PotterCast 150: Every Week for Ten Years Transcript

News Talk (0:00 - 10:53)

Melissa Anelli (MA): Happy birthday to us, kind of.

Sue Upton (SU): Yes.

MA: One hundred and fifty episodes old today. Welcome to PotterCast.

SU: Wow.

John Noe (JN): Woo!

Frankie Franco III (FF): Well, it's 150 for you guys, and what? Nine for me.

MA: One-five-zero. And it's your ninth. (JN: Aw!)

MA: That's okay, Frak, you'll catch up, kinda.

JN: I can't wait until Frak's 150th episode.

FF: (laughs) It's going to be a long time away.

MA: When it's three years from now.

SU: Who was 150 years old? (JN: Oh, man.) The guy that invented the Sorcerer's Stone? Somebody in the books was 150.

JN: Flamel?

FF: Nicholas Flamel?

SU: Was he?

MA: Flamel was 666, wasn't- or not 666, 643. (FF laughs)

JN: No, we thought Dumbledore was 150.

FF: That's an interesting age to be. (laughs)

MA: Dumbledore's about 150.

SU: Is that who it was?

MA: Flamel's over 600 years old.

SU: Yeah.

JN: We thought Dumbledore was 150, and then he wasn't.

SU: Oh. (laughs) Then he wasn't.

FF: Then he wasn't. (laughs)

JN: Yeah, pretty much.

SU: He took one of those aging potions to de-age him. I don't know.

JN: It was magic, go figure.

SU: Go figure. People...

FF: I remember one theory that they thought Dumbledore was Ron in the future. (SU laughs)

JN: Oh, yeah! Oh, God, not that again. Oh.

FF: He had red hair. "He had red hair! It's Ron! It's Ron!"

JN: We talked about that, I think, on PotterCast Ten.

FF: Talk about red herring! (FF and MA laugh) What?

MA: Look at you! Look what you did there!

FF: See what I did there?

MA: That's funny. Not.

SU: (laughs) Yeah.

FF: Is this the show?

MA: Okay, welcome to PotterCast 150. (laughs) We are as relevant as ever, guys. (SU: Mm-hm.) (FF: Holla back.) Three years, three years into recording PotterCast, (JN laughs) almost, in August.

SU: Oh, man.

JN: Boy.

MA: Right?

SU: Yeah. Three years.

MA: Three years, isn't that crazy? (FF: Jeez.) Yeah. All right, so, on this week's show we have a Canon Conundrums.

JN: Woo!

SU: Yes.

MA: A what? A Phoenix Files.

SU: Mm-hm.

JN: Woo!

MA: And...

SU: We hear from our Crafty friends right?

MA: Is that it? (JN: More...) Bit-by-Bit?

JN: Yeah, we hear from our Crafty friends. And then we have more PotterCast Acting Troupe auditions.

SU: Oh!

MA: More what friends?

SU: Our Craft Alongs! We have a new feature on our Lounge!

MA: Oh, Crafty friends! I'm like- I thought you said something else. (SU: Oh!) (laughs) And I was very confused. (SU laughs) So, wow, that's a really packed show, (SU: It is!) so why don't we get right into the news? (FF: I say we jump in.) Just in case you've never been with us before, my name is Melissa, and I'm here with John, Sue, and Frak. And I always tend to roll R's when I say your name, but- (FF: Frak!) Frak!

SU: I like that.

MA: And let's do it! What's the news this week, with the Suze?

SU: Well, we're kind of in a lull period as we're waiting for the dreaded trailer, or the highly anticipated trailer. But in the...

MA: Dreaded?

SU: I know, nothing dreaded. (FF: The dreaded?) I can't wait for it! We're all waiting for it. But in the mean time...

FF: Wash your mouth out with soap.

SU: I know. I know, it's taking forever. I don't know what the deal is, (FF: I'm kidding.) but we did see some new photos of the theme park that is still under construction, and is now actually starting to gain some momentum. We saw a lot of scaffolding go up, and we saw what looked like the first building of a snowy Hogsmeade Village. I'm excited. (FF gasps) Yeah, we saw chimneys and everything. (FF: In Florida.) In Florida! Who knew?

FF: Who knew that Florida was housing of a Wizarding community?

SU: Well, I suppose it could be under one of those cloaking devices, or whatever they did for- didn't they do that for Unplottables?

JN: Yeah.

FF: John, is there a Wizarding community in Florida that we're unaware of? That you're kind of sitting on over there, enjoying, and not letting us know about?

