Some characters are well-written but comeplete douchebags, Eric Murphy is one of them. Kate Austen is the trifecta of terrible: Terrible actress - Kate-face, 'nuff said. Terrible writing - the LOST writers could not write a page of dialogue that did not sound trite, contrived and stupid. All I'm asking for is ONE back-and-forth that didn't suck. Terrible character - She would do the wrong thing, every. single. time. That's pretty impressive as far as failure goes but pretty stupid because her character is one-dimensional and always hinders plot progression. Eric Murphy on the other hand: Mediocre acting - but I can't see anybody else playing E, and he does pull off small-man-syndrome exceptionally well (because he is a small man, probably). Terrible writing - but at least the dialogue is the least bit lifelike. The plots and episode arcs could be ridiculous but the dialogue at least sets the tone. Eric is a douchebag from Queens and he talks like one. Great character - I hate E almost as much as El Tee does but I will concede that his character is great. I know other small guys with big egos and the way this douchebag has evolved is pretty lifelike. Asking Sloan to marrying him? That is totally what some douchebag moron would do. Not telling Vince that their movie sucked? Infuriating to the viewer but understandable, because he's just a douchebag with no spine. Johnny Drama on the other hand is a terrible character with no dynamic growth and increasingly bad acting. Give him a damn show and find him a wife/girlfriend so we're spared his stupidly loud misogyny. Kevin Dillon is fucking ugly! -- I still watch Entourage regularly because I enjoy it. I remember on RMMB and now here, the threads were 60% vitriol about how much it sucks. If you hate the show, why do you keep watching it and keep complaining about it? Last episode was fine, and if this was season 3 or whatever, everybody would be raving about it. This Hate-On-Entourage bandwagon is laughable. The guys on FilmDrunk/WarmingGlow/WWTDD always hate on the show and I can't seem to understand why - it's escapist porn for the average guy and it does it's job perfectly. You have the subtle business aspect, the adventure/hijinks angle and the overall I-wanna-be-popular dream most people have. The show has no high-concept but it doesn't matter, it works. When there are bad plots (Medellin, last season) it's the plots and not the structure of the show that is at fault. The structure works perfectly fine, as can be seen in s1, s2, s3. I'd rather Entourage on TV than 90% of other shows because it pulls off what it intends to do correctly.
The thing about Drama is he did fill a role in the show. By season 7 however this role had long since died. I don't read those sites but I will explain my hatred towards this show. It exists because I see all the potential that exists and all the avenues it could have gone down after season 2 and can't but shake my head in disappointment. I feel like a High School coach towards the stoner kid in his class who could have been a superstar.
The ironic thing is...Kevin Dillion is actually a very good actor. He does three things very well: First, when "acting" as Drama he is able to come across as completely out of his element...it's a very meta good-actor-playing-bad-actor-acting-badly. That's much easier said then done. Secondly, he nearly always delivers lines and moments that are impossibly hard to make funny on paper. And lastly and most importantly, he is able to give Drama the kind of undeserved gravitas that makes the character such a joke. Think of the moment during ComicCon when he is strolling through the crowd dressed in his "Viking Quest"; the look on his face and manner in which he's so completely and uncharacteristically confident is a sight gag that ranks as one of the more lasting images of the character, if not the entire series. As for Kevin Connolly...well, let's just say that Eric Murphy is an example of art imitating life. He was a member of Leonardo DiCaprio's Pussy Posse and is by most accounts a textbook example of Little Man Syndrome: Eric Murphy is more fact than fiction in some respects which is why the actor may be so convincing in the role. (I've even heard through Hollywood Actor Buddy who is friends with a former PP'er, that Connolly has gotten pissed off in the past about the number and frequency of short jokes in "Entourage" scripts. The producers/directors response is usually "tough shit".) I am sure I dislike "Eric Murphy" more than I do Kevin Connolly since, unlike E, Connolly is actually somewhat of a success in his own right by virtue of this show if nothing else. Someday, I'll go back and watch the entire series run over the course of a weekend to see if maybe I've just fallen into a narrative trap: perhaps Eric Murphy is simply an uber-protagonist meant to keep the gang moving in some sort of direction by being perpetually in over his head. If so, then that would mean that I've been taking the guy way too seriously...which in turn would make me exactly like E, who takes himself way too seriously...which is a total mindfuck and actually kind of frightening as a I think about it.
