Old Man Weldon

7th January 2012

Post with 3 notes

Still Entourage, after all these years…

SEASON 1, EPISODE 1: PILOT

WHAT I REMEMBER: Irreverence, irreverence, irreverence! I remember the pilot effectively establishing a tone of fun and lightheartedness (a tone that would eventually be shown the door, naked and shivering, in later seasons) by having almost nothing happen other than the dudebros sitting around chatting, possibly calling E’s ex-girlfriend a bitch (I know this happens, and at a prodigious rate, but I don’t remember if it’s this season/episode). They go to Vince’s movie premier, Ari is a way bigger jerk than he is in later seasons, and there is precious little Johnny Drama. Because when it comes to Drama, Entourage is like life; less is more.

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: More than I thought, I guess. The overriding arc of the episode is the conflict between Eric and Ari over Vince’s next movie. Two things are interesting (might be overstating it) about this: One is that Ari starts the show almost as an antagonist. He also talks himself up as a serial philanderer, but that gets dropped pretty quickly, probably because Super Agent/Real Person Ari Emmanuelle called Executive Producer/Series Creator Mark Wahlberg and said “Hey, since everyone knows this character is me, maybe don’t have him bragging about fucking every woman all the time.” The second is that Vince really isn’t the catalyst in much of the action of the episode, which I took to mean the show initially is able to recognize that revolving a program around the charisma of Adrien Grenier is a lot like planning on breathing the oxygen on the moon. There isn’t any too be found. But, much like the winking tone mentioned earlier, the acknowledgement that Adrien Grenier reads every line as if it’s the first he’s seen the script is quickly tossed aside in favor of the hotter, much younger notion that he’s a tremendous actor. So the pilot really establishes Eric as the main character, and the only person who stands a reasonable chance of being seen as “relatable” by the audience. He also has an ex-girlfriend who, as I mentioned, the show really wants us to know is a total, HUUUUUUUUUUGE bitch. Why? Because she dumped him, I think. UGH, WHAT A BITCH WOMEN ARE FOR DUMPING GUYS!!!!!!! They also alternate each mention of WHAT A TOTAL BITCH SHE IS with incredibly brazen foreshadowing of the two of them getting back together. I think one of them even says “We don’t want to say she’s a bitch, then have you two get back together in two weeks!” Then, they call her a bitch. It’s as subtle as a character handing another character a gun while saying “DON’T USE THIS GUN BY THE END OF THE NEXT ACT! ALSO, THIS PLAY WAS WRITTEN BY ANTON CHEKHOV!” The conflict between Ari wanting Vince to agree to star in “Matterhorn”, and Eric thinking he shouldn’t because the script stinks, results in them waiting too long and losing out on the part to Colin Farrell. This news is delivered to Vince and Eric, by Ari via phone call (see “Motifs, Recurring”). 

In terms of characters, Turtle is established as the grunt/idiot/horndog (though listening to his incredibly sexually aggressive dialogue again as a wiser man, I’m stunned his character didn’t end up sexually assaulting someone) and Drama is clueless and desperate about his career. Shauna, Vince’s publicist, is listed in the opening credits, probably because the producers assumed she would be a more important character than she ended up being. Ali Larter also has a fun cameo as herself, out on the warpath because Vince either slept with her and didn’t call again, or he killed her family (I missed that particular line of dialogue and can’t be positive about it). Celebrities playing gently mocking versions of themselves is something else that gradually falls away, and simply becomes celebrities playing themselves for real. Because the only thing funnier than a satirical version of yourself, is just yourself. *Yawns*

NOTES: The episode, and thus the series, opens with a shot not of our main characters, but of hot girls. We’re 1 for 1, so far.

With the “I heart cock” bumper sticker placed on the hummer, to embarrass Turtle, we’re also 1 for 1 on gay panic jokes.

Episode ends with game changing phonecall, 1 for 1. 

Jeremy Piven looking pretty thin on top. His relationship with Eric gets warmer as his hair gets thicker.

FROM IMDB: A real riveting Trivia section for this episode -

“In the original draft for the pilot, Vince’s publicist’s name was not Shauna but Sarah Davis, and was described as: “Smartly dressed in a pant suit, Sarah embodies mature elegance. By comparison the guys seem like high-schoolers.” 

“In a draft script, it is stated that Turtle’s real name is Mike Quinn.” 

Tagged: ProjectEntourage