Fast Times At Ridgemont High: 10 Weird But True Facts!

Here are the top 10 weird but true facts for everyone's favorite high school comedy: Fast Times At Ridgemont High.

[@mcmrv14]

Phoebe pool scene. THE GREATEST moment in cinematic history.

[@andrewsmith9302]

you mean most paused or looped....

[@joeydepalmer4457]

@@andrewsmith9302 how true !

[@joeydepalmer4457]

how true !

[@sylviaisgod6947]

Let's not forget Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places... But she turned out to be a Trump hating old hag so nevermind....

[@edwarddavison320]

My name is Brad and I approve this message

[@kennethfaron5486]

The best reference to the 1980's is the fact that we all hung out at the Mall. The Mall was the center of our cultural universe.

[@joeydepalmer4457]

Yep! 100% Mall rat here!

[@lindamoore6163]

Yes. Especially the arcade

[@mayorb3366]

@@lindamoore6163 At one point, my local mall had 3 different arcades going at the same time, all crowded on weekends. Magic days!

[@stratocasterguy]

Every generation has one high-school movie which they all feel best depicts their life at that time. This one was spot-on for us in the early 80s.

[@lazzy2day]

I graduated in 1981, Every character was somebody I knew.

[@Donathon-f6f]

Me also...WO-S....Go Blue... lolol 😂

[@albundy6008]

I graduated in 1984. And yes, I knew all of these characters before the movie came out.

[@scotthalladay2210]

83 yes that’s right

[@mayorb3366]

Likewise! '82

[@RTFLDGR]

graduated 1981 from high school. great R&R, dance clubs, MTV, no internet or cellphones. It was a great time to be alive and that age in life. so happy I got to live it.

[@Greg-ur8cv]

No social media..no political correctness. People lived in the moment 💯..I feel so lucky to have experienced the 70s and 80s. Kids growing up today don't even realize how ridiculous and sucky things are now. Because it's all they know. ☹️

[@larrym5120]

This movie depicted 80's high school better than any others.

[@DeltaElites]

I can never hear the Cars - Moving In Stereo without thinking of Phoebe Cates again. I was class of 80 and this movie perfectly fit the years I had just experienced. I'm a native Southern Californian who spent years surfing and skating by then too. One of the first two Vans stores were in Alhambra California a few blocks from my grandmother's house and it was actually the cheap cool shoes and I still only wear them to this day. We had the Santa Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia (I worked at Woody's Pet Center) which was almost identical to the Sherman Oaks mall used in the film. I still still show Fast Times to my grandkids along with "Lords of Dogtown" to show them what my life was like growing up as a surfer/skater in Southern California.

[@scotthalladay2210]

Me too

[@mikemindykowski1604]

Thousand oaks !!

[@timbrown8038]

The guys piling out of a smoke filled van was part of my high school experience as well.😁

[@VroodenTheGreat]

Spicoli falling out backward is what got me.

[@joshuatree2537]

That would make you a loser.

[@ronaldredmond3308]

" Learn it, Know it, live it. " Brad Hamilton 😂

[@waldoparsnip1025]

Ha ! That and , " DOES ANYBODY F 'ING KNOCK ANYMORE ? when she walks in on him when he's spanking his monkey like it owes him money !

[@josephgaviota]

I still use that line.

[@Tarantulisimo]

all of the casting was perfect

[@Captain_Sarcastic]

While this movie has a huge number of great scenes, Phoebe Cates pool scene is the greatest "nude" scene ever, and completely captured every teenage boys fantasy.

[@johnrybarczyk8845]

"Doesn't anybody fucking knock! "

[@Oldag75]

Ray Walston -- a magnificent actor, he dominated in "The Sting" -- was astonished at how famous among young people this movie made him.

[@guitarfool3881]

Hey Bud ! What's your problem ??? What are you people ? ........................... On dope ??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@289cobra9]

The Sting is one of my favorite movies.

