Guy Talk

Hanging out in planet Hollywood: from left, Jerry Ferrara as Turtle, Kevin Dillon as Drama, Kevin Connolly as Eric and Adrian Grenier as Vincent Chase in Entourage. Courtesy The Movie Network.

Back in 2001, while promoting the underwhelming action pic Planet of the Apes, Mark Wahlberg was understandably more interested in telling Toronto reporters about a semi-autobiographical series he was developing: the story of a working-class kid who becomes a movie star, then whistles his East Coast homeboys down to Hollywood to watch his back.

“It’s nothing heavy like Boogie Nights, it’s a comedy about friendship and all the weird stuff a bunch of old buddies experience making it [big],” the former Boston street kid insisted. He then related the story of how, after moving into Milton Berle’s old Beverly Hills home, he was stumped by the mansion’s antique, paperless Japanese toilets. 

Wahlberg sold Entourage to HBO in 2004, where it has become a deserving cult hit. Entertainment Weekly recently hailed the series’ season three opener (premiering Sunday, June 11 on The Movie Network) with the “summer show you can’t miss” tag and a cover story. Anyone still wondering why Entourage has succeeded — in contrast to previous youth-oriented movie industry stories like the box-office disappointment Boogie Nights or the short-lived 1999 Fox sitcom Action — should consider executive producer Wahlberg’s promise that his series would not be another anti-showbiz tract.

On the contrary, Entourage makes the Hollywood dream seem as much fun as winning the lottery. For two seasons now, movie star Vincent Chase and pals Eric, Drama and Turtle have buzzed around L.A. in a garish yellow Hummer without anyone letting the air out of their fat tires.

Vince (Adrian Grenier) has made three movies, while hooking up with a series of real-life starlets, including Mandy Moore and Sara Foster. Sure, best friend-manager Eric (Kevin Connolly) has the occasional pang of conscience, but he still seems glad to be in the game. So does Vince's bit actor half-brother, Drama Chase (Kevin Dillon), who gladly endures all forms of humiliation to be close to the spotlight.

Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), the group's backwards cap-wearing gofer, summed up the entourage's worldview in the following exchange from the first season:

Eric: "Could you get laid without Vince? That's the question."
Turtle: "Do I give a s--t? That's the answer."

Rising star: movie actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), right, and his agent, Ari (Jeremy Piven). Courtesy The Movie Network.

Though it's not one of the series' better efforts, Sunday's season opener is a reasonable showcase for the program's raffish, innocent charms. In an early scene, the boys find the elevator is broken in agent Ari Gold's new office building, so they race each other up the stairs, Four Stooges-style. Once inside the office, Ari (Jeremy Piven) informs Vince that he's going to have to find a date that's "premiere-worthy" for the opening night to his James Cameron superhero blockbuster, Aquaman. After a grunting free-for-all critique of the Maxim Hot List women Vince has been dating, the star silences the room by declaring he'll be taking his mom. All together, now: "Awww."

That the series would begin its third season playing up the roles of Vince and Ari roles is understandable. But Entourage is an equal-opportunity comedy. Kevin Dillon's blustery Rogaine addict Drama is the best TV sitcom blowhard since Cliff Claven on Cheers. And Debi Mazar kills in each one of her appearances as Shauna, the gum- and scenery-chewing publicist.

Still, Grenier and Piven make Entourage compulsive viewing. The former manages the role of passive-aggressive dreamboat Vincent Chase with effortless finesse, bullying his pals around with shy smiles and shrugs. Piven, a bit player on the HBO comedy classic, The Larry Sanders Show, attacks the role of a lifetime with ferocious glee. Lest you've been hanging around the wrong water coolers at work or school, here is a shortlist of super-agent Gold's most flavourful observations:

Ari scolding Eric for steering Vince away from a big money action movie: "Say goodbye to the Maserati. I see a shy new Vespa in your future."

Ari discouraging Vince from appearing in an art film: "You know what they feed people on an indie set, Vinnie? Nothing! They don't even give you a trailer. They tell you to go sit on an apple box. Ever tried to bang an extra on an apple box?"

Ari on Viagra enticing his reluctant wife to bed: "Come on! I'm like R. Kelly at recess here!"

Ari isn't the only character on Entourage with a gift for the gab. Vince's crew routinely offers up the best guy talk on television — profane, lightning-fast, showbiz-savvy patter that recalls the best moments in the film talkathons Diner and Swingers. Last season, the boys provided a snarky homage to the latter, when Drama and Turtle returned to the mansion, breathless with news that Eric's old girlfriend was on the loose:

Turtle: "We saw Kristin in the middle of 40 Deuce with her hands down Vince Vaughn's pants."
Eric: "She had her hands down his pants?"
Drama: "Yeah, both of 'em."
Eric: "Vince Vaughn? That puffy mother------?"
Drama: "Nah, bro, he didn't look puffy at all. He was lookin' reeeeal good."
Turtle: "Yeah, it was kinda like Swingers Vince Vaughn, not Old School Vince Vaughn. It's more like Neeeww Schoool Vince Vaughn."

While creator-writer Doug Ellin (The Kissing Fool) does a good job stocking Entourage with zingers, music supervisor Jason Alexander furnishes the series with the best party tunes on television. In most episodes, the boys roll into a club that's booming with the rattling, depth-charge bass sounds of hip-hop heroes like De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest. Other times, a plot twist receives a sly editorial comment with a choice, almost-forgotten rock lick — like the sublime moment last season when Vince resumed a disastrous affair with Mandy Moore. As the listless couple stumbles into unforgiving sunlight the following morning, the soundtrack stirs alive with The Doors' stoned reverie, Love Street: "She lives on Love Street/Lingers long on Love Street/She has a house and garden/I would like to see what happens."

It comes as no surprise that the HBO sitcom is so good at music. Entourage's raw exuberance and reckless joy in material pleasures are qualities more often found in pop music than television. The series has a lot more in common with Chuck Berry or the Beastie Boys rather than, say, Curb Your Enthusiasm or Friends.

Like the aforementioned musicians, Entourage manages to make hitting it big "in the good ol' U.S.A.," in Berry's words, feel like an attractive, entirely democratic fantasy. Though all are partial to pot and designer beer, none of the boys are strung out on drugs. There is always enough money and women to go around. Everyone gets along. For all his vinegar, Ari has a little Dr. Phil in him. Witness his buzzword solution to all group quarrels: "Let's hug it out."

When asked back in 2001 if he still needed an entourage, creator Mark Wahlberg shook his head and smiled. People grow up at different speeds, he said with a shrug. Friendships sometimes fade. Let's hope that doesn't happen soon to Vince, Eric, Drama, and Turtle, because right now, Entourage feels like the funniest, most engaging show on TV.

Stephen Cole writes about the arts for CBC.ca.

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