Entourage: Let's Blog It Out

Jeremy Piven debuted on Broadway last night in the play "Speed-the-Plow." I didn't go. Such is life. However, I've compiled a list of people's reviews about the play and his performance, just in case you want to keep up with Ari Gold when he's not being Ari Gold.

• An ode to the nastier side of Hollywood [Newsday]
• B- for Mamet's reprise [Entertainment Weekly]
• Do you speak Hollywood? [NY Times]
• 'Speed-the-Plow' goes inside Hollywood [NY Daily News]
• Speed your way to Mamet's 'Plow' [NY Post]
• 'Speed-the-Plow' [Variety]
• David Mamet's take on moviemaking is still savage [AP]
• 20 years later, Speed-the-Plow is timely good comedy [USA Today]
• What viewers thought [Broadwaybox.com]

If you're interested in seeing the play and forming your own review, it's playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theater at 243 W. 47th St. in Manhattan. Buy tickets here

Jamie-Lynn Sigler definitely secured a spot on the Season 5 Joshie Award ballot for Best Guest Star, and not just because she's smokin' hot.

She was hilarious.

From the little hissy fit about not getting an aisle seat (been there!) to being ignored by a flight attendant (been there, too!) to being on a plane in the moments after ending a relationship (yep, been there, too!).

Seeing her trash Turtle in public has a bit of been-there-done-that feeling for longtime viewers, but that's not her fault. Yet, her explanation to Johnny Drama after he apologizes was fantastic.

And that's not the last we'll see of Jamie-Lynn, either. She signed on for a three-episode arc. A little more math: Mrs. Ari, oops, Perrey Reeves, told me on the red carpet at the Season 5 premiere that Turtle gets a girlfriend this season. (Check the 2:50 mark of that video link.)

Hmmm, could it be? I vote yes! (But I'm a bit biased since Jamie-Lynn is a fellow Long Islander and just so happens to be beautiful.)

P.S. Speaking of fellow Long Islanders (actually, shouldn't it be "Writing of . . . "?), did anyone else catch the nod Kevin Connolly threw to his alma mater, Patchogue-Medford High School? That's right, folks. The Raider football T-shirt he wore getting off the plane in the beginning of the episode had nothing to do with Oakland and everything to do with Long Island. 6-3-1 in 'da house!

(HBO Photo)

Last week, we raved about the beauty of that final scene between Vince and Ari on the tarmac.

That set off a huge reaction among Entouragers about what Ari should do re: the studio job at Warner Bros. Entouragers were outspoken, some saying he needs to take the gig to advance the show while others took the diametrically opposite point of view.

After watching this week's episode and learning that Ari will remain an agent, here's why "Entourage" has not jumped the shark yet:

- He pulled off a slick move, slick even for him, in getting his enemy out of the way and his crony in the way.

- Ari righted a wrong after screwing Dana Gordon out of her job at Warners a few seasons ago and then selling the Billy Walsh-Vincent Chase dream team that delivered "S.I.L.O." instead of "Clouds" last season.

- The scenes between Gordon and Gold are among the best back-and-forth dialogue this show has, and by keeping their relationship's dynamic intact, we're in store for more gems on Sunday nights.

- Ari remaining an agent gives Doug Ellin and his team of writers and producers great flexibility for future story arcs. If Ari took the job, there would be very few ways to further develop and explore the relationship between him, Vince and the guys.

- He is extremely dependent on Lloyd and cares about him, despite all the vitriol he spits at him each week. (This week was potentially his best work on Lloyd all season.) Lloyd's displeasure with the studio job suggests that he would not have followed Ari and that would have sapped the show of a key element. It took the show's execs a few seasons to find the perfect foil for Ari's assistant and we can't lose that just yet.

It's not always just a great line and huge mood swing that makes Ari Gold an all-time character in television history. (Although, most of the time it is.)

On occasion, what makes an Ari scene a contender for the weekly Ari Gold Mine (AGM) is his mannerisms when delivering a great line in the midst of a huge mood swing. (Recall his little skippy dance when he fired that agent with the LASIK surgery last season?)

This past episode, the AGM was solidified during Ari's rant on Lloyd explaining what would happen to the agency and Vince if Amanda Daniels (Carla Gugino) became the studio head at Warners.

