Fast Times at Ridgemont High/Trivia: Difference between revisions

* [[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.

* [[Throw It In]]: The scene where Spicoli is interviewed by Stu Nahan and utters the immortal line, "Hey bud, let's party!" was a last-minute addition to the movie after plans to film Spicoli singing "Highway to Hell" fell through (see [[What Could Have Been]] below).

* [[What Could Have Been]]: The studio originally considered Nicolas Cage for the role of Brad, but after his audition, Amy Heckerling thought his performance was too dark and instead offered the role to Judge Reinhold. Additionally, Cage was 17 at the time, and thus he could not work as many hours as those for actors 18 and over. In addition, Fred Gwynne was originally offered the role of Mr. Hand, but he turned it down because he felt that the sex scenes involving Jennifer Jason Leigh were too objectionable.

** In the novel, Spicoli dreams he's singing "Highway to Hell" on ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' (with Johnny Carson hosting), but Carson refused to do it for the movie, and other talk show hosts (including [[David Letterman]]) also turned it down (Letterman apparently was willing to do it, but his agent wouldn't let him appear in a movie where the characters did drugs). In its place was the scene where Spicoli is interviewed by sports announcer Stu Nahan.