The Adam Carolla Show Episode: "C. Thomas Howell Learned to Smoke Cigs on Ride to E.T. Audition" Date: January 7, 2026

Overview

In this lively episode, Adam Carolla welcomes iconic actor C. Thomas Howell (E.T., The Outsiders, Red Dawn) for a deep-dive conversation on Hollywood's changing landscape, behind-the-scenes tales from classic films, the realities of showbiz longevity, wild stories from set, and candid observations on pop culture. Regular news contributor Alicia Krause joins in to deliver an offbeat but incisive current events discussion—including a viral incident at a Bay Area gym—and all the banter, laughs, and rants that Carolla fans expect.

Hollywood Then & Now: Rules, Reboots, and Realness

• The Evolution of Showbiz (03:34 - 06:05)

• Adam and C. Thomas reflect on how the entertainment industry used to be governed by strict rules and hierarchies—TV vs. film, major talk-show exclusivity, and more—contrasting it with today's no-rules, all-access ethos.

  • Adam Carolla (04:10):
    “There are no more rules in show business… There were nothing but rules. Times have changed and there is no… now you have a career and a cosmetics line. There’s just no more rules.”

• The pair discuss how the internet democratized celebrity, removed gatekeepers, and presented both new opportunities and new annoyances.

  • C. Thomas Howell (05:16):
    “The Internet changed it all… now every idiot has a voice.”

• Howell emphasizes the real challenge for actors is longevity, not quick fame.

• Howell’s Stuntman Heritage and Riding into E.T. (06:05 - 07:41, 35:05 – 37:43)

• C. Thomas reminisces on his unique start: son of a Hollywood stuntman, raised in the San Fernando Valley, riding dirt bikes and horses, and working on sets from age six.

  • C. Thomas Howell (06:05):
    “My father, a renowned stuntman… that’s how I got my first role in a major motion picture, which was E.T., because I could ride the bikes.”

• Tells the incredible story learning to smoke cigarettes for his E.T. audition:

  • C. Thomas Howell (35:23):
    “My father picks me up at school and says, ‘We’re going to go meet Steven Spielberg. You have to know how to smoke a cigarette.’ He hands me a pack of Marlboros and says, ‘Figure this out on the way to the audition.’”
  • 36:42 (On getting the part):
    “He goes, ‘How do you feel about smoking a cigarette?’ And I fish out my pack of Marlboros… he says, ‘Alright, kid, you got the part.’”

• Shares details about how top-secret the E.T. production was—even for the cast—due to Spielberg’s security obsession.

  • C. Thomas Howell (37:10):
    “To this day, I’ve never seen or read an entire [E.T.] script… There was a sense that it was special. It was called ‘A Boy’s Life’ at the time.”

• Classic TV, Old-School Hollywood, and Weird Connections (07:41 – 16:13)

• The guys go in-depth reminiscing about TV series like Family Affair, Hardcastle and McCormick, and more—using them as jumping-off points for commentary on generational change, nostalgia, and the oddities of the era.

  • Adam Carolla (09:04):
    “He looked hungover constantly. Yeah. So Family Affair would be like, these poor kids were traumatized because both their parents died in a car accident...”
  • C. Thomas Howell (10:32):
    “...they punished the little girl for leaving the toy out. And they locked up Mrs. Beasley in the closet. And it traumatized me.”

• Adam shares an anecdote about recognizing old actors in commercials—an illustration of how pop culture, memory, and aging collide.

Movie Memories: The Outsiders, Red Dawn, and Hollywood Legends

• Outsiders Cast and On-set Rivalries (17:51 – 24:52)

• Howell dishes on working with the star-studded cast of The Outsiders: young Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, Swayze, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Emilio Estevez, Diane Lane, and more.

  • C. Thomas Howell (20:00):
    “Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, Ralph, Emilio, Tom Cruise, myself… pranks were a big part…”

• Shares the real rivalry cultivated between the "Greasers" and "Socials" on set—intentionally fostered by director Francis Ford Coppola through competitive games and group activities to boost on-screen chemistry and tension.