[@PaulFormentos]

My Favorite Martian

[@clearcreek69]

Sean Penn was perfect as Spicolli

[@joeydepalmer4457]

Like to see an up dated version with him as the school teacher

[@Jeff98177]

Another fun fact: Two versions of the swimming pool scene were filmed: the one shown in theaters where Phoebe takes her top off, and one where she undoes it but leaves it on. The second one is used in TV broadcasts. Videotapes of the movie from rental places like Blockbuster, were damaged at that point in the movie, from people repeatedly reversing, watching again, reversing, watching again.....

[@movieswelove99]

I know I wore mine out.

[@jeffmorris8528]

They probably DAMAGED other things also besides the tape. LOL.

[@movieswelove99]

@@jeffmorris8528 Ouch!

[@cb9600]

@@jeffmorris8528 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@braddouglas7839]

Why would it be damaged in that one spot? My wife ACTUALLY asked me that when we found that out. Isn't she special. She also was shocked to find out Freddy Mercury was gay, lol. She's 56... that was about two years ago.

[@grumpchong]

So, Phoebe Cates was about to be topless on screen, for millions of people, all around the world, for essentially as long as anyone would care to watch, as well as who even knows how many crew members, and she's worried that neighbors might be peeking out their windows?

[@mattjones5987]

Nobody ever accused women of being logical.

[@movieswelove99]

@@mattjones5987 Ouch!

[@DrFingerOBGYN]

She didn’t want to show herself for free…

[@christopherborum6551]

Standing topless in front of a stranger is different from that stranger seeing it on film while you're back home in the Hills. It actually makes perfect sense.

[@RFToob]

Great cast. Funny and memorable all the way through.

[@medicman5278]

"Awesome! Totally Awesome!"

[@RobertSchroeder-o5n]

Yeah I had forgotten about Anthony Edward’s being in Fast times. I really liked this movie and yes this was what high school was like in the 80’s. I should know I was in the class of 1983.

[@joeydepalmer4457]

me too! joined the army that summer. it was basically a carry on from high school

[@guitarfool3881]

Seeing him with hair is odd ???

[@RansomHollywood]

Jennifer Jason Leigh had REALLY WORKED at that pizza place at the mall, prior to becoming an actress.

[@HolyShnikeez_1975]

Another fun fact is that Cameron Crowe went undercover at a high school in San Diego to get inspiration for the film

[@rteitel1974]

true dat

[@wilburross9709]

He went undercover to get the material to write the book this movie is based on. That's why everything in the movie seems so real

[@HolyShnikeez_1975]

@wilburross9709 wth is the difference? You just worded your reply different lol

[@wilburross9709]

@@HolyShnikeez_1975 You're right. I guess I was just over-thinking it and thought 'inspiration' was too loose a term, that it was more like 'data.'

[@ninjahighlife2962]

No shirt, no shoes, NO DICE! What a great movie.

[@georgevincent3909]

Have that sign on the front of the C-Store I worked at....

[@benjaminparkinson5255]

Nancy Wilson no freaking way

[@kel4461]

I had no idea that was nancy wilson

[@michaelbaca666]

That's crazy!

[@waldoparsnip1025]

I remember when the class " stud " was telling the young virgin guy how to score . He said , Get ' em in the car , and put on side two of Led Zeppelin Four ". Fast forward , he's got the chic in the car but Kashmir from Physical Graffiti 's playing .

[@sylviaisgod6947]

I heard that Led Zeppelin (or their record company) wouldn't allow them the rights to use Zep IV but allowed Kashmir, for whatever reason. Or it was the movie producers to show how inept at dating Rattner was.

[@waldoparsnip1025]

@@sylviaisgod6947 Ha ! You might be on to something there , the virgin dork put in the wrong ( would it have been 8 track or cassette ) ? I didn't even think of your angle , maybe me and you were the only Zep fans who noticed ... but I doubt it . Have a good one .

[@wilburross9709]

@@waldoparsnip1025 Even Stacy looked confused. Like she was thinking "Kashmir? What am I supposed to do for Kashmir? I thought if he wanted to get laid he was supposed to play Zep IV...?"

[@waldoparsnip1025]

@@wilburross9709 Whew ! Ithought it was just me ! I'm glad someone else noticed ! Ha ! When I was young , " When the Levee Breaks " got the panties off , just so " grinding " ..

