Entourage: Let's Blog It Out

By Mark La Monica

I thought Jeremy Piven's monologue on "Saturday Night Live" was quite amusing. The wigs he wore throughout the show were even better.

Tough call as to which was better though: His wig of '80s sleezeball curls on the MacGruber skits or his '80s combover as a music exec in the Blizzard Man skit with Common.

Other than that, the show was average. Clearly not Piven's fault. He nailed all the skits written for him, especially the Jim Nantz bit. That was classic.

But the skits were average at best this past week on SNL.

Still wondering why there were no spoofs of "Entourage" on this episode. Typically, SNL writes skits where the guest host can mock himself. No such luck this week. After the show, I asked myself "Where was Ari?"

It was quite disappointing, especially since April 8 seems so far away. The only remedy? Cue up the "Busey and the Beach" episode and watch Ari Gold at his finest when he hammers Josh Weinstein at the beach house.

By Mark La Monica

Just a friendly little note to inform the good people loyal to "Entourage, the blog" that Jeremy Piven, aka Ari Gold, will be hosting Saturday Night Live this coming week.

Set your DVRs now because there's no way this SNL episode on Jan. 20, 2007, won't be hilarious.

Given the nature of "SNL" and its track record with guest hosts, there's likely to be a skit or two based on Entourage and Piven's character, slick-talking agent Ari Gold. And seeing how the rest of the Entourage cast is from New York, there's a 50-percent chance we'll see a guest spot or two.

For those of us who can't wait until Season 3.5 on April 8, this is the next best thing to hold us over until then.

In the meantime, root for Piven to bring home the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor on Monday. Then, watch SNL on Saturday and return here Monday for our thoughts on the show.

By Mark La Monica

No witty lede this time around, just straight news and information:

"Entourage" will return to HBO with Season 3.5 on Sunday, April 8, 2007. It will follow "The Sopranos" which is in its final season.

Circle the date on your calendar. Program it into your BlackBerry. Type it into your Outlook calendar. Stick a Post-it note on your forehead.

Do what you gotta do, but for the love of Pete, don't be anywhere aside from in front of a television on April 8, 2007.

Victory!

I saw the story on the AP wire and figured I'd share with my loyal readers. This story implies there is a bit of tiff going on between Jeremy Piven and John Cusack. Enjoy the read, compliments of the AP:

Jeremy Piven played second banana to his friend John Cusack until his recent breakthrough in HBO’s “Entourage,” winning an Emmy Award last year for his role as sharklike agent Ari Gold.

Now Piven and Cusack, who studied acting at Chicago’s Piven Theatre Workshop, which was run by Piven’s parents, appear to be on the outs, or so Piven suggests in an interview in the February issue of Best Life magazine, on newsstands Friday.

“No comment. I mean, you could fill in the blank, I bet,” the 41-year-old actor says when asked how Cusack has handled Piven’s recent success.

Piven played supporting roles to Cusack in films such as “Say Anything,” “Gross Pointe Blank” and “Runaway Jury” before getting his big break on “Entourage.”

“... I was always proud of him, and I was always in his corner,” Piven says of the 40-year-old Cusack. “Always.”
The Associated Press was attempting Tuesday to reach a representative for Cusack, who stars in “Grace Is Gone,” which will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, later this month.

Piven, who co-stars with Ben Affleck in the upcoming film “Smokin’ Aces,” a Universal Studios release, says he values loyalty.

“It just says so much about a person if he has space for other people’s success,” he says. “I have always been so proud of my friends’ success. I own that proudly because I come by it naturally. I was raised on that spirit of collaboration. ... You start getting into trouble in life when you start comparing and contrasting your life to anyone else’s. You don’t win when you do that.”