 The films title comes from the nickname invented by students and  staff for detention at New Trier High School, the school attended by  the son of one of John Hughes (I) (qv) friends. Thus, those who  were sent to detention were designated members of "The Breakfast  Club". "The Breakfast Club" at that school probably took its name in  turn from the title of American radios longest running network  entertainment show, broadcast from Chicago, 1933 to 1968.