  • Adam Carolla (22:52):
    “They literally created what they were trying to do on screen, off screen, on the set, which is an interesting kind of human condition, right?”
  • C. Thomas Howell (23:35):
    “He [Coppola] was the greatest psychologist ever… manipulated all of us so geniusly.”

• Swayze, Leif Garrett, and the Power of Hair (16:45 – 29:20)

• Recounts wild times with Patrick Swayze off and on set, including a tense dispute with Jennifer Grey on Red Dawn over a cut love scene.

  • C. Thomas Howell (17:51):
    “Swayze started leaning away from it… She didn’t want to do press with him… Could you imagine when she got the call: it’s Patrick Swayze (for Dirty Dancing)?”

• Discusses the 1970s/80s fixation on hair as currency for male stars—and the existential crisis when it disappears (Leif Garrett, Andre Agassi).

  • Adam Carolla (27:40):
    “Never a better time for you and your hair… Leif Garrett was all about the hair.”
  • C. Thomas Howell (27:55):
    “And they both had Brooke Shields. Maybe it’s her fault.”

Set Stories: Classic Film & The Price of Authenticity

• From The Hitcher to Lost Legends (47:33 – 63:46)

• Howell reflects on the set of The Hitcher, learning from the intimidating Rutger Hauer about playing villains with real emotion, and losing legendary co-stars like Oliver Reed and Roy Kinnear under tragic or wild circumstances.

  • C. Thomas Howell (48:10):
    “He had this knack for injecting humanity into his villains, and that becomes scary as hell when you start to watch it.”

• True tales of on-set danger, pranks, and the sometimes literal cost of authenticity (riding your own horses, real-action scenes, actors getting injured/dying mid-production). Howell recalls being on set when Roy Kinnear died and what it was like to have to finish shooting around that tragedy.

• On Remakes & Hollywood Recycling Culture (42:23 – 46:02)

• Adam and Howell roast the epidemic of unnecessary reboots and IP recycling:
  • Adam Carolla (42:23):
    “Now, here's the way Hollywood works—people heard of Land of the Lost, they didn’t like it… But they will remake anything.”
  • Discusses the pitfalls of sequels/remakes, referencing flops like Red Dawn 2 and the exceptions (Godfather I & II).

The Business Today & Howell’s Current Projects

• New Movies, Music, and Comic-Cons (03:34 – 04:10, 64:15 – 67:13)

• Howell plugs his new double-feature film series, One Mile and One More Mile, dropping in theaters February, and talks about the fun and community of modern “pop culture cons” (aka mini Comic Cons).

  • C. Thomas Howell (64:32):
    “We shot two films back to back… They're going to, you know—you buy a ticket for one, you see both films in the theater.”

• Shares his musical side: just put out a second album, loving the freedom of gigging, compared to film:

  • C. Thomas Howell (66:08):
    “Going from the two-hour storytelling format to the two-minute storytelling format was pretty seamless for me… we opened for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tanya Tucker, the Gatlin Brothers…”

Contemporary News & Social Commentary

• Building in Malibu: Prefab Woes vs. Bureaucratic Nightmares (73:55 – 82:11)

• An in-depth discussion (with Alicia Krause) about the Malibu wildfire aftermath, the difficulties of rebuilding due to bureaucratic red tape, Coastal Commission restrictions, and the obstacles facing fireproof modular homes.

  • Adam Carolla (78:15):
    “You can do all the prefab China built factory homes you want, ship them over here, but you still have to put them on a foundation approved by the Coastal Commission… That's gonna require hundreds of yards of concrete…”

• Commentary on how government dysfunction and local politics impede real progress for residents, and reflections on changing communities.

• Viral Incident: Trans Gym Goer in Women’s Locker Room (89:09 – 105:11)

• Alicia presents a news story about a viral incident in a Bay Area Planet Fitness, where a self-identified trans woman was caught masturbating in a women's bathroom—sparking confusion, anger, and social commentary.

