Entourage - “Unlike a Virgin�?/H2>

Perhaps I’ve been watching too much Mad Men, but part of me can’t help but listen to Ari’s big pep talk to Vince about his future and wonder whether there is some type of meta-commentary about the series itself hidden within. His argument is that Vince is a movie star, not an actor: the reasons he has been successful have nothing to do with his abilities, and as a result he needs to get a big studio picture and return to being someone who cares about the machinations of “the game�?that is the movie industry.

Of course, the general argument I hear about Entourage is that it’s just supposed to be escapist fun, that it’s supposed to be about the escapades of this actor and his friends he’s brought with him to the big show and not about complicated storylines; in other words, in this parallel, it’s a movie star and not an actor. I think the problem though is that, like Vince, the show stopped caring about it: yes, it went through the motions in its fourth season, occasionally resulting in some decent comedy, but the show stopped caring about itself.

I don’t know if the writers were pointing ahead to their direction for the season, but the episode itself did a wonderful job of reminding us how Entourage works best: tongue-in-cheek guest appearances, Vincent Chase growing as a character in a way that’s actually interesting to watch, Eric stepping outside of Vince’s shadow in a way that brings Carla Gugino back onto our television screens, and letting Turtle and Drama be Turtle and Drama without overplaying them.

The end result is a show that feels like its been around the block once or twice, has learned from its mistakes, and just might be ready to combat my fervent skepticism about the show’s future

One of the best parts of this episode is perhaps the most simple: at the end of the day, Vince’s conflict in this episode is entirely self-contained. It isn’t Vince against Eric, and it’s only broadly Vince against Ari - instead, it’s Vince fighting his inner laziness, his pattern of behaviour, in a way that could get him what he wants with a discretion that has been sorely lacking. Now, I wouldn’t call it maturity, as he is really just kind of whining that he can’t get what he wants (And we know from Leighton Meester’s busy schedule on Gossip Girl that there’s no chance of that relationship lasting), but the fact that he even cares about two things at the same time is a fairly huge step for him.

Generally speaking, few people would ever list Vince as their favourite character on Entourage. He’s too successful for the average joes to relate to, too sedate for the people looking for broad comedy, and outside of being pretty for female viewers there isn’t much to really make Vince stand out. What this episode offers up, though, is a much more interesting character: he’s capable of self-doubt, of questioning his own skills as an actor, and even if he falls off the wagon he at least entered into a relationship with Justine with smart intentions. In other words, he’s moving away from being this elevated movie star to an actual human being. This is only really possible, though, when he’s dealing with this outside of a movie, outside of Eric and Ari, and just kind of thinking things through - he didn’t do much of that last season.

Elsewhere, the episode continued some strong trends: first and foremost, it got a lot of mileage out of a little Ari. I like Jeremy Piven’s showcase episodes as much as the next guy, but part of the fun of watching Ari as a character is seeing it in small doses, and how it relates to our central storylines. Ari has been well integrated into the main story in these first two episodes, and part of me wishes that Perry Reeves (Who plays Mrs. Ari) could sit out a few more so that we could get more of Ari kicking, throwing, and unplugging projectors in his efforts to keep his former star client happy.

As for Eric, his little trip to Carla Gugino’s office is certainly interesting - that storyline was something where it was like the show hit eject, abandoning anything approaching a resolution in favour of simply viewing her as a victim of Vince’s usual actions. The Entourage universe is sometimes scarily small, but this episode featured the return of two women in Vince’s life that have continued to succeed and expand in the time since we last saw them. Amanda seems just as cold towards the idea of Vince, but Eric is going out on a limb in a way that does have some dramatic potential - I just hope that the show doesn’t just use it for an eventual implosion in Vince’s life, and lets Eric kind of develop this on his own accord.

The episode even did small, if good, things for Turtle and Drama. There is something very satisfying in the central gag that, clearly, Drama is the crazy one in his relationship - there’s nothing complex about it, but his progressively more accusatory phone messages and his drunken state are how to play Drama (as compared to the sometimes completely random “wacky�?storylines they pawn off on him). Turtle, meanwhile, actually has success with a woman for a change: Jerry Ferrera is just a really endearing actor, and there’s something about seeing Turtle manage to charm someone in his less than smooth ways that works for the show.

Yet, the thing that felt most like the old Entourage was the non-intrusive celebrity cameos. Mark Wahlberg, a co-creator of the show, makes an appearance to shoot the breeze with Ari, but they mostly talk about Vince and not his career (Although a nice reference to “The Truth About Charlie�?/A>). Tony Bennett shows up, and he references Aquaman and plays well in this particular universe. It felt like a show that was gaining context outside of our group, necessary after Medellin: after a season so isolated in a film’s production outside of Cannes, we now have a season where the point is that the outside world has moved on from Vincent Chase. So, we need a reason not to do the same.