Because there once was a show that had real promise of being awesome and now it is plotless and empty. We keep watching it because we watched six seasons of it already, it's the same reason many people continued to watch Hero's. What's really sad is the actors get worse, the writing get's worse, and the chemistry get's worse. When the show first started it gave us a glimpse of the entertainment industry that we had never really seen before, gave us an amazingly unique character (Ari) and plenty of naked hot chicks. Now the show is dependent on Ari and has no sense of self, it doesn't no where to develop a story. Yes, I thought it was a cool plotline to make the Pablo movie, no it is not interesting to have Vince jump out of airplanes, Mandy Moore and Aqua Man kind of cool, Turtle owning a limo business (I guess he is out of school and got a loan from Vince, we are just to assume) not so cool. What is annoying are people who seemed to have known all along that Entourage didn't have much going up and thumb their noses and the people who complain and say "what did you expect?" I can handle that because seasons five and six are so bad but not if they reference it from the start of the series. I continue to vent about it because it makes me feel better, I read similar posts because it's funny when people make fun of E.
I truly enjoyed this episode. Vince is back to doing crazy movie star shit. Ari is hectic and funny as always. Turtle has a viable subplot (tell me he's not gonna be a fucking Coyote). Drama's vanity and unintentional hilarity has finally been pointed out to him in a great way. And Scott Caan is killing it. I'm seeing hints in E's relationship of them developing into something similar to the Golds, only with E being way less awesome.
Can't say I full disagree, but even at the highest point of conflict in the series (Medellin), it was still just a movie star trying to become a movie super star. It was interesting, but in-depth, compelling plot was never the reason this show became popular. That this season's story line is even thinner doesn't take much away, in my opinion. At the same time, I absolutely love what they're trying to do with Drama, and even more so, how they're explaining it to him (you're funny because you don't think you're funny). Just as viewers of Entourage have laughed at him more than with, viewers in Entourage's world can (maybe) do the same. And while it's irritating how Grenier is somehow worse at playing the Vince character than when it started, I've been annoyed with Eric less than usual. So that's nice. I also wish Ari would get his own spin-off show, even while Entourage is on. OH! And by far most important of all, Mark Whalberg and Sloan presented at the ESPY's, and he went off about how "wild and nasty" she gets this season. Very easily could just be hype-ing it up (though she was nodding in agreement), but I prefer thinking that he was hinting at a threesome between her, Sasha Grey, and Turtle's tall blonde driver. Who's with me?
I think they've been divorced for a while. Go figure. As for the episode, I did think it was a step in the right direction but I'm starting to realize I kind of miss the old gang. This new loose association of friends just feels...forced. First off, I thought Comedy Drama was a great concept with poor execution. Of course Drama thinks he's a serious actor even though his acting resume includes four stints as "dead body"; but we've known that forever. But something about this storyline feels like it's cutting around the edges and not using the character to his full potential. It just started though, so I'll wait and see. Secondly, Coyote Turtle? Bad fucking idea. I'm talking definitely Landry-&-Tyra-Murder-Plot bad. I'm talking probably Nikki-&-Paolo bad. I'm talking maybe even fucking Dom bad. Lastly, Adventure Vince and Sidekick Scott make for an interesting couple if for no other reason it bugs the shit out of Eric. Speaking of which, instead of shoving E in the chest he should have reacted to his "No one brings Vince projects except me" with a rundown of Eric's track record: Matterhorn = passed up Queens Blvd = fail Aquaman 2 = fail Medellin = epic fail The Ramones = fail Untitled Gus Van Sant project = fail Smokejumpers = super fail Meanwhile... Head On = Ari Aquaman = Ari Gatsby = Marty Scorsese with an Ari assist Ferrari = not sure, but let's assume it wasn't Eric The moral of the story is: you're too good for him, Sloan.
Queens Blvd was what convinced Cameron Vince could pull off Aquaman, wasn't it? And Medellin sucked because they ended up with Walsh instead of Haggis and Vince wouldn't listen when Eric said it sucked. The Ramones fell apart because Ari was more concerned with fucking with Bob than getting the deal done, remember? Smokejumpers fell apart because the director was insane and they completely rewrote the script. And didn't Gus Van Sant showing Scorsese Vince's scenes from Smokejumpers get him interested in Vince for Gatsby? That wouldn't have happened without E begging Van Sant to watch it in the first place. Most of the problems in Vince's career have come from Vince being a dumbass or Ari being a tool. We're meant to think that Eric is the fuckup, but he's usually shown to be right in the long run. Sloan is way too hot for him though.
