10 Great High School Teen Comedies
When Robert Slawsby and I set out to write what would become The Class of ’87, we did so with very clear intentions in mind.
We wanted to tell a story inspired by our teenage years in the 1980s while also invoking the humor and the fond memories of the high school comedies we loved.
When I need to escape from real life for a couple of hours and crave a good laugh, a teenage high school comedy movie is easily my first choice.
Here’s ten of my favorites, listed in order of their release.
I’ve also included links in case you want to watch or buy any of these.
And yes they are affiliate links so I get a small commission if you do.
American Graffiti
Iconic Line: “I ain’t nobody dork.”
~ Bob Falfa played by Harrison Ford
Star Wars isn’t the movie that made George Lucas — American Graffiti is.
The movie an homage to his teenage years and nights he spent cruising.
American Graffiti follows the stories of four different characters during one entire night at the end of 1962.
It’s the last night in town for Ron Howard’s Steve Bollander ahd Dreyfuss Kurt Henderson before they go off to college.
Kurt has much angst about it and struggles the entire film with whether or not he should go or stay home and go to the local JC for a year.
It also has an incredible 50s and early 60s soundtrack, which was the first time popular music of an era became the soundtrack of a movie.
Oh and it has Wolfman Jack as the DJ, making it the perfect homage to the 1950s.
American Graffiti is available here through Amazon.
Porky’s
Iconic Line: “Here comes your night to remember.” ~
Porky Wallace played by Chuck Mitchell
Porky’s like American Grafitti harkens back to the 50s, but it’s much more about sex.
Specifically, Porky’s is about Pee Wee Morris and his various efforts to lose his virginity.
The movie also deals with deeper themes of racism and anti-Semitism, which you wouldn’t expect.
This summer I watched Porky’s for the first time in many, many years and it still delivers the laughs.
Ironically, Bob Clark who directed one of the most beloved Christmas movies, A Christmas Story, also wrote and directed Porky’s.
Porky’s is available here to purchase from Amazon.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Iconic Line: Hey bud, let’s party.
~ Jeff Spicoli played by Sean Penn
Directed by Amy Heckerling and written by Cameron Crowe, this is probably the most realistic high school movie ever made teenagers growing up in suburban America.
It deals with some pretty heavy issues, especially for Stacy.
![Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]](https://i0.wp.com/i.ytimg.com/vi/i8Klo7Ezuy0/hqdefault.jpg?w=760&ssl=1)
I saw Fast Times at Ridgemont High on its opening night in a packed theater.
My cousin Jimmy took me. I was 9 years old.
Taking a fourth-grade boy to see Fast Times is probably not the wisest choice, but I am forever grateful to my cousin for that night.
Seeing Fast Times definitely got me too eager for high school at a very young age, while also giving me a false sense of what life would be like once I became a teen.
For a fictional accounting of this, please see my short story The Mission.
And for years I would quote Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli, and even pay homage to him in The Class of ’87.
Years later I got to see a screening of Fast Times in the mall and the theater that was used for the Ridgemont Mall.
And yes it was awesome, totally awesome.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is available here from Amazon.
Sixteen Candles
Iconic Line: What’s happening, hot stuff?
~ Long Duk Dong played by Gedde Watanabe
I didn’t mean to see Sixteen Candles on the afternoon that I did.
I went to the movies to see the hottest flick out at the time: Breakin’.
The two films were playing together as a double feature.
Since then I’ve seen Breakin’ maybe one more time and can’t tell you how many I’ve watched Sixteen Candles.
There’s something very special about this movie and it is my favorite John Hughes movie overall.
Sixteen Candles is available here from Amazon.
The Breakfast Club
Iconic Line: Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?
~ Mr. Vernon played by Paul Gleason
If I didn’t have The Breakfast Club on this list you’d stop reading and tell me to take a hike.
The Breakfast Club is absolutely a great movie.
Told in one location during one day, it is absolutely unique compared to all other high school teen movies.
I didn’t see it in the theater when it came out and when I finally caught it on HBO I just didn’t get it.
It would be many years before I did understand it and was fortunate to catch it on the big screen for its 30th Anniversary.
I don’t believe teen movies ever captured the cliques of a high school, the walls placed between them, and the pressure placed on kids by their peers and their parents better than The Breakfast Club did.
