Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Episode 199: Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Theme: Education Movies Month
Hosts: Oz & Curtis

This week, Oz and Curtis blaze through Fast Times at Ridgemont High — a movie marriage of Commando + True Lies + Dazed and Confused, delivered straight to your classroom by DoorDash. We kick things off in the same mall from Commando, meet a rotating cast of future megastars, and dive into a plotless-but-perfect slice of early ’80s high school chaos. It’s part teen comedy, part PSA, part “wait, why is Ron Johnson 26?” and all vibes. Amy Heckerling directs, Cameron Crowe writes, and Judge Reinhold cycles through more jobs than Spicoli cycles through brain cells.

Join your two favorite “I’m trying to understand the timeline here” podcasters as they break down:

• Spicoli, the capybara of the movie — just vibing, wandering, and accidentally linking every plot thread.

• The saga of Brad, who loses his girlfriend, loses his job, loses his pirate hat, and finally gains self-respect when he chucks scalding coffee at an armed robber.

• Stacy, pursuing romance, terrible advice, and a deeply disappointing dugout.

• Linda, patron saint of 45-minute boyfriends who don’t exist.

• Mark Rat, the nicest kid in the movie… and the only one not ready for whatever Stacy thinks high school is.

• Damone, the human equivalent of a damp scalped ticket.

• Mr. Hand, the educational Batman to Spicoli’s chaotic Joker — minus the punching but with more pizza.

• A cast list so stacked it feels like a “Before They Were Famous” speedrun (Cage! Whitaker! Stoltz! Edwards!).

From German restaurants with throne chairs to carrot-based demonstrations, spray-painted Camaros, mall food court politics, and the greatest pool-fantasy to ever be immediately, tragically interrupted, Oz and Curtis revisit a messy, honest film that defined a generation and refuses to apologize for any of it.

Final Verdict

Oz — 82 Scalped Concert Tickets
Curtis — 8 Hours with Mr. Hand
Both — Still trying to understand how Jefferson got to school on game day with his car totaled.