  • Plays audio of the boyfriend confronting the individual:
    • Boyfriend (98:12):
      “As somebody with a penis, I'm not gonna walk into the women's bathroom and jack my—bro, it doesn't matter… that's inappropriate to be doing with females around.”
    • Adam Carolla's analysis:
      “The part of society where we're gonna kind of just go on the honor system, it's so far down the road, we can't even do that anymore.”

• The panel discusses the backlash against the policies that led to these situations, the confusion around social justice causes, and why such incidents fuel political polarization.

  • Alicia Krause (99:45):
    “Because you had this guy—the brave boyfriend… such an average dude that can see the insanity of this right in front of his face and see how it violated his girlfriend… doing the chivalrous thing by calling the shit out of… as the gym does nothing.”

Notable/Entertaining Quotes

• C. Thomas Howell (36:42):
  “He goes, ‘How do you feel about smoking a cigarette?’ And I fish out my pack of Marlboros… he says, ‘Alright, kid, you got the part.’”

• Adam Carolla (44:08):
  “There's people who have never heard of Land of the Lost, and then there's people who've heard of it and think it's horrible. So I don't know what you're—what are you doing?”

• C. Thomas Howell (48:10):
  “He [Rutger Hauer] had this knack for injecting humanity into his villains, and that becomes scary as hell when you start to watch it.”

• Adam Carolla (78:15):
  “You can do all the prefab China built factory homes you want, but you still have to put them on a foundation that's approved by the Coastal Commission…”

• Boyfriend at Planet Fitness confrontation (98:12):
  “As somebody with a penis, I'm not gonna walk into the women's bathroom and jack my—bro, it doesn't matter… that's inappropriate to be doing with females around.”

• C. Thomas Howell (54:07):
  “If I'm kind… if I could take a moment and take a picture with somebody or, you know, knuckle bump somebody, you know, I've just gained not one fan, but probably a dozen more.”

Memorable Moments & Banter

• Howell’s candidness about the uncertain fates and foibles of Hollywood stars.
• Adam riffing on the 'power of hair' for male celebs and the disasters that follow hair loss, with particular reference to Leif Garrett and Andre Agassi.
• Stories of old-school, hard-living actors dying in wild or tragic circumstances—Oliver Reed, Roy Kinnear—with Howell sharing personal anecdotes from the set.
• The news segment digresses into a comedic but serious analysis of social confusion over gender identity, public spaces, and shifting cultural norms—punctuated by Adam's and C. Thomas’s characteristic blend of cynicism and humor.
• Panel tangents about old sitcoms, the endurance of pop culture memory, and the ironies of aging.

Structured Timestamps of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Topic | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:34 | Comic-Con/Pop Culture Conventions, Showbiz Rule Changes | | 06:05 | Howell's Early Acting/Family Background, Child Star Longevity | | 35:23 | E.T. Audition Story | | 42:23 | Hollywood Remakes: Red Dawn, Land of the Lost | | 47:33 | Howell on The Hitcher, Rutger Hauer, Playing Villains | | 64:15 | New Films: One Mile and One More Mile, Howell's Music Career | | 73:55 | Malibu Wildfire News: Bureaucracy, Prefab Homes, Local Government Critique | | 89:09 | Viral News: Trans Woman in SF Planet Fitness, Societal Reactions | | 98:12 | Audio: Boyfriend Confronts Trans Woman, Panel Discussion |

Final Thoughts

A rich, candid, and often hilarious conversation that blends Old Hollywood wisdom, wild set stories, and take-no-prisoners social commentary. With C. Thomas Howell's honesty and Adam’s irreverent intelligence, the episode dives into why some legends endure, how media and culture mutate, and what’s getting lost—and found—in the churn.

For fans of real (and really entertaining) inside-Hollywood talk—with a dose of social banter and Carolla’s signature rants—this is a must-listen.