a Generation" by artist DEMONDICE on her album "American Saikoro" (2018). Steinski and Mass Media use several samples from Network on their 1991 track "It's Up To You". The clip was also sampled in Mitch Murder's track "Eye of the Storm" (2012).
Other references include the first Animaniacs episode "De-Zanitized", Spike Lee's film Bamboozled, the first episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Episode 15 of Season 4 of Boston Legal.
Mad As Hell, a satirical Australian news show starring Shaun Micallef which began in 2012, takes its title from Finch's monologue; the various different incarnations of the opening sequence all feature visual references to the sequence of viewers yelling from their windows into the street.[37]
The 2014 documentary film Mad as Hell, about the news series The Young Turks, takes its title from the monologue.
In Better Call Saul's first episode "Uno" (2015), Jimmy McGill quotes part of Jensen's diatribe when he is lambasting the board of his brother's law firm, addressing Howard Hamlin, then tells his confused audience that his quote came from Network. The same camera angle is employed in both instances.[38]