Well if you want to argue that Eric Murphy is brilliant because most of his shitty plans result in accidental success you'd have a point. But I don't know how anyone can claim that's a legitimate skill. But the fact of the matter is, as a movie star's manager, he hasn't delivered one deliberately successful project. Head On - we can assume Ari made this happen, not Pizza Boy Aquaman - again, Ari pushed for this role Gatsby - all credit here should go to Gus Van Sant for not kicking Pizza Boy in the nuts for being a pest, but I'll admit he probably wouldn't have seen the dailies if not for Eric Ferrari - we don't know who gets full credit for this presumed hit, but barring evidence to the contrary let's assume Eric had nothing to do with it As for the less successful projects Eric was directly involved with: Queens Blvd. - a movie that never got released and earned Vince a measly $60,000 payday immediately after banking $2,000,000 for Head On Medellin - Executive Producer Eric Murphy's film sold for $1 I Wanna Be Sedated - it was Eric's misplaced loyalty to his non-client Bob that got the film shelved in the first place, ruining an otherwise impressive effort by Ari to get the movie sold with Vince attached Smoke Jumpers - a movie Vince only got in the first place because Ari killed Vondas playing golf...admittedly not entirely his fault, but seeing as the film didn't get made it cost half of his entire talent stable (Nick and L.B.) a $1,000,000 paycheck Lil' Bow Wow's career - ran Eric's record for talent management to 1 win, 3 losses (not counting Bob Saget) In real life, instead of continuously failing upward Eric Murphy would have been fired years ago and ended up wiping down tables at Troy Duffy's bar.
I think it's been shown that E has strong instincts, but lacks the skills and the wherewithall to make victories happen by the sheer force of his own abilities. If you ask him to make a gut call, he'll usually give you the right one, but if you need him to move and shake things in hollywood, you're not going to get Northridge.
One of the best parts of last season was watching Mr. Murphy Group attempt to strong arm a network into taking Bow Wow back onto the show he created. The differences between Vince's agent and manager were never more pronounced. And as for instincts, I'd say he hit-or-miss. After all, he did need Bobblehead to point out that Bow Wow wasn't even funny to begin with.
Scott Caan is eating this show up. They should be making him the main character and get rid of E NOW.
In disagreement with most of you I'm starting to think this season is going to be more solid than all others in recent memory. However, tonight's episode was way too predictable. A blind man could have seen Alex would use turtle and the whole ping pong debacle. I do agree the chemistry has gotten WORSE and I have no idea why.
You know, the idea of holding a celebrity's friend/relative hostage for ransom has actually happened in real life. I would love to see Marvin sit down with Vince and do a cost/benefit analysis on whether or not Turtle is worth it.
Serious? What about when Stamos is at the door and Drama comes running around the corner screaming like a little girl for Vince? I skipped back to watch that again. Shit, I thought the entire Stamos plot was pretty fucking funny, what with him ignoring Drama, wanting to buddy up with Vince (not a big change for the show, I know, but still funny), and on top of all that, taking ping pong way too seriously, to the point he gets lessons from tiny Asian girls. Again, not a brilliant plot line, but funny in an absurd way, even just for the fact they could both play ping pong so well. And Scott Cann's character is totally compensating for the black hole-sized douche that is the character E. Can't wait for the extended episode dedicated to Sloan and Sasha Greay scissoring. Is that next week?
If Ari does not bury Dana Gordon I will be pissed, she could hardly be a formidable foe for him. Drama running after Stamos? I was like meh, same old same old. Scott Caan is brilliant and the eye candy on the show has been magnificent. If I died and went to heaven it would have been to the party Turtle just attended, I love Latin women. I loved the Tom Seizmore cameo, his career is so in the toilet they would barely let him be in the shot. However bad this season may or may not be we have Bob Saget coming up so that will guarantee to entertain. One thing I can't stand is how they have to make everyone in Hollywood peculiar, I suppose it would not be interesting if they were normal everyday guys but sometimes they go out of the way with the odd behavior. Besides to have a better or weirder Cameo than Gary Busey is not possible.
Dana Gordon? You mean Lizzie Grant. I really have liked this season. Turtle's plot is a very good one and I think we can all agree that Scott Caan has definitely been the best part of this season (to go along with the usual Ari antics). Call me weird but I'm actually excited to see them get back into a project again. I also agree that Stamos getting ping pong lessons from tiny asian girls was incredibly over-the-top funny. Not to mention tiny asian girl looked pretty damn good once she put that dress on.
I feel like I am getting to far ahead of myself with this show. I still wonder about Turtle getting into the tequila business and its actual motivation behind it, I really think its drugs. I know they said its legal business but come on look at that house and the car they pulled up in. Just seems like a little much for a man who is only interested in getting Vince to sponsor tequila. The other is Scott Caan's character I just don't see him giving up the fight with E that easy. I think he has a motive to try and push E out and get Vince. Even E's assistant said it "Keep your enemy's closer". It seems like things are going to go pretty smooth for Drama though but we will see.