[@braddouglas7839]

I don't know why Phoebe Cates would be so nervous. If I had a body like that I wouldn't even OWN clothes.

[@movieswelove99]

It's different for women... but yea... I know what you mean.

[@mattb2389]

Relax my dad's a television repairman. He's got an ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.

[@JeffMitchell-lv4zx]

Knowing the actor had a fake tallywacker makes the face phoebe makes at 4:43 even funnier :)

[@SlimyLotusKing]

You calling it a 'tallywacker' makes it even funnier!

[@gunnerhiro394]

When i was in highschool in HAWAII during the 80's - this guy from the mainland (military brat)- told me "Wow, going to school here is like going to a never ending party"! Mary J was our cigarette.

[@movieswelove99]

Damn now I'm jealous!

[@tomferguson4758]

What high school did you attend and what year did you graduate?

[@bobdonovan34]

I hope Mark Cutback Davis and Bob Jungle Death Girard aren't still salty about Spicoli's interview with Stu Nahan.

[@culcune]

The scene where Brad, who now works at Capt. Hooks and was made to wear his uniform while delivering a large order, is sitting at a light thinking the young woman in the Corvette was flirting with him but was actually making fun of him, was filmed at the corner of Chatsworth St. and White Oak in Granada Hills, Cal. Brad was heading east on Chatsworth. Just up the road on White Oak (and kind of visible in the shot) you can see all the trees lining both sides of White Oak. That was where the famous scene from E.T. was filmed when E.T. used his 'powers' to make all the bikes the kids were on start to fly.

[@josephgaviota]

From 0-age 15, I lived in Granada Hills. We moved after the '71 earthquake.

[@rb9581]

That woman is Nancy Wilson from Heart, Cameron Crowe’s girlfriend

[@dw-fe2ww]

You are my friend and comrade without further introduction❤

[@blainemonaco2092]

Penn peaked in 81……

[@bonwatcher]

The mall was the Sherman Oaks Galleria and had to be remodeled after the Northridge earthquake in 1994 and Perry's Pizza was a real pizza place in the mall.

[@gluonjck63]

To all the youngins out there. This movie was early 80’s to the T. A more perfect time even though the Greatest Recession was going on.

[@Donathon-f6f]

It was bad times ... thanks you A Hole Ronnie...

[@HLONEWOLF]

@@Donathon-f6f It was carter. Regan pulled us out.

[@Donathon-f6f]

@HLONEWOLF Ronnie's own VP called his economic policy.. voodoo economics... the man let a While House astrologist decide policy...all he ever was ...One of Hoover's lapdogs

[@musicswdy2]

@@Donathon-f6fthemself identifying dumb shit says what?

[@christopherharris3229]

@@Donathon-f6f nice revisionist history lesson

[@wisdomoverfear2685]

I graduated high school in 1986-87' ...not sure...it was around then. This was more like a documentary to me !

[@maryblaufuss7533]

RIP Vic Morrow, killed in the helicopter accident during the filming of The Twilight Zone movie.

[@sylviaisgod6947]

Decapitated. Horrible.

[@maryblaufuss7533]

And, how could I forget, the two innocent children, also.

[@ScratchGlass9]

I did not SEE the movie until the 3rd time going. We went to Drive ins all the time. We had a blast growing up. SHHS. Class of 78.

[@thewaitingape]

Bonus fact. Bruce Springsteens sister is one of the cheerleaders during the football scene.

[@cynthiasmith4130]

It's so perfect!!! They played their characters so well... I ove this movie!!! It's typical high school fun!!!! Mr. Hand was so funny!!! ❤❤❤❤❤....

[@GaryAa56]

One of my favorite movies with a great soundtrack too!

[@vickingsley537]

All these years, i had NO IDEA that was Anothey Edwards !!

[@glengamble526]

I met him…he’s a prick.

[@dantheleprechaun63]

The Nancy Willson of heart ??????? ///

[@guitarfool3881]

Yes , That was her .

[@TheSaturnV]

You left out the one about Jeff Spicoli rescuing Brooke Shields from drowning.

[@mayorb3366]

LOL! And spending the reward money to have Van Halen play at his birthday party!

[@DECEPTIONINDICATED]

What do you guys think of 3 0'clock high?