I think we have it: personally, I am actively interested to know where his career is heading, something that I can honestly say never entered my mind once they wrapped on Medellin. So, let’s hope for continued progress: from what I’ve heard from critics, the third episode might keep things moving in the right direction.

Cultural Observations

• There’s a definite Pandora’s Box in talking about the Entourage universe, one where Aquaman is the big superhero franchise. While I’m generally a proponent of taking the show quite seriously, the whole question of how successful that movie was, and its sequel, and then perhaps the fate of other superhero films (The Dark Knight), is one thing that the show does not have time to actually deal with: still, I’d love to hear how much they’ve reasoned out in their minds.
• I enjoy a lot of Johnny Drama’s base emotions, but intense paranoia? Maybe my favourite: Kevin Dillon just plays that extremely fast transition from unstable to shambles so well.

(S05E02) "No indies E! Think of it like the Holocaust - never again!" - Ari

Ever since the beginning of Entourage, I've been waiting for this episode. As much as I love Vince, it's been a long time coming for his "I'll do whatever the hell I want" mentality to finally come full circle and bite him in the ass. His career is in the toilet, Ari even admitted that his worth as an actor "remains to be seen," and E is officially taking his own career more seriously. If Vince wants a comeback, then it's going to be up to him and I love that it's been set up that way. Up until now, his failures have been a direct result partly because of his reliance on Eric and partly because of his own laissez-faire, "what will be will be" attitude. If he screws it all up now, it's his own fault.

Ari made a great analogy when he said that, despite Colin Farrell's string of crappy movies, it hasn't affected his career because he's perceived as a movie star. The difference with Vince is that he's perceived as not caring. Vince has continually tried to buck the system and do things his way. He's had one major success (Aquaman) that was then stripped away because of his attitude (Jake Gyllenhaal in A2), along with one success that was bigger in his mind than the public's (Queens Boulevard). It's time to play the game. Enter Justine Chapin.

We haven't seen Justine (Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester) since season one when she was still on The Pure Tour pulling a Britney Spears circa-"Baby One More Time" virginity act. Now she's back after a few failed albums and she's taken the Christina Aguilera approach. Get everyone's attention by being trashy and slutty, clean yourself up, and then do a duet with Tony Bennett. Smart, actually. Her comeback has become the impetus for Vince's. If she can do it, he sure as hell can.

So here's my question - is he just using her? I'm inclined to say yes. Once the press finds out that he slept with her, it can only help him. I think his obsessive puppy love days are gone thanks to the fiasco with Mandy Moore. Nope, sex with Justine is "purely" a publicity stunt if you ask me. You want be a movie star? Start sleeping with pop stars. Play the game.

Now speaking of obsessive puppy love, I can't begin to say how happy I am that the Drama/Jacqueline relationship is over after only two episodes. This was arguably the worst Drama storyline yet. He was borderline annoying. While it was inevitable that he would become the jealous/obsessive one, I still can't help but think that it might have actually been warranted. Just because she was at the hospital with a friend this time doesn't mean that she wasn't still stepping out on him. Although, when a relationship is that long-distance... well, nevermind.

Moving on to E, I'm finding his story to be the best one so far. I get the feeling that LB (Lukas Haas) and Nick (Giovanni Ribisi) are going to be too much for him to handle. They're stereotypical rednecks who drink too much and shoot guns, but they've written a great script - in Eric's eyes. They seem like they could be high maintenance and I don't blame them for not understanding why E can't get them Vince. I probably wouldn't get it either.

However, E going to Amanda to try and help sign them and possibly sell the script is a huge gamble on his part. She no longer represents Vince, she knew better about Medellin, and Ari hates her. There's a lot of bad blood and E working with her isn't going to sit well with Vince or Ari.

More thoughts -

• Can we get Turtle a better storyline? Something like the Saigon plot? "Turtle wants to get laid" is officially getting old for me. And whatever happened to Kelly? Her dad was the one who owned the auto-body shop? Rufus maybe? Whatever, she just disappeared and I thought they had some chemistry.
• Vince was in a Mentos commercial? Did we know that?
• Ari on Vince's potential comeback: "Like Lance Armstrong, but with two balls!" Love it.
• I wonder if Vince will take Drama's advice and start working out? Might not be a bad idea because last time we saw Vince without a shirt on, he kinds of looks like me and last I checked, I'm no movie star.
• Maybe I'm being overly critical, but Nine Brave Souls sounded stupid. Sort of like a knock off of Ladder 49.
• I love how Ari was to blame for Mark Wahlberg doing The Truth About Charlie. Terrible movie.

