Entourage: Let's Blog It Out

I think I just became a Tampa Bay Rays fan, and not because they're playing the Boston Red Sox, the Adam Davies to the Yankees fans' Ari Gold.

Rather, it's because I just watched the Rays beat the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS on a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning. As the celebration at Tropicana Field ensued, overheard on the broadcast was a "Victory!" chant from Johnny Drama.

Presumably, it was played on the Diamond Vision board. If anyone was in the building at the time or has heard/seen it before, please shed some light on the issue.

In the meantime, I will operate as if the Tampa Rays play Johnny Drama's "Victory!" chant when they win exciting ball games.

Go Rays!

A brief little note to let you all know that Jeremy Piven will be on "The Late Show with David Letterman" this Friday night (Oct. 10).

He's promoting his new movie "RocknRolla." My hunch is his spot with Letterman will be worth watching.

If video becomes available, I'll post up here. But set your TiVos and DVRs just in case, my dear readers.

We've never hidden our love for Emmanuelle Chriqui. She recently showed up as a Girl of the Week on Boomer and Carton's morning show, a radio program on WFAN SportsRadio here in New York.

For those of you not in the New York listening area, that's former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, a hilarious morning sports talk radio tandem that's gaining traction by the minute in this market. (Think Jimmy Kimmel chasing down Leno and Letterman.)

Thanks to Blog It Out reader Sean, I caught Boomer & Carton's interview with our dear Sloan. It's hilarious. Give it a listen below. (And since I know you love her as much as I do, click through these Emmanuelle Chriqui photos while you listen.)

Word around town is when Kevin Connolly, our beloved "E" and a reported FOB (Friend of the Blog), returns to his Long Island home, he rolls with the same crew at the same spots and all that jazz.

And this Columbus Day Weekend, Connolly is hosting a party Sunday night at Dublin Down in Blue Point.

Rejoice, my dear Entouragers!

HBO announced Monday that it has re-upped "Entourage" for a sixth season. You know what this means: I've still got a job for at least 12 more weeks next summer.

Production is scheduled to begin in early 2009, according to several reports, and the new season should start airing that summer. Thank the good lord for that: summer "Entourage" is good "Entourage."

The announcement is interesting in its timing. Based on a bunch of your comments, a bunch of e-mails, IM conversations and other Internet blogs (seriously, though, mine is the best, right?), this past week's episode appears to be the most divisive. Many of you hated it. Many of you liked it. I'm somewhat on the fence still (I know, right: Way to take a stand, La Monica!).

Next week is the midway point of the season, an all-star break of sorts. We'll post a poll question after the show asking you to rate the season thus far. (Sure we could do it now, but the sixth show could seriously alter your opinion on the poll, and I don't want know no hanging chads or early exit poll results.)

Forgive me for a moment or two as I start tripping about this episode. I just made that drive on I-15 from Los Angeles to Las Vegas five days ago, and there were no porn stars flashing me and Joey Jitsu along the way.

In fact, the closest we got was some freestyle music and a state trooper who pulled me over for speeding on the way out to L.A. Oops, guess I can't plead not guilty to that ticket now. Oh well. At least it just became a business expense and a tax writeoff.

Here's what else didn't happen on the drive: Finding that damn Joshua tree. Oh sure, there are plenty of Joshua trees on the side of the road, but nothing we could see that resembled where the entourage set up shop with Eric Roberts. (P.S. Joey Jitsu does the best impersonation of Roberts in "Best of the Best.")

Of course, we also didn't research it too deeply. We were too busy making sure we got back to Vegas in time to lose money gambling before passing out. (I threw $5 on red at the roulette table, per "Entourage" rules. I lost.)

And that's about as close as I can relate to the mushroom trip. I'm sure there are plenty of you out there who can directly appreciate and relate to the trip. God bless. That was never my thing (and that's not just because of BPL rules). I'm a drinker first (and second, and third and so on).

The closest I ever got to that stuff was in college -- shocking! -- when I saw two dudes I knew sitting on a log in the middle of town with the dumbest looks on their faces as I dropped off my DJ equipment at 3 a.m.

However, I have had my share of nonchemically enhanced hallucinations. Freshman year in college. Finals week. Five tests in six days. Day 4: Wicket the Ewok from "Return of the Jedi" helped me study and pass my biology exam. No joke. I will swear to any god you want that Wicket was there. Crazy.

But I digress.

This week's episode was pretty strong, I thought. I enjoyed the "Am I still tripping or is this real?" ending with the firefighters. Just as Vince had decided to collect a $3-million paycheck to do "Benji," he saw himself in a firefighter's uniform fighting the blaze that was on the side of the road.

Nice touch by Doug Ellin and the show creators. And a good way to keep the storylines of struggle and not compromising artistic integrity for money going.

Haven't we all been there? That place where we made a decision to do something we didn't really want to do, only to find inspiration from a random place that keeps up from doing it?

Sure you have. Just think about the last time your friends saved your drunken self from going home with that ugly girl or guy from the bar.

It's about time Turtle found his way onto the BPL scoreboard this season.

Vince and the fellas are in Ari's car discussing whether he should do the "Benji" movie. Turtle first asks who's going to get top billing. I have to agree with what he said after E objected: "Legitimate question."

It is. But don't worry, that's not this week's BPL.

This is.

When Vince asks what the downside would be for doing a movie about a dog in the arctic, before Ari or E or Drama could say anything, Turtle blurts out:

"You won't be banging your co-star."

Strong work, Turtle. And just for fun, let's take a look at Vince's female movie co-stars thus far:

"Head On" - Jessica Alba
"Queens Boulevard" - Unknown
"Aquaman" - Mandy Moore
"Medellin" - Sofia Vergara.