[@seattlescofflaws]

I liked it.

[@drewbadger68]

Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it. 😂😂 Jefferson's car ain't getting fixed

[@jebronlames7789]

Actually it was called Sherman Oaks Galleria, my stomping grounds. Malls was the place to be back then but these days they are about as american as tea and crumpets. Not as friendly as the american 80s version

[@skipdog9912]

Greatest 80s movie ever made. So accurate!

[@wacowildcat]

High school parking lot. I was trying to put eye drops in my friends eyes when his eye bones clamped down on my finger. Me and my other friend was pounding him with our fists and yelling for him to relax so i could get my thumb back. Our government teacher who was a hottie walked by the car looking through the smoke then shook her head and preceded to her class. This was late 70’s but we were still young and stupid in the 80’s.

[@METALFAN4EVS]

I went to Clairemont High School were Cameron Crowe went undercover as a student to get ideas for his book Fast Times at Ridgemont High. My uncle would have been a student at Clairemont when Crowe was there and said Spicoli was actually based on 3 different people and my Uncle was friends with them.

[@deplorablecovfefe9489]

Class of 79 and fast Times was exactly like my high school...

[@maryblaufuss7533]

I feel bad for Eric Stoltz. He watched Sean Penn practice method acting and become an iconic character. Stoltz tried the same thing for "Back to the Future" and failed miserably. Goes to show that an actor is either right for a role, or not. Method acting is not going to save you if you are an actor who has been miscast.

[@jwrockets]

He ended up doing Mask.

[@maryblaufuss7533]

@jwrockets I liked that movie a lot. Eric was great in it. Wouldn't Michael J. Fox have been wrong for the role, though? Further illustrating my original point.

[@thatfordguy2268]

I still think Jennifer Jason Leigh is hotter...😏

[@mayorb3366]

Me too. But maybe I'm biased because my crush in high school was very similar looking. Beautiful young lady, regardless.

[@mayorb3366]

Penn's first role after this was a movie called Bad Boys (not at all related to the Will Smith movies released much later). He played a teenager in juvie prison, and did some impressive acting. It's really worth a watch if you come across it.

[@movieswelove99]

Loved Bad Boys... saw it when it came out.

[@mrlarry999]

I watched this movie upon its release in the theater portrayed in the movie at the Sherman Oaks Galleria.

[@rosee7011]

And I still wear vans to this day.

[@keithmauney1033]

Me too.

[@Fakeaorta]

I was living in Bremerton WA when the movie came out. I was from SoCal but up in Bremerton for one year because my dad was in the Navy. I wore Vans for a couple years before the movie came out I got made fun of for wearing them in my new High School. I didn't have the checkered versions though. I had three pairs with different solid colors. When the movie came out all of a sudden everyone wanted Vans. Then they said I was wearing the wrong ones.

[@pizmo25]

Me too. And wore checkered Vans in high school in the 80s in Cali. Not entirely not because of Jeff Spicolli

[@jhightest-u5g]

I still use the expression "If I'm here AND you're here doesn't it make it OUR time?"

[@truthreignsforever9286]

Shame on me, I missed “Nancy Wilson”. Didn’t know it was her

[@RansomHollywood]

This movie was filmed DURING SCHOOL HOURS, and many of the actusl students were used as extra's, when time petmitted.

[@Gen-XTex]

Greatest comedic movie that depicts my era of teenage angst ever made!

[@MLTPLMGZ2006]

I had no idea until now that that was Anthony Edwards.

[@jstrat121]

Fact #11….we NEVER saw Damone again……

[@rteitel1974]

but i do use his line at every restaurant I go to: "I come here for the strudel"

[@fmphotooffice5513]

For those HS grads of 1978/9 their version was an "honorable mention" movie with the late great Bruno Kirby and Didi Conn called Almost Summer. The cinematography was a little cruder, the script almost great, the cast sometimes miscast but pretty good though not with the amazing collection of perfect representations in Fast Times. There is a newer better transfer on KZbin now. For years all there was was a low quality EP VHS dub.

