"God Only Knows" has occasionally appeared in other media. It served as a musical cue in the films "Boogie Nights" (1997) and "Love Actually" (2003). Author Thomas Pynchon paid homage to the song by incorporating it into the closing paragraphs of his Wilson-inspired novel "Inherent Vice" (2009). The 2013 video game "BioShock Infinite" contains a turn-of-the-century barbershop quartet that sings the song while floating past the player on an airship. The song was also used in the opening credits of the HBO series, "Big Love".