The Kid Stays in the Picture

November 14, 2005

Howard reported that Gary attended the premiere of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” over the weekend, and that he said it was good, but not meant for children. Gary noted that the celebrities who went to the screening had to walk down a red carpet, and that he saw pictures in yesterday’s paper of James Gandolfini running after his 4-year-old kid during his entrance.

Artie pointed out that he always sees pictures and news stories of James with his child.

Howard then commented that he has seen quite a few of them as well, and added that, while he did everything he could to keep his children out of the spotlight, James seems to have chosen the opposite route.

Never Too Early to Tell

Gary mentioned that the actor who plays Harry, Daniel Radcliffe, has grown quite a bit since the last installment of the series, but that he’s supposed to be older in the story, so it looks natural. Gary also said that some people who knew he saw the movie asked if 15-year-old Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger in the franchise, was hot in this episode. Howard admitted that, although such a question may cross a line, you can, in fact, start telling if kids are going to end up being hot at that age.

To illustrate his point, Howard noted that he knew as soon as he saw “Leave It to Beaver” thatJerry Mathers, who played the title character, wasn’t going to be the most attractive adult. Gary added that Macaulay Culkin is another former child star whose career has suffered because of his looks, while Artie mentioned Haley Joel Osment and George Macfarlane, who played Spanky on “The Little Rascals,” as other examples. Gary reminded Howard that his proudest moment on the show was years ago when George called in threatening to sue over something Howard had said on the air, and then immediately hung up.