JN: None shall speak about this Wizarding community unless they are residents of Florida, I'm afraid. (SU laughs)

FF: Oh, well, this is part of the charms.

JN: It's lots of secrecy, though it's not immune to the Google Map program, so...

FF: Is it called Sudden Valley?

JN: Sudden Valley? (laughs) That sounds like more of a salad dressing than a (FF laughs) housing development. (FF: I don't wanna eat it.) I don't- I'd marinate a chicken in it, though.

SU: Yeah.

FF: Yeah, I would, too.

JN and SU: Yeah. (SU laughs) (MA: All right.) Anyway. What else?

MA: What's next?

SU: This is just- earlier we had talked about Emma Watson taking, possibly taking on a new role in a movie called Napoleon and Betsy, and they said on her website, no, it's not confirmed. She's interested, but no. So. (FF and JN: Aw.) I know. Everybody was all excited, because they were like "Oh, Emma's gonna get her first screen kiss with somebody other than Rupert!" (laughs) (JN: Aw.) I was just- I don't know.

MA: Well...

JN: We don't want that.

MA: Well, she will have plenty for her to do in Deathly Hallows. If they do it right, she has to kiss both of them.

SU: Right!

JN: Woo! That's right.

FF: Oh, that's right. Ooh, I saw a drawing of that, in the locket thing, and the drawing was a little more explicit then I'd imagined it. And I was like, "Hello!".

MA: (laughs) Oh, where did you see this drawing? That might be why.

FF: Well, it was on LiveJournal somewhere. (MA and SU: Yeah.) Yeah, I know, and it wasn't horrible, there was no bits or pieces, (MA laughs) it was just kinda (MA: Ew! Frak!) like, "Oh." I didn't, I didn't mean to be crude, I'm sorry.

MA: You know who did a beautiful, beautiful drawing of that is our own Makani, Heather (SU: Yes.) Campbell.

FF: Oh, she did a wonderful drawing of that. (JN: Oh, yeah.) (MA: Hers is amazing.) And my hatred still stands for her. (SU laughs) Just kidding.

MA: Oh, you guys should team up and (FF: Conquer the world?) illustrate everything. Ever. (FF laughs)

SU: She's- (FF laughs) oh, that would just be so funny.

FF: Did you see her...

SU: I'm sorry, what?

FF: No, she did a Hermione being almost cut by Bellatrix illustration, it's beautiful.

SU: Wow, no.

MA: Really? I haven't seen that.

FF: I'm gonna have to look the link up right now.

MA: You're going to have to link me. All right, what else happening, Suze?

SU: There's still minor casting happening. Apparently the Carrow sisters has now been cast for Half-Blood Prince which is- she's one of the Death Eater people that shows up later again in Deathly Hallows, too. But she was cast, so that's kind of interesting that they're putting those ugly people in there. I guess they will. (FF and SU laugh) The Carrows are just- they're two thugs. They take over, they help at the battle at the end of...

MA: Well, they're a brother and sister, correct?

SU: Brother and sister, right. Mm-hm, mm-hm.

MA: Right, I just wanted to make sure.

SU: And then, doesn't she end up teaching, I think, in Deathly Hallows?

MA: Yeah. Well, in Deathly Hallows, yeah, because remember, one teaches Defense against the Dark Arts and one teaches Muggle Studies?

SU: That's right. Right, right.

FF: (laughs) Ugh.

MA: Yeah, they torture everybody and then (laughs) when she gets knocked out in the Ravenclaw tower, Luna's like, "Oh, look, (FF: "Oh, they're pleased!") they're pleased!" (FF laughs)

SU: (laughs) Yeah!

JN: (laughs) Yep.

MA: (laughs) It was amazing.

SU: That's right! "They're pleased!" (All laugh)

MA: I love it. I love it. Harry Crucio-ed her.

JN: I love Luna.

SU: I hope they keep that line, just so Evanna Lynch, who is fabulous, can say that. That would just be awesome. "Oh, look, they're pleased!" (JN laughs)

MA: Is it her or him that gets knocked out? Because I always- the two of them, I never know, I never remember which one's the girl and which one is not.

FF: The sister gets knocked out. (MA: Okay.) Because when McGonagall lets in the boy, she's like, "I let your sister- didn't Flitwick let your sister in earlier today?"

MA: So it's the boy, okay.

SU: Yeah.

JN: It's hard to keep track of.

FF: I think the sister- yeah.

MA: Yeah, it is. They have similar names.

SU: I just wanted to say, though, my trailer senses are tingling. And I just think that when this podcast will have aired, that we will- that there's a rumor that might be true involving the trailer. And I just think it's gonna come soon, and I'm still gonna stay with the June 16th- or not, May 16th! May 16th!

