Worst Opening Credits:

(Our Optimistic Recipe for Fun):

• Snobs vs Slobs-the spoiled rich guys forget what`s right and true, and the poor virtuous guys, prevented from having fun or enjoying a fair chance at success by the former, are happy to remind them, exposing corruption and hypocrisy in the process. Sometimes leads to a...
• Single Combat Scenario-in which the leader of each opposing group battle each other one-on-one (in a car race, ski competition, volleyball match, surf contest, etc), with each hero representing his entire team in symbolic warfare. Winner takes all for his best buds. The disadvantaged, less polished team always wins in the end, though they often lose a few battles in the middle of the film.
• Boy Wins Girl-in which our boy, through some great feat or victory wins the admiration and affection of the girl who once seemed out of reach because of her greater wealth, style and/or social status. The flipside of another scenario:
• Boy Finally Notices Girl-where our modest hero is fortunate to date the flashy fantasy girl, but becomes disillusioned by her shallowness, and begins to miss his old platonic girl friend (his true love), or discover the nice, modest girl who`d always secretly loved him from afar.
• Girl vs Boy-in which our girl begins to work, study or conduct business with a new guy with a different attitude or outlook, usually with the guy being poor, crude and/or innovative, and therefore threatening in some vague way. Sparks fly as they fight and become enemies despite their common interests-this is when we know they truly love each other, and that Denial is not just a river in Egypt! The reluctant lovers always accept their fate in the end and stay 2gether 4ever.
• Opposites Attract-two young heroes meet by chance, but despite having completely different attitudes, goals and backgrounds, inexplicably become friends and defeat their common foes while fiercely fighting each other in the process. Their different strengths make them stronger as a team however, and final victory seals the friendship forever. Many mainstrean films feature this plot device: so-called "buddy movies".
• Hijinx and Capers-our boys sneak around principals, teachers and bosses to seek eager women, party hearty, imbibe heavily and attend strip shows-or perhaps to learn about Life on a less formal basis, to innocently explore unknown territory, try something different and experience new ideas. It all depends on the movie and who`s writing and directing. (Young folks have been known to attend museums, dine in fine restauraunts, crunch ice in their mouths and watch the Cubs on such a day off adventure!)
• One Last Fling-in which our boys realize that they`re getting too old to party like that anymore, but must sow one more dose o` wild oats before retiring into a staid, respectable life of work and study. Usually one friend is an instigator and his reluctant bud is along for the ride, but the latter often becomes the true warrior in the end, his latent party tendencies having been exposed. Almost always takes place at the beach or on the ski slopes.
• Transcendental Party Scene/Magical Disappearing Hangover-alcohol and/or inhalable plants have little or no effect on our heroes as they consume heavily and party to the max-they are ready for action even while high, when the need arises, as it often does for energetic young people. The next morning finds them fully recovered and ready with new strategies to defeat the snobs. The few substantial hangovers depicted can lead to...
• Lessons Learned-sometimes our hero runs across unexpected obstacles or makes surprising discoveries in his quest of fun or debauchery, causing him to re-eximine what he`s always known or believed, and to seek a different lifestyle.
• Naive Young Man Rebels-when he discovers that his boss, principal, etc is corrupt or hypocritical, and begins to fight the powers that be to defend his initial idealism.
• Personal Mission-in which our boy has a serious, long-term goal in mind: career, education, athletic or artistic excellence, etc, and dedicates all his efforts while sacrificing much to achieve the Dream.
• Farce-sometimes films have scenes or entire plots so ridiculous as to leave the viewer sore from uncontrollable laughter-no meaning implied or possibly inferred.

Mix and match the above ingredients. A pinch here and a dash there, along with a heaping teaspoon of sugar should suffice. Simmer while stirring, and cover for the duration of the opening credits. The results serve the entire audience and can come in any of our favourite flavors-the Four Positive FFTTM Categories. Check out the best (and worst) of the wild and wacky variety of films derived from the above themes:

Sleaziest, Cheesiest FFTTM`s:

Important Actors in Fun-Filled Teen and Twenties Movies:

Stars and supporting players who made FFTTM`s what they were (three or more appearances):

(Blue signifies a Major FFTTM star; Bold indicates an influential actor; regular script designates a relatively insignificant thespian-fodder for Trivia and Six Degrees games only.)

Curtis "Booger" Armstrong Risky Business , Better Off Dead , One Crazy Summer , Revenge of the Nerds , How I Got into College, (cameo)

Kevin Bacon Footloose , She`s Having a Baby , Quicksilver

Bon mots expressing youthful exuberation and hope, as well as a few cautionary Slacker-type sentiments

"...and the children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultation / they`re quite aware of what they`re going through."-David Bowie, as quoted by John Hughes in the opening of The Breakfast Club

"Maybe the whole bunch of you are sick. You booze, you dope, you sleep with whoever. I don`t even know who you are. You look like kids but you don`t act like them: you`re short forty-year-olds, and you`re tough ones...just because you`re fit for a diaphram doesn`t mean you`re a woman."-Sally Kellerman to movie daughter Jodie Foster, from Foxes

"Don`t let the world frighten you, there`s nothing to fear but the end. You only need enough money for one lifetime. Don`t overeat, overspend or oversave. You only have one life to give-give it to no country, no community, no cause. Don`t run from success-it`s not if you win or lose but if you enjoy playing the game."-closing words from The Seniors (also, wear sunscreen!)