The Breakfast Club is available here through Amazon.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Iconic Line: Bueller?…Bueller?…Buller?
~ Economics Teacher played by Ben Stein
Okay, I promise you this isn’t going to only be a list of John Hughes films.
In fact, it can’t be. Ferris Bueller was the last teenage movie Hughes directed.
I saw this in the theater when it came out with some other cousins.
I remember liking it, but not loving it. As time has gone by I’ve come to love Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is available here through Amazon.
By the way, did you see the Super Bowl ad Matthew Broderick did for Honda like a Ferris Bueller sequel?
If not, here it is. And it’s perfect!
https://youtu.be/J2qGv7C0-Gk
Dazed and Confused
Iconic Line: Alright, alright, alright.
~ Wooderson played by Matthew McConaughey
This is the movie that introduced me to Richard Linklater — and made me consider dropping out of college.
Like American Grafitti, Dazed and Confused uses the same day to tell its various stories with one character – Randal “Pink” Floyd not sure if he wants to do what everyone expects him to do.
I went and saw it on a Sunday night after getting off from my shift as a waiter at Red Lobster.
My buddy Tito (yes that Tito) and I walked across the parking lot to the UA 6 and caught the last screening.
Although set in 1976 and we’d graduated in 1990, Dazed and Confused made us feel like we were in high school again.
It also made me regret not working hard enough to get into Film School.
Someday I wanted to make an 80’s homage like it and American Graffiti.
Which led to the script of what would become the book The Class of ’87.
I still think it would make a great movie. Maybe someday it will.
Dazed and Confused is available here through Amazon.
Clueless
Iconic Line: Anything happens to my daughter, I have a .45 and a shovel.
~ Mel Horowitz played by Dan Hedaya
This was a movie I didn’t have any interest in seeing. Tito really enjoyed it, but I skipped it at the theater.
That was a mistake
One night my neighbor Danielle who loved Clueless wanted her whole family to watch the movie on HBO.
Being that I practically lived in their house, I was part of the family viewing of Clueless.
It took about 10 minutes for me to fall in love with the movie.
Amy Heckerling who directed Fast Times also did Clueless.
The two movies couldn’t be more different, but they both manage to bring smiles to my face no matter how many times I see them.
Clueless is available here through Amazon.
American Pie
Iconic Line: This one time, at band camp…
~Michelle Flahrety played by Alyson Hannigan
This movie is simply flawless. Even watching the original trailer makes me smile.
Like Porky’s it’s all about sex, with Jim Levinstein being the sexually accident-prone version of Pee Wee Morris.
American Pie, like Sixteen Candles, has a lot of heart — especially in the stories of Jim’s friends.
The characters (and their perfect casting) is really what makes American Pie so awesome.
Almost every scene with Jim’s way too helpful dad and the non-filtered ultra-vulgar Stifler are pure laughs.
My buddy Tony and I recently watched the entire American Pie series (the four cinematic releases not the direct to video ones).
We can say without a doubt that American Pie holds up far better than Jim did when Nadia came over the study history.
American Pie is available here through Amazon.
Superbad
Iconic Line: I am McLovin.
~ Fogell played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Probably the last of the great teenage high school comedy movies.
Superbad is hysterical and vulgar from the get-go — and it stays that way.
In other words, the title fits as the movie is Superbad.
I got to see an advanced screening of Superbad a few weeks before its release.
Another buddy named Tony scored free tickets for it while we were at Comic-Con.
Following the movie, the cast and creators of the movie did a Q&A — including Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera.
It was an incredible night and an incredible movie.
When it came out I kept making people see it with me.
All in, I think I saw Superbad five times in the theater.
Superbad is available here through Amazon.
Honorable Mentions
Movies that didn’t make the cut that others might have put on here include Risky Business, Weird Science, Heathers, Orange County, and Mean Girls.
And to be honest I like all of them.
That said, I limited this list to 10 movies to force myself to really choose.
This list best fits my sense of humor and style of storytelling, which is why I’ve seen them all multiple times.
I think their influence is clearly seen in The Class of ’87 which at times I’ve described as “a Dazed & Confused for the 80s generation as if directed by John Hughes.”
Quite a few readers have agreed with that description, which as you can guess pleases me and Robert to no end.
If you haven’t read our book yet, you can tap this link to order your copy of The Class of ’87.