MA: May! May! Whew. Whew!

SU: Sorry. Heart failure everybody.

MA: Scared me, Sue. May 16th.

FF: What? (laughs)

JN: Disneyland Day is June 16th! (SU: Yeah.) No, last year's was June 16th. (SU: Yeah.) Aw.

FF: Disneyland? Or Disneyworld?

SU: When is that, John?

JN: Last year's day was June 16th, Disneyland. (FF: Oh. We didn't do Disney?) But no, this year we're having another one, we're having one at Disneyworld.

FF: No, that's not fair! (JN: Sorry!) That's too far for me.

JN: That's May 17th.

FF: I don't condone that.

SU: No.

JN: Oh. Sad.

FF: Sorry, I'm just being honest. (JN: I'm sorry.) I can't lie.

SU: And there was a sad piece of news, (JN: I'm sorry, Frankie!) while we're on sad news, because I can't go to the Disneyland thing either. But Melissa, the books are not going to be on The New York Times Best Seller List! I think that's just- (MA: Isn't that weird?) Weird, very weird.

MA: It's crazy! (JN: Wait, what?) (FF: What?) It's the end of a ten-year era. From December 27th, 1998, which, by the way, that's my birthday! (SU: Oh!) Isn't that weird? That's my birthday.

JN: What?

SU: That's right!

FF: Your birthday is December 27th?

MA: My birthday is the day that the Harry Potter books first appeared on The New York Times Best Seller List. When I found that out, I actually found that out while I was researching the book, and I did a little dance in my apartment. (SU laughs) It was funny. (FF and MA laugh) But you don't understand how long it took to figure that out, (FF: Aw. Melissa dance!) because I had to go- (FF: Melissa dance!) It's not something that's really often referenced, what exact date they came on the scene, so I had to go through every single week (laughs) of Harry Potter on the list, (SU: Wow.) from 2000 down, so it was really frustrating. But anyway, yes, they will- They have been on The New York Times Best Seller List since December 27th, 1998. That was Sorcerer's Stone, but it didn't hit number one until June of 1999, when Chamber of Secrets came out, because it was a wave of publicity.

FF: 1999! Woo!

SU: Yeah.

MA: Yeah. Chamber of Secrets came out in the US, and then once Prisoner of Azkaban came out in September, it like sealed them in. They circled in the top five or six spots forever, (laughs) and then, on June...right at the end of June, beginning of July of 2000, the New York Times was getting so many complaints about them clogging the lists, about publishers being frustrated because they couldn't get their books on them, et cetera, that they split the list into Adult and Children. (SU: Wow.) In some form, Harry Potter has been on The New York Times Best Seller List every week since December 27th, 1998, and now from next week, for the first time ever, they are falling off them. Look, it took, what, a year, (SU: Yeah.) maybe three-quarters of a year for Deathly Hallows to leave the list? (laughs)

SU: Now, think about that! Now, think about that. It sells books every week for ten years. That is just (MA: Yeah.) extraordinary! I can't even...

MA: Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. (MA and SU laugh) That's an achievement. (SU: Wow.) But yeah, so next week. Doesn't it feel like a bit of an end of an era, doesn't it?

SU: It does!

JN: No, nothing ends!

FF: "End of an era." It's a great song.

JN: Nothing ever ends. That's what I say.

MA: No, they'll be back. They'll be back on the list. And if not, (JN: Yeah.) (FF: Word.) hey, it was a good run, wasn't it? (laughs)

SU: Yeah, but the...

JN: Well, wait for the encyclopedia to come out.

SU: Oh, that'll come out. (MA: Hm?) But the Deathly Hallows paperback is coming out this summer! Both of them. Well, (JN: That's true!) (MA: Right.) the UK and the (MA: The paperback.) (JN: Is there a separate list?) U.S. one, but the U.S. ones only count. But still! I don't know when that's coming out, though. We haven't heard the date yet.

MA: No.

JN: Is there a separate list for that?

MA: Okay, okay. So what else is going on, Suze?

SU: That's about it. And all that talk about books makes me want to talk about books, so should we go do it?

MA: How about we talk about books?

FF: That is a nice segue if I ever heard one.

SU: Aw. (laughs) Once in a while my brain works. It's kinda scary. Like, "Oh! (SU and JN laughs) Works."

FF: Sue, your brain works a lot more than you realize, okay?

SU: (laughs) Not always, though! That's the key part!

MA: Okay. Let's go talk about books.