Quite a list, indeed.

Continue reading "Entourage 5/5: Best Printable Line" »

I know this is not exactly politically correct, but then again this is Ari Gold we're talking about here.

His Asian accent while on a mushroom trip in the desert was beyond ridiculous. Did you happen to notice how it got more dead-on the more he did it? I wonder if it was just the editing of multiple takes, or if it was written that way or if Jeremy Piven just played it that way.

Ari's role-playing with Lloyd was beyond ridiculous. His making Lloyd start every sentence with "Confucius say" was, again, beyond ridiculous.

These types of scenes are the reason we added The Ari Gold Mine to this blog. Without the AGM, why would we ever wake up on Mondays and go to work?

My first thought in terms of Writer Props was to immediately give the title to revelation of Eric Roberts as the shroom supplier of Hollywood.

But, seriously, is that so over the top to believe? You've seen "Best of the Best" so you know what I'm talking about. Plus, whacked-out actors and drug trips aren't so new to "Entourage," re: Val Kilmer the sherpa.

Rather, this week's Writer Props goes to he or she who decided to make E take his shroom trip through a peanut butter and mushroom sandwich, followed by a bout of not being able to talk.

Hilarious decision-making. It's like when I was a kid and my dog was sick. He would spit out the pills from the vet ... until we hid it inside a doughnut. After that, my dog loved doughnuts!

Forgive me for being a week late on this, but I was on vacation last week and am just getting caught up on emails.

For those of you who haven't yet seen it, here's the "Smoke Jumpers" movie poster that's been circulating the Internet. Thanks to all those who sent it my way.

We love Johnny Drama's meltdowns. We laugh every time. We're supposed to do such things. That's how the show is designed.

And a drunken Drama teetering on the edge after his breakup with Jacqueline is altogether fantastic to watch unfold.

But at some point, you have to feel bad for Drama. We've all been there. We've all been crushed by a significant other at some point in life. It hurts. It stings. It sucks.

In honor of our love for the character that is Johnny Drama, I've decided to whip up a few ideas that may help Drama get over his pain:

1) Fly to France and sign Jacqueline's friend's cast, then get caught by Jacqueline making out with the friend on her couch.

2) Get absolutely loaded, then go to the nearest pet store and "Tweet-Chirp" his way through the store until security escorts him out.

3) Have Shauna strategically place a few outrageous sex scandal stories in the various celebrity tabloids and blogs.

4) Bring back Cassie!

5) Get Billy Walsh's phone number from Vince and place that call.

These are just a few quick thoughts as I wait for my plane to Vegas. While I'm betting $5 on red at the roulette table to start the trip, share your ideas of how to help Drama cope with the absence of Jacqueline.

Longtime Let's Blog It Out readers might recognize the historic maneuver I'm about to pull. Or maybe not.

Either way, we're about to award this week's Best Printable Line to a group of unnamed characters, aka a bunch of extras.

We know this is groundbreaking and might greatly effect the race for the Big Knish, but it was just too perfect a scene to let go without permanent praise. Plus, there were no curses in this line, and every other line in the BPL running including one of those no-no words.

The fellas go to bail out Johnny Drama from county jail. As Drama is walking out of his cell and down the hall to sign out his belongings, a group of inmates start yelling "Victory!"

It was a truly genius moment in what was a good setup episode for future Sunday night bombs. And while you may be disappointed in that BPL selection, let me ask you this: Did you laugh harder at another line (that didn't include cursing)?

Continue reading "Entourage 5/4: Best Printable Line" »

(HBO Photo)

There's a reason Jeremy Piven has won three straight Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy.

It's because Ari Gold is a genius role, and could arguably go down as this generation's all-time favorite TV character.

His dustups in marriage counseling scenes are legendary. His battles with studio heads are classic. And his verbal sparring matchings with E could be a pay-per-view special.

This week's Ari Gold Mine came early in the episode when Ari, E and Vince were walking to their first general meeting with studio heads. Ari and E went back and forth at an escalating pace, creating curse words that a) I can't write here and b) never even thought of saying in real life.

God bless Ari Gold. And for the love of Pete, can someone at the "Entourage" office please get cracking on a "Best of Ari Gold" DVD. I'm fairly certain it would sell quite well, especially at Christmas time this year.

(P.S. Mr. Ellin: I don't even want any of the proceeds from those sales. Just make it happen and I'll gladly purchase it. Seriously. I won't even think about downloading it illegally.)

The morning hangover scene to start the episode rang a few bells in my rolodex of life experiences. No doubt you felt that same sting of a morning gone wrong after a night that went so right (or so wrong).

But it was another alcoholic endeavor that scored this week's Writer Props. It's also extremely subtle, and may not have even been done intentionally. But, it was a perfect inclusion by the show's editors.

Toward the end of the show, a drunken Johnny Drama is seen drinking even more airplane bottles of booze in the back seat of an SUV at the airport.

He's pretty much a hapless soul, drunk and distraught over losing his French paramour Jacqueline. On his sleeveless Hawaii T-shirt, if you look closely, there's a booze stain near his right pec.

Again, it's subtle, but so is Writer Props. Why give this props? Well, think about the last time you were drinking to numb the pain of life gone astray. Odds are, somewhere in between drinks 12 and 16, you looked down and saw the remnants of drinks 6-8 on your shirt.

Heck, I've got part of a coconut margarita on my Jets T-shirt right now.

Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson is joined by the boys of Entourage at the launch of Virgin America's new JFK-Las Vegas route on Sept. 4, 2008.

On the plane, or a scene from "Busey and the Beach?" You make the call!

(Getty Images Photos)