"Only the meek get pinched-the bold survive."-Ferris

"Adults are predictable. They`re living under the illusion that life as we know it is going to continue forever. So they expect you to behave as though what you do will have an effect on what you`ll be in 30 years. I don`t know what`s worse, you know, being blown up in a nuclear war or having a 7-11 on every corner. It`s ridiculous to think there`s going to be anything in 30 years." -Christian Slater, the extreme boarder from Gleaming the Cube, before he started to become a little more relaxed

"Traditionally the buds have always lifted themselves from the depths of defeat and depression with a sense of purpose, resolve, and sometimes the smile of a pretty girl. Today is no different. Today we gathered that courage and embarked on a new mission: reclamation of our dreams. We will not fail."-Parker Lewis

"Nelson, we`re college students. College students don`t work during spring break-it`s unnatural. We`re supposed to go f*ing crazy. College students students are expected to go f*ing crazy during spring break because after college they`re never expected to again. This is your chance-don`t blow it."-one bud to another who is suffering from a moment of doubt during Spring Break

"When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself" -Jacques Costeau, as quoted in Rushmore

"There are several quintessential moments in a man`s life: losing his virginity, getting married, becoming a father and having the right girl smile at you."-Emilio Estevez, from St. Elmo`s Fire

"Everyone`s so obsessed with the future. Who cares? We should be thinking about right now, and right now we should be having fun." / "Well, fun is a dead end. The guys in my high school who had fun are working in bowling alleys and drinking paint thinner on the weekends. I gotta stay on track." / "O.K., but college is our last chance to be crazy"-Mark-Paul Gosselar and Tom Everette Scott, from Dead Man on Campus

"I can`t go on being a party monkey...I`ve got to buckle down. The next two weeks are my only chance to get into [design school]" "C`mon, we`re high school graduates, now it`s time to reap the rewards of four years of hard, gruelling mind-expanding work."-John Cusak and his best bud from One Crazy Summer

"This is your destiny-to be forever caught in the crossfire between your head and your heart" "Do you think I`m gonna be happy-I mean honestly?" "...maybe it`ll work out, who knows? Yeah, you`ll be happy. You just won`t know it, that`s all."-Alec Balwin and Kevin Bacon, as the latter is about to be married in She`s Having a Baby

"The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play."-Capt. James T. Kirk

"Selling angst to teenagers is like shooting fish in a barrel."- Bart Simpson, at an alternative rock festival

"Like, what is it about college and crybabies?"-Alicia Silverstone, waxing wise from Clueless

"When is high school going to be over? I don`t think I can take another year of this sh*t. There`s nothing to do anymore, all the great themes have been used up...so I don`t really find it really cheerful to be living in the middle of a totally, like, spent decade where there`s nothing to look forward to and no one to look up to."-Christian Slater, from Pump up the Volume, lamenting and also participating in the degradation of FFTTMs

"...that`s what scares me, the unknown" "I find it overrated, all this growing up, taking responsibility, becoming an adult." "I hate to break it to you, but we are adults. We`re going to have to grow up sometime."-Kelly and Brandon, star-crossed lovers

"I gotta take a stand. I`m bullsh*t. I put up with everything. My old man pushes me around-I never say anything. Well, he`s not the problem, I`m the problem. I gotta take a stand...against him. I am not going to sit on my *ss as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I`m going to take a stand. I`m going to defend it. Right or wrong, I`m going to defend it."-the formerly meek and mild Cameron, after taking a day off with that lovable troublemaker Ferris Beuller.

"I just wish everything could be the way it used to be."-Ally Sheedy, waxing nostalgic, from St. Elmo`s Fire

"The rich can buy anything they want, but they can`t buy backbone."-Bill Murray, in a speech from Rushmore which would greatly inspire Jason Schwartzman (as Max Fischer)

"That`s pretty clever back there...the way you handled that guy." "Well in the work that I do you learn how to talk to people. There`s no use fighting the system. The trick is you make the system work for you. You get your way and make people think you`re doing them a favour."-Kerri Green and Charlie Sheen from Three For the Road-he kissed Ferris` sister once, and some of His Blarney seems to have rubbed off

"Life`s a wonderful thing, Parker, as long as you realize that sometimes you`re up, sometimes you`re down, but you`re neither for very long."-Ray Walston to Parker Lewis when the latter had a rare bad day

"Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you`re never ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really... So, what-are we helpless puppets? No. The big moments are going to come, you can`t help that. It`s what you do afterwards that counts. That`s when you find out who you are."-Max Perlich, narrating an especially gripping season-ender of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer

Here are several cool sites for eager Webfans. They certainly look nice and provide great info, so Your Modest Pagemaster humbly suggests that followers of Ferris click on the following:

(YMP must tell eager webfans, however, that it is much more satisfying to find FFTTM trivia on one`s own rather than to simply read it on sites like these, or even on this one, YMP`s own humble attempt to honour Him. You are urged to explore FFTTM`s on your own, through cable programming, video rentals, borrowed tapes and whatever means available, in order to more fully enjoy the entire realm of FFTTMs. There is even a chance that you could discover something notable which may have escaped the attention of YMP, though he considers that very unlikely, indeed!)