[@perry8322]

One of my top movies from the 80s growing up they don’t make them like this anymore. The younger generation does not know what they missed fast Times at Ridgemont high Greece Saturday night fever ET what do they have now nothing fast and furious series has ended to

[@AnthonyMason-c1i]

Weird really weird fact, Jeff Sporolli is often left off great movie character, when the character influence everything around him.❤❤❤😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@SlimyLotusKing]

Here's a line that a lot of younger peoplle probably won't get, 'people on ludes should not drive'. Even when I was a teen in the 80s quaaludes were already rare, I only took one once.

[@diverdave4056]

and yet today ... Phoebe is still a very beautiful girl !

[@russelljdj]

Nancy Wilson was not in JUST A CAr, She was in America's Legendary Sports Car , CORVETTE!

[@Tipp_Of_The_Mitt]

I never realized Nancy Wilson was in it; I was 20 when it came out.

[@briancorbin5542]

I was in high school and my buddy called me over to his friends van and got me hi on weed but i was snitched out by a girl who really hated me during my senior year and ruined my graduation cause she got me expelled dude.

[@runner2008]

Is this the same mall where they filmed Valley Girl?

[@Lightnin42]

One of my favorite movies..

[@fredgarvin716]

I miss Christmas time at the mall in the 80s.

[@3378-c1i]

Um i am from Iowa, and we had BMX racing here in 1982, and guess what shoes we wore, yep Vans

[@TerryHoldbrooks-jj5rr]

One of the best movies ever made

[@RansomHollywood]

Judge Reinhold was ALSO the BOYFRIEND of the writer's roommate! THAT'S what got him the part.

[@dadbodincorporated4411]

My brain! I’m totally wasted.😂

[@joeydepalmer4457]

truer words where never spoken! we all said that at some point in high school in the early 80s

[@jwrockets]

My skull...

[@dadbodincorporated4411]

@@jwrockets you’re right…. It’s been a while since I seen it.

[@sf-dn8rh]

How many during 2020 who worked retail wanted soo bad to use brad's line during the breakfast part at All American?

[@deborahchesser7375]

How I miss those days

[@fishmanandginne7495]

Allright Hamilton!

[@coffeedonutsandhomer653]

Thumbs up for opening with Phoebe Cates 😅

[@russellsacks3854]

Can't say how many times I said "it's okay, I can fix it".

[@SloopADoopy]

I wasn’t supposed to be here today

[@Whookieee]

I'm literally a middle aged straight lady but when I hear Moving In Stereo by The Cars...🥵

[@johnrondeau1180]

Love this movie 😊

[@markdufresne2538]

Jennifer Jason Leigh’s scene was better…….

[@gfisher495]

Fast Times at Ridgemont High! Glenn

[@joeydepalmer4457]

yep great movie and protrade our highschool to a tee

[@maryblaufuss7533]

portrayed

[@joeydepalmer4457]

@@maryblaufuss7533 Wow another spelling and grammar nazi!

[@vicentevelarde2855]

Great movie

[@vasil12361]

Three future Oscar winners.

[@Ruthieshole]

What would her look at horror be real what happened in that room

[@franktreppiedi2208]

So, all nepobabies?

[@BizzyJ1987]

My mom's favorite movie 🎥

[@johnutter9483]

I miss Phoebe and I hate Kevin Cline. Well more of an eternal jealousy.

[@sqeakgeek]

And Yet Nancy herself in real life showed up in a sailor suit right here kzbin.info/www/bejne/jn3LqXljitNmb80

[@josephgaviota]

Such a great movie. Probably couldn't make it today.

[@mamatoucan9993]

Nepotism strikes again

[@derekpierkowski7641]

🤣👍🏻

[@hillbillychic8417]

No such thing as a false fact.

[@tylerbuckley4661]

Because Sean Penn was a coke head

[@melissaromero6262]

This movie was so dirty in its day! Lol

[@ScratchGlass9]

No. It was like that every frikkin day. I promise. We were there.

[@76Draeger]

Another fact - this movie introduced the word "dude" into American slang language.

[@TheGreyRider-p5z]

Not even. Surfers were using that long before Fast Times came out. Wearing Vans too.

[@mayorb3366]

I first remember hearing the term in 76-77 at school. But the movie probably popularized it.