"In Ridgemont? We can't even get cable TV here, Stacy, and you want romance."

Don't you hate it when you get sick on your day off?
That is what has happened to me this weekend -- a sore throat kept me laying low throughout the day yesterday. It sucked and I felt like crap.
One bright spot occurred when I watched "FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH" with the audio commentary switched on (FILM GEEK ALERT!).
Director Amy Heckerling and writer Cameron Crowe discussed the film at length, including a theory explaining why the filmmakers were left alone to produce this film -- arguably the truest picture of teen angst in the 1980s.
It seems the film studio were too busy with the problematic production of Colin Higgins' "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" -- a film overburdened with stars such as Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise and Jim Nabors.
The studio left the "Fast Times" creators alone -- to film fans' great benefit.
Heckerling, producer Art Linson and casting director Don Phillips were free to cast the film as they wished, and they selected a number of young actors who would populate film and television casts for the next couple decades. Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates (sigh...), Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards and Taylor Negron (trust me, you have seen him in countless films and TV shows) were among the youngsters given a big break by the "Fast Times" creators.
Would they have gotten the chance if the studio had meddled? My guess is no.