His little smirk and hand gesture description capped off a scene that began with Babs and Ari's "You cougar-licious little freak."

(HBO Photo)

Wow. That's about all I can say after listening to Ari Gold light up Turtle in the bar at the end of the episode when he finds out that Turtle single-handedly joined the Mile High Club thanks to Jamie-Lynn Sigler.

It was the stuff that makes Best Printable Line worth the time each week.

"Oh yeah, yeah, I'm sure she's got a fetish for guys who are built like a 'South Park' character."

Stunning work, Mr. Gold. Stunning! And it's good enough to give Ari a two-game lead with four weeks left in the race for the Big Knish.

Continue reading "Entourage 5/8: Best Printable Line" »

Putting the guys in coach (except for Turtle) on the flight back from Hawaii flowed well with the "Vince is struggling" theme of the season thus far.

Putting Johnny Drama in between a large Hawaiian man and a crying baby in coach flowed well with the "Subtle but hilarious" theme of Writer Props thus far here at "Entourage: Let's Blog It Out."

Raise your hand if you've been in that position. Seriously, though, can you remember the last time you were on a plane and a crying baby wasn't within two rows of you?

Jeremy Piven makes his Broadway debut Oct. 23 in the David Mamet play "Speed-the-Plow." My boy Ari Mintz scored access to the dress rehearsals and snapped some photos. Click the Piven below to see them.

(HBO Photo)

Be it through a screensaver in the background or a marriage counseling scene with Mrs. Ari, the depth of Ari Gold's relationship with Vincent Chase has almost always been addressed in comedic overtones on "Entourage."

No complaints here as the show is, at its core, a comedy. Sure there have been a few touching moments between Ari and Vince -- at the Malibu house after Mandy Moore dumped Vince again in Season 2 and earlier this season when Ari tells Vince he needs a new start.

But in Episode 7 of Season 5, for the first time in "Entourage's" 61-show run thus far, we saw a true a emotional connection between Ari and Vince.

Ari is ready to fly off to Geneva for the night. Vince is ready to jet to Hawaii for a few days. Their worlds collide at Van Nuys Airport. Ari breaks the news to Vince that he's been offered the Warner Brothers studio head job.

"I think I want to finish what we started, but you gotta do what you gotta do," Vince said to Ari.

Ah, yes, it's been a long, strange trip from that first guest spot on "JAG," hasn't it?

In that moment inside the airplane hangar, Ari's expression is one of sadness and confusion. Ari loves Vince as a person aside from just a client, and he gives him that look like he just told Vince he lost his dog while the guys were on vacation. This is why Jeremy Piven wins Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

Caught up in the whirlwind of a potentially new job as Warner Brothers studio head, a job with a phattie pay raise (no subprime mortage and 401(k) issues in the Gold household) and a sweet jet, Ari gets a dose of his decision's reality. He'd no longer be Vince's agent and couldn't have that same relationship with him.

It's going to make for an interesting five more episodes this season, because as we all know, nothing in "Entourage" land comes easily . . . except making fun of Johnny Drama and finding Vince a girl to sleep with.

Turtle jumped into second place in the Best Printable Line standings after this week, moving one game behind Ari Gold in the race for the Big Knish.

The line was delivered during one of the show's patented walking scenes. Vince was discussing the chemistry he had with Natasha, a model he was about to do a fashion shoot with but had met a while ago on a flight to London.

It was an 11-hour flight, which as we all know, can be very uncomfortable (even in first class) when not sitting next to a woman of Natasha's, um, ability.

"Eleven hours?," an incredulous Turtle exclaimed. "Why didn't you just mile-high it?"

Such a genius question. And in case you're doubting this BPL selection, watch the scene a few more times and pay close attention to Turtle's inflection. So true to his character. So true to any best friend in that situation.

Continue reading "Entourage 5/7: Best Printable Line" »

In an episode loaded with Ari Gold moments, the AGM came early and held up throughout the entire show.

Standing over the coffin at Allen's funeral, Ari confesses: "I hate myself for the fact that even today, I still don't like you."

Pure Ari Gold. Always honest and true . . . in his disgust and hatred for people.

I'm wondering who drew those stick-figure sketches of E having sex with that ultra-tall model that Turtle f