A 'Family Guy' affair

Get out of ‘Town’

No offense, Ben Affleck, but folks in the North End won’t be sad to see you leave next week. Residents in Boston’s little Italy tell us that because Affleck has been filming scenes for his bank robber movie “The Town’’ around Hanover Street for more than a week, they’ve grown used to traffic, loud noises (including fake gun shots), and bright lights shining in their windows. “For me, the biggest issue is trying to navigate the neighborhood,’’ said Mary McGee, treasurer of the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association. “Commercial Street was closed, North Washington Street was closed. . . . It’s like, how do you get out of the North End?’’ McGee says it hasn’t helped that the neighborhood has been used as a backdrop in three movies this fall. Beside’s Affleck’s “Town,’’ there’s the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz action film, and Damien Di Paola’s indie movie “Oxymoron,’’ which filmed on Hanover Street last month. McGee joked that the star sightings in the North End don’t make up for the traffic. She’d rather have an easy drive than a run-in with Affleck. “I’m like the age of his mother,’’ she said, laughing. Affleck is set to shoot in the North End through Tuesday.

Working overtime

Kevin James and the crew of “The Zookeeper’’ took over a penthouse apartment at the InterContinental Hotel, doing an all-night shoot that bathed surrounding buildings in light. “Very cool,’’ said GM Tim Kirwan of the scene on the 26th floor. The shoot wrapped at 5 a.m., and then James caught a few z’s in the presidential suite.

A new chapter for Tyler's $2 million memoir

Can’t wait to read Steven Tyler’s memoir? Neither can his publisher. Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, bid more than $2 million for the flamboyant frontman’s story, but he’s yet to deliver the book. And it could be awhile before he does. We’re told Tyler is unhappy with the results of his work with ghostwriter David Dalton, and is starting over with Mark Hudson and former Hustler editor Lonn Friend. In recent days, the three have been huddled in Sunapee, N.H., trying to salvage something of the book, titled “Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?’’ Tyler has been mostly MIA since August, when he fell off the stage during a show in Sturgis, S.D., breaking his shoulder. Dalton, a respected scribe who’s written about Janis Joplin, James Dean, and Jim Morrison, had been working with the 61-year-old singer for about a year. The new team is friendly with Tyler. Hudson is an occasional collaborator who co-wrote Aerosmith’s 1993 smash hit “Livin’ on the Edge.’’ (He was with Tyler at BookExpo America last spring when the scarf-wearing screamer spoke about his memoir.) Friend, meanwhile, was a Larry Flynt protege at Hustler before becoming editor of RIP, a magazine devoted to metal bands. He chronicled his exploits with the heroes of heavy metal in his own memoir, “Life on Planet Rock: From Guns N’ Roses to Nirvana, a Backstage Journey Through Rock’s Most Debauched Decade.’’ Sounds like the right man for the job.

Comedian Eugene Mirman likes to spoil his fans. Mirman, who lived in Somerville for years before moving to New York City and landing a small role on HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords,’’ showed up to his CD release party at P.A.’s Lounge on Tuesday night with a limousine - for his audience. “It’s to take them to Porter Square,’’ Mirman explained, proudly. “To get to the T.’’ Mirman said he wanted to thank fans for attending his night of comedy despite the fact that it was held in Union Square, which is not easily accessible by public transportation. When Mirman’s gig let out at about 10:30 p.m., fans happily piled into the limo to get to the Red Line. Mirman’s new CD is called “God Is a Twelve Year Old Boy With Asperger’s.’’ The comedian explained during his routine that the title isn’t meant to poke fun at those who have the developmental disorder. Mirman named the album after a 12-year-old boy with Asperger’s who once asked him, “Why don’t you accept me as your god?’’ Mirman’s response? “I do.’’

Katie Holmes and daughter Suri have turned their attention from Back Bay to Faneuil Hall. The actress (inset) has spent a lot of time on Newbury Street while husband Tom Cruise has been busy filming with Cameron Diaz. But yesterday, Holmes, her mom, and Suri were at historic Faneuil Hall sampling sweets for much of the afternoon. The two tried cookies at Kilvert & Forbes (the bakery once owned by Senator John Kerry), snacked on fries at Brown Derby, and treated themselves to Pizzeria Regina and ice cream at Sprinkles. (Suri slurped French vanilla from a little Red Sox helmet while Katie got cookie dough.) Faneuil Hall security closed off the marketplace Barrel. Mrs. Cruise must be a fan: She was spotted at the Crate Barrel on Boylston Street just over a week ago.

Charles Hotel restaurant Rialto was packed yesterday morning with some of Cambridge’s most powerful women, who schmoozed while snacking on salmon with mascarpone and blueberry cake. The women’s breakfast, hosted by chef Jody Adams, honored American Repertory Theater’s new artistic director Diane Paulus, who was greeted by guests such as Harvard’s president, Drew Faust, Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, Scampo chef Lydia Shire, New Profit Inc. president Vanessa Kirsch, and “Style Boston’’ diva Tonya Mezrich. The morning celebration included a presentation to Paulus by Adams and pastry chef Susan Abbott of bread baked in the shape of “ART.’’

NBC may have found a “Parenthood’’ replacement for local actress Maura Tierney. Tierney, who hails from Hyde Park, was supposed to star in the show based on the 1989 movie starring Steve Martin. But earlier this fall, the actress left the project to get treated for breast cancer. Tierney’s rumored replacement was Helen Hunt, but according to Entertainment Weekly, “Gilmore Girls’’ star Lauren Graham is now in the running for the role.

Kevin Faulk and Andre Tippett joined Robert Kraft, Shaw’s exec Mike Witynski, and Greater Boston Food Bank CEO Catherine D’Amato at the Shaw’s in Mansfield the other day to support the Kids Cafe program, which provides hot meals for children at Boys & Girls Clubs.