Happy’s Place found a lighthearted way to poke fun at Al Pacino becoming a father again at age 83.
During the Friday, November 21, episode of the hit NBC series, Gabby (Melissa Peterman) was on the hunt for a sperm donor. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted it to be a stranger, which inspired Steve (Pablo Castelblanco) to suggest someone in her life instead.
Gabby brought up Bobbie’s (Reba McEntire) boyfriend, Emmett (Rex Linn), but Steve pointed out that it was “too bad he is too old” for consideration.
“He’s not too old. Al Pacino had a kid at 83,” Gabby noted, to which Steve fired back, “Yeah, and Al Pacino is the one in the stroller.”
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Pacino, now 85, first became a father in 1989 when he welcomed daughter Julie Marie with ex Jan Tarrant. He also shares twins Anton and Olivia with ex Beverly D’Angelo, whom he dated off and on from 1997 to 2003.
The actor’s rep confirmed in June 2023 that Pacino and girlfriend Noor Alfallah were expecting their first baby together. They welcomed son Roman later that year, but their romance ultimately fizzled out.
Three months after Roman’s birth, Alfallah, 31, filed for sole physical custody of her child, which she was granted. Pacino was granted visitation rights and still shares legal custody of Roman, which allows him to have input in decisions involving schooling, medical treatment and religion.
Pacino isn’t the only one to make headlines after welcoming a child later in life. His friend Robert De Niro surprised fans in 2023 when he revealed he welcomed a baby with girlfriend Tiffany Chen.
“It feels great,” De Niro, now 82, told Hoda Kotb in May 2023. “I have certain awareness — when you’re older you have awareness of certain things in life, dynamics, everything, family dynamics. You can’t avoid learning certain things and how you can deal with those and manage them and this and that, the usual.”
Along with daughter Gia, De Niro shares son Raphael with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott. He previously adopted Abbott’s daughter Drena before the duo called it quits. In 1995, De Niro and Toukie Smith welcomed twins Julian and Airyn. De Niro also is the father of son Elliot and daughter Helen with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
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“My kids disagree with me at times, and they’re respectful,” De Niro told ET Canada in 2023 when asked whether he thinks he’s a “cool” dad. “My daughter, she’s 11, she gives me grief sometimes and I argue with her. I adore her, but, you know. And my youngest now, that’ll be more to come. But that’s what it is.”
On Happy’s Place, Gabby ultimately chose not to go with Emmett and instead decided on a sperm donor.
“Gabby [would want] Channing Tatum. She’s going to dream big,” Peterman, 54, exclusively told Us Weekly during a joint interview with Castelblanco. “Dream big or go home.”
The duo also threw Jon Hamm’s name out there, joking, “I’m sure Gabby was on the dark web trying to find [someone good to donate]. I think she had fun shopping.”
Happy’s Place airs on NBC on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET before streaming the next day on Peacock.
