I haven't seen you in a while.
I know.
Well, I see you all the time.
Mm-hmm.
You're an Idol fan, aren't you?
You , like me, are doing two television shows at once.
Yes.
But yours are much more successful.
Yeah.
No.
Well, let's not go there.
But it's not true.
And you're a huge Idol, fan, though.
Huge.
And who's your favorite?
Who's going to win?
But can I just say this?
The reason I like Idol is the same thing we're just
seeing with this kid is doing Lady Gaga
because show business can be an amazing thing,
and your life can change overnight.
And that's what I love about Idol.
It reminds me of why I got into show business
a billion years ago.
Yes.
Because it's a great life changer.
Before there was even television,
I think, you got into it.
You were doing stagecoach plays.
You know I'm an old vaudevillian.
Yeah.
[LAUGHS] I do.
But, yeah.
And I have my--
but every year I sort of I think I
can pick people who go to the finals pretty early.
I'm going to start gambling with it in Vegas.
All right.
Well, now we're kind of the way down to it, so.
You're down to it Yeah, but I--
Who do you think's going to win?
I like Bowersox.
I think Bowersox--
- You think--
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
I do.
I think, yeah, it's--
I think her or Lee, don't you think?
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Yeah.
And he's really come on.
What I liked about-- she was so clearly fully formed.
And he's really developed over the course of the season.
That's been fun to watch.
Yeah.
I know.
He's a shy guy, who--
Yeah.
And he's got all the--
I think she really needs to do something very powerful
to gain some more of the female votes
because he's got all the girls voting for him.
I think he's got like every--
so that's the only thing that I-- but I
think they're both-- either way, they both have careers.
Yeah, it's fun.
I love it.
You must be having fun.
I am.
I'm having a lot of fun.
But it's really hard because I get attached to them,
and then they have to leave.
And then--
I know.
Sometimes I can see you sort of misty eyed.
Mm-hmm.
Like you're...
See Ellen, yes, that's what you do.
That's what you do.
I've never made a mouth face like that.
Your face is that--
I'm telling you, that's your face.
That was like Hannibal Lecter, what you just did.
Well, that's what you did.
I'm mimicking you.
I didn't go-- what did you just do?
Well, I tried to do the misty eyed--
No, what did your mouth do?
Right.
That's what I see.
No, you're-- something's wrong with your TV.
[LAUGHTER]
No.
You see, and I can't even accuse you
of being drunk because I know you're sober.
I know!
So you have nothing to fall back on.
20 years sober, is that right?
20 years?
20 years sober this week.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Thanks.
Thank you.
That really is amazing.
That's a big accomplishment.
Yeah.
You hear so many stories about when it doesn't work.
And it worked for me.
I was so ready.
Oi, was I ready.
So that's half the battle.
And my big worry was, when I got sober 20 years ago,
it was like, OK, I'm dull now.
I'm going to be boring.
My life's going to be boring.
Right.
It's not going to be any fun.
So the first thing I did was I went out
and got a massive tattoo to show that I still had it, man.
I was still edgy.
Right.
Where is it?
What is it?
It's here.
It looks 20 years old.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Hold on.
What is that?
She's sitting right here.
What is that?
I can't tell what it is.
Let mama put her glasses on.
What is that?
I don't know what that is.
It's a koi fish.
But 20 years--
Oh, that is wild.
20 years ago it was a koi fish.
Ooh, you're crazy!
[LAUGHTER]
[APPLAUSE]
Oi.
But it's still a tattoo.
And that hurt.
But a koi fish, what does that symbolize for you?
It's old school.
It's-- traditional tattoo art is--
you're not supposed to get a flying guitar with an arrow
through it.
You're supposed to get traditional, old-school
Japanese, thousands of years art.
That's what you do.
You don't go and get, like, a donut, whatever on there.
Great.
Now that I got my donut yesterday--
I got a jelly donut put on my arm.
And I feel like a fool.
We have to take a break.
We'll be back.
We're back with the handsome and wild Rob Lowe.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Wild!
Wild.
Wild!
Now, all of the movies that you have been in,
they're probably some of the biggest movies of the '80s.
And how old are your sons now?
Really, right?
The Outsiders, St. Elmo's Fire, About Last Night.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
[LAUGHS] Oh, my god.
You were drunk there, I'm sure.
Ellen said I was drunk there--
[LAUGHTER]
--in that's photo.
I look like my-- that's so bizarre.
I look like my oldest son in that picture.
You do actually!
I look at that, and I see my oldest son,
who is two years younger than I was then.
Look at that.
There he is.
Look at your boys.
God, they've gotten so big.
How old are they now?
16 and 14.
Wow.
And what are they into?
My oldest, Matthew, is very much into the oceans.
And in fact, he just started his own charity,
which is Save the Beaches--
right here-- dot org.
Good for him.
So he's doing that.
And he's very philanthropic in that way.
And the young one is my young little lunatic.
And he is like just a brainiac.
And--
Is he the one that was always filming things?
Yeah.
And he's sort of like-- he's Ferris Bueller.
I say, you are Ferris Bueller.
He's like, Dad, who's that?
Just watch the movie.
My youngest son is Ferris Bueller.
You know what I'm saying when I say that?
That's who he is.
And have they seen all your movies?
They have.
But because they're me, they're like, oh, Dad, please.
Mm-hmm.
You're so old!
Yeah.
You're so old, Dad.
That's what I get.
That's not true.
They must know that they have a cool dad.
They must know that.
They're never going to let me know.
They just want to beat me up and tell me I'm old.
All right.
Well, they better pray they look as good as you
when they're old.
So we're going to watch you on Parks and Recreation tonight.
And we're going to laugh hysterically,
and then Brothers and Sisters we're going to probably cry.
[CHEERING, APPLAUSE]
Tonight at 8:30 on NBC, Parks and Recreation.
[THEME MUSIC]