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« Entourage
April 8, 2007: Happy Birthday, Dear Vi-ince
After a tense hour with the Soprano family, it was nice to decompress with the boys. Not too much has changed at Casa Chase, with the notable exception of Vince’s representation. Amanda (Carla Gugino) looks like she will prove to be quite a worthy adversary for Ari. (Speaking of Ms. Gugino, click here to read more about her thoughts on being one of the guys.) The two agents' verbal sparring exemplified passive-aggressiveness at its finest. Though the breakup is still fresh, true to form, Ari is not going to go down without a fight. And "breakup" really is the way to characterize the awkward vibe, shameless jockeying for position and downright begging that was going on between Ari and Vince. It was like watching a really desperate guy try to win back an ex-girlfriend who is clearly over him. Score one for Ari, though. Wafting Vince’s dream script under his nose was a brilliant maneuver, creating just enough doubt to cause Vince to vacillate about Amanda’s proposed Edith Wharton project.
As usual, Turtle, Drama and Ari (the amazing, hysterical Jeremy Piven) provided more than their share of comic relief and some really good one-liners. The tough part of blogging an HBO show is that most of the great quotes cannot be repeated on a family-friendly website. (Just about every sentence out of Ari’s mouth is hilariously laden with expletives.) However, my favorite quote of the episode was a relatively mild one courtesy of Drama: “The whispering stops or else nobody’s getting soufflé at dinner tonight.” Wielding his culinary prowess as a weapon has become one of Drama’s trademarks, and thank goodness he has his cooking to fall back on. Despite the huge, poorly lit, Sunset Boulevard billboard for his new series, it seems that nobody knows anything about the show. I, for one, am hoping that Drama’s career takes off like gangbusters. The only thing that has the potential to be funnier than watching Johnny Drama, struggling actor, is imagining his reaction to even a modicum of success.
Finally, as we prepped for Vince’s birthday spectacular, here are some valuable life lessons offered up by our favorite L.A. denizens:
— Calla lilies are irresistible to women. (I prefer Gerber daisies, but that's just me.)
— Corporate sponsorship is one way around pesky credit limits.
— Saying your birthday wish out loud ruins the wish.
As for that last one, I can't imagine what else Vince could possibly wish for while he is riding the amazing wave that is his life. As long as Turtle, Eric, Drama and Ari are riding along with him, I will be, too. Welcome back, boys!
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Apr 8, 2007 11:44 PM
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I guess the whole corporate sponsorship subplot is a parallel to HBO shows and the disturbing upswing of product placements in them. Commercial-free TV isn't what it used to be.
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Apr 9, 2007 2:49 AM
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You are right on about Drama having the potential to be even funnier if he tastes success. How soon will it be before he stops cooking for the boys? They'll have to start ordering in Chinese.
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Apr 9, 2007 9:25 AM
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So happy to have the boys back. I love how Ari knows how to get Vince right where he wants him. Nice!
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Apr 9, 2007 9:47 AM
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Carlo Gugino is one of my favorites! I'm not sure how long she will last as Vince's manager but it should be fun!
Raven - I have never thought about that scenario! That sure would bring up a lot of hilarious situations.
Great to have the boys back!!!
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Apr 9, 2007 12:09 PM
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Yay, I'm so glad Entourage is back. This wasn't as hilarious as "A Day in the Valley" or the Vegas episode but it was still great to see the boys back.
I find it funny that E flipped over the whole Mandy Moore thing and has always been careful about Vince's career and he can't see that Vince clearly has a crush on his agent. Crushing on your agent is not a good thing and if I were E, I would wake up and find Vince and uglier agent. But Ari is doing a good job of driving Vince away from Amanda. He's so slimy, I love it! And I love that there was lots of Lloyd in this episode too. Amanda had the best line of the episode though. I'd read her say it in the TV Guide interview but didn't realize she was saying it to Ari. Classic!
I have to disagree about wanting Drama to succeed though. As much as I love Johnny Drama and think Kevin Dillon makes that show (regardless of what everyone says about Jeremy Piven who I think is a tad overrated), I prefer to see him as a loser has-been. I think it rings more true to the real Hollywood. Remember, when they first came out to Hollywood, Johnny was the "Vince" and Vince and Turtle were his entourage, mooching off of him. While I want to see good things happen for him, I'd like for his show to be canceled after a few runs so he can continue to be the sad sack brother. Also, did anyone notice the striking Black Donnelly's resemblance to his pilot? I don't know if they intended to do that but it cracked me up. And his standing in front of his billboard was too funny.
Next week looks like there's a lot going on and we get the return of Mrs. Ari, which always makes me happy.
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Apr 9, 2007 12:24 PM
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My favorite line from last night was when Turtle told Drama that they would "have his 40th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese." 
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Apr 9, 2007 4:16 PM
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Did anyone else notice Drama was drinking a Smirnoff Ice (or similar malt beverage) at the party?? You can see it when Vince is blowing out his candles!
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Apr 9, 2007 11:48 PM
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I'm not sure I get the Smirnoff Ice reference. It was a sponsored party. Or were you saying it wouldn't be in character? Or that Drama, for all his bravado, is a lightweight when it comes to his choice in adult beverage?
Being that this is supposed to be loosely based on Mark Wahlberg's life and that Drama is (I'm guessing) supposed to be Donny Wahlberg, I can't imagine that Donny is too happy about his portrayal. Mean, mean, mean.
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Apr 10, 2007 12:10 PM
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This show should be an hour. I love Drama and how shameless he is about exploiting himself in front of the billboard. People like that must have a "big set" to do the kind of stuff he does.
Turtle sure knows how to work the system - props to him!
Loved Ari groveling, he is so desperate. You know he is eventually going to lure Vince back to the fold. It will be fun to watch...
I can't say this too much - this show should be an hour!!!!
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Apr 11, 2007 7:42 PM
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