Whatever happened to the kids from Ridgemont High?

November 9th, 2009 at 10:01am Will Pfeifer

And I’m not talking about the actors, either. Before it was a teen comedy (frankly, probably the best teen comedy ever made, not counting RUSHMORE), FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH was a book by Cameron Crowe, the future writer/director. Crowe, who was both precocious and young-looking, enrolled at a California high school — San Diego’s Claremont High — and based his book on what he saw as a (fake) student.

Well, that was more than 30 years ago. The kids — who inspired such well-known characters as Spicoli, Brad and whatever the heck Phoebe Cates’ characters name was — graduated in 1979, and now they’re having their 30th reunion.

From the San Diego Union-Tribune (via a link at Cinematical):

At its 30-year-reunion celebrations this weekend, the crowd is filled with firefighters, teachers,professors, businessmen, engineers, mechanics and many others who are gainfully employed and contributing to society. Last night, the Chieftains danced to popular 1970s and 1980s tunes and posed for promlike pictures in front of clusters of orange, blue and white balloons symbolizing their school colors.

Read the whole story, including how some of these grads don’t want their own teens watching FAST TIMES, here.

(When FAST TIMES hit theaters back in 1982, it was the must-sneak-into movie of the year for my sophomore high school class. I tried valiantly with a friend, but we were followed into the theater by the manager, who forced us to watch E.T. — the movie we had actually bought the ticket for — again. I wouldn’t see FAST TIMES until it came out on the brand-new format of videotape a few years later.)

Entry Filed under: Comedy