- Early VHS releases had the majority of the original music replaced with generic sound-alikes.
- In broadcast television, Ron breaks up with Stacy after finding out her real age.
- 5.1 remix on the Blu-ray replaces several of the original sound effects like car crash sounds, coach whistles, car horns, and background sound effects. The Blu-ray does not include the original mono mix.
- Initially banned in Ireland and was only given an 18 rating when cuts were made. It's unknown what was cut but it likely had to do with the abortion subplot due to the strong religious views in Ireland at the time.
- There are slight variations to the closed-captioning words, depending on what version of the film is being shown. When Stacey is going down the hall to Mr. Hand's US History class, some versions have her saying, "Do you know where US History is?" Other versions have her saying, "Do you know where F-10 is?"
- When Mark Ratner and Stacey are driving to the restaurant for their dinner date, some versions of the film's closed-captioning say, "Kashmir" by "Led Zeppelin is playing on the car stereo. Other versions only say, "Music playing on stereo."
- The 2021 Criterion Collection Blu-ray restores the brief full-frontal male nudity in the pool house sex scene, which had to be re-framed to avoid the film receiving an X-rating.
- The broadcast TV version of Fast Times at Ridgemount High, containing the deleted scenes, vanished from circulation several years ago. When standard cable TV now shows the movie, it is the edited theatrical version.
- In Australia, the OFLC censored two seconds in either one or two sex scenes with Stacey for an 'R' (adults) classification. The same version was released on video in 1984, and in 1995, the cuts were waived re-classified 'M' (mature) and the classification remains at 'M' today.
- Some TV versions have a alternate version of Phobe Cates not fully opening her bikini top and exposing her boobs. Instead she just unclasps her top instead.
- In the TV airings, when Brad denies the customer at All American Burger a refund on the latter's unsatisfactory breakfast just shortly before the former's termination for threatening the latter with violence, he says "I'll kick 100% of your face!" instead of "I'll kick 100% of your ass!". Later in the same scene, right as Brad is terminated while the manager takes over the register and refunds the customer's order, Brad yells "I hope you had a hell of a break, Arnold!" right outside the door to the men's restroom instead of "I hope you had a hell of a piss, Arnold!".
- As of August 14, 2024, the deleted scenes that were part of the commercial TV broadcast version of the film, can be found on YouTube. The full version of the movie with those scenes has not been seen for many years. Only edited versions of the R-rated print are now shown on broadcast TV.
- The Cable TV Version has many scenes omitted from the home video and laser disc versions. It is also missing the obvious scenes with nudity. Some of the scenes added are:
- Damone and Rattner talk about what to do on a date and Damone telling Ratt to play Led Zeppelin IV. This scene is followed by a scene in which Phoebe Cates and Jennifer Jason Leigh are talking on the phone and they are in their bra and panties (this scene is sometimes omitted when showing on cable depending on how prude the network airing it is.) In this conversation Phoebe Cates warns Jennifer Jason Leigh about Led Zeppelin IV.
- A new scene between Stacey and her brother and his friends where they warn her about Mr. Hand.
- A new scene between Brad and a guidance counselor about his life.
- After Brad gets fired there is a scene where he rips down a Coca-Cola poster in his bedroom.
- Mr. Hand signing people's annuals (yearbooks) at the school dance.
- Cable TV version also removes some scenes due to copyright disputes over the songs featured in the soundtrack and is actually 2 minutes shorter than the theatrical release.
- The cable-TV version includes scenes from Stacy's abortion that are omitted in the video version.
- New (1996) MCA/Universal VHS NTSC issue has all the original music restored except for Timothy B. Schmidt's "So Much In Love", Tom Petty's "All Amercan Girl," and "Goodbye, Goodbye"
- Broadcast TV version has an additional scene right after the scene where Mr. Hand rips up Spicoli's card on the first day of school. Spicoli and two of his buddies are in the bathroom and Spicoli is telling a overly fantastic version of the incident, about how he told Mr. Hand not to mess with him or there would be trouble. This probably was to tie in with the joke later where the story gets aroud that he pulled a knife on him.
- At least one broadcast version of this movie cut out the scene where Spicoli and his friends open the door to their van and tons of smoke comes out.
- 1999 DVD version is completely restored and contains all of the music and scenes from the theatrical version. The entire soundtrack has been restored, including Timothy B. Schmidt's "So Much In Love", Tom Petty's "All Amercan Girl," and "Goodbye, Goodbye" which had been omitted in several other versions.
- The MPAA originally slapped the film with an "X" rating, stating that the male frontal nudity had to be cut from the boathouse sex scene. This cut, along with a few other trims to that scene, was made and the MPAA gave the film an "R" rating. The full frontal scene was fully restored for the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release.
- In the original television version, there is more dialogue in the "no shirt, no shoes, no dice" scene. Spicoli says "I have uno nickel-ette...and a pick". He then makes up a story of how Mick Jagger gave him that pick.
- In the VHS/ DVD print, Brad's boss, Dennis Taylor, is seen only once in the movie. In many TV prints, Dennis appears in a scene following the "no shirt, no shoes, no dice" scene. In that scene, Dennis tells Brad to explain the french fries that were poured in the trashcan.
- Brad's Bud (played by Nicolas Cage) has a much larger role in the TV network version whereas in the theatrical version he has virtually no dialogue. His first (and best) line in the TV version is: "Brad, your sister's turning into a fox!" said after Stacy and Brad's conversation about Mr. Hand, plus more dialogue between Brad and Brad's Bud during the cafeteria scene with Brad discussing their plans for the weekend.
- The scene with Stacy and Linda in the mall after closing is expanded with a girl approaching Linda asking her about borrowing money to "take care of her problem."
- An extra scene of Linda comforting Stacy after she tells Linda that she might be pregnant after her tryst with Mike.
- In the broadcast version, the scene where Brad fantasizes about Linda, they only show him looking at her and not when he is masturbating.
- The scene where Linda teaches Stacy how to give oral sex is deleted from the broadcast version.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content