Fast Times at Ridgemont High/Trivia
- Dawson Casting: Phoebe Cates was 18 when she appeared in this film, and she was the youngest actor in the main cast.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Good God, so many.
- Apart from the obvious (Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold, Jennifer Jason Leigh), Forrest Whitaker plays the gigantic black football player whose car Spicoli wrecks and who goes on to decimate the opposing football team.
- This movie has three that eventually won Best Actor Oscars (Whitaker, Sean Penn, and Nicolas Cage).
- Likely began Cameron Crowe's association with Eric Stoltz as his good luck charm with Stoltz playing one of Spicoli's stoner buds.
- I Am Not Spock: Sean Penn would rather not be associated with Spicoli nowadays.
- Subverted with Ray Walston. For a long time after the film was released, people frequently addressed Ray Walston as Mr. Hand. Walston was very grateful for this because up until that time, he felt that he was too closely associated with his prior role of Uncle Martin in My Favorite Martian.
- The Red Stapler: Sales of Vans shoes increased following the release of the movie, where Jeff Spicoli wore his Vans black-and-white checkerboard slip-on shoes.
- Sleeper Hit: Universal originally planned to only release the film in the Western part of the United States for a few weeks before sending it off to cable (regional releases were still common at this time) due to the belief that there was no audience for it. After an excellent response, the film went wide three weeks later with a big opening in the Eastern United States and had a long run in theaters.