I think it's safe to say that Vince has finally hit rock bottom. When all the roles he wants are going to Emile Hirsch, Shia Lebeouf, Tobey Maguire, and Leo DiCaprio, it's gotta make him question his value. Looks like we might see Vince doing a little bit of soul searching - you know, while he's schmoozing directors and execs. That could be interesting because Vince has never really had to grovel before and that's essentially what he needs to do now. He better get some knee-pads.

There are few things that are certain in this life: death, taxes, and the fact that that I will laugh uncontrollably whenever I watch David Walliams and Matt Lucas.

I speak, of course, of the creators and stars of BBC's Little Britain, who have taken their subversive sketch comedy act on the road, partnering with pay cabler HBO to develop an American-centric take on their comedy of the absurd with Little Britain USA, which launches on HBO on September 28th.

I was extremely curious (not to mention concerned) to see just how well Walliams and Lucas' bizarro characters would translate across the pond. It turns out that I needn't have worried, as the three episodes of Little Britain USA provided for review prove that the dynamic duo's keenly wicked sense of humor is still sharpened like a rapier.

If you have no familiarity with Little Britain, fret not: there's none needed (though shame on you for missing what is arguably one of the very wackiest comedies of the last decade) though Walliams and Lucas have brought along some of their favorite creations--notably Fat Fighters group leader Marjorie Dawes, PM aide-turned-prime minister Sebastian, unconvincing transvestite Emily Howard, gay Welsh lad Daffyd (he of the catchphrase "I'm the only gay in the village"), surly receptionist Carol Beers, the inimitable Bubbles de Vere, chavvy delinquent Vicki Pollard, and fan favorites Lou and Andy, whose arrival at a local motel somewhere in the heart of America sets off the first installment of Little Britain USA.

This is un-PC comedy at its very best, though subsequent installments better deliver on the comedy's premise than the slightly less successful first outing, which brings Rosie O'Donnell to a local American Fat Fighters meeting, where Marjorie unsuccessfully tries to determine if she's so fat because she's a lesbian... or she's a lesbian because she's so fat.

New characters are rather hit or miss. There's something to be said for ambiguously gay body builders Mark and Tom, whose relationship hits new lows following a post-shower discussion in the locker room, potty-mouthed Southern youth Ellie Grace ("I love you more than porn"), and George and Sandra, a British couple celebrating their 40th anniversary with a trip across the States. But I was less than taken with astronaut Bing Gordyn, whose shtick about being the eighth man to the moon wears very thin about five minutes into an interminably long sketch.

However, I'm completely taken with Walliams' latest creation, Phyllis, who is so in love with her adorable King Charles Spaniel Mr. Doggy that she believes that he is not only speaking to her (in the voice of a husky black man, no less) but compelling her to do all manners of unspeakable and disgusting things, like removing her clothes and climbing into a garbage can in public. Adding to the hysteria brought on by this recurring sketch is the fact that the voice in Phyllis' head is so implacable while the pooch himself is so serene and, well, adorable.

Using a mix of those familiar and new characters, Walliams and Lucas skewer not only the British wackos they are used to eviscerating but also turn their gimlet eyes onto larger targets as well: the American public, poking fun at the celebrity-worship, racism, hypocrisy, and moral outrage that inform our everyday lives. Masking this in body-covering latex and funny wigs, the comedy duo manage to give us an outsider's perspective on what makes this country tick in a way that Tracey Ullman recently tried to achieve in her Showtime series Tracey Ullman's State of the Union but failed to hit the mark.

Playwright George Bernard Shaw once famously opined that England and America are "two countries divided by a common language" but HBO's deliciously naughty Little Britain USA truly proves that it only takes hysterical comedy such as that of Walliams and Lucas to unite our two cultures.

Little Britain USA premieres Sunday, September 28th at 10:30 pm on HBO.

Little Britain USA 

Britain, Britain, Britain. For years now, the Matt Lucas and David Walliams�?BBC program Little Britain has been wildly popular in their native UK, beginning as a radio show, then morphing into a TV series, and finally, a highly successful live tour. That’s all well and good, but everyone knows you aren’t worth shit in the entertainment business until you’ve conquered the U.S. So take your accolades and highly valuable currency and stick ’em where the sun don’t shine, Mssrs. Walliams and Lucas. And learn how to spell your name right, too: It’s W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S.

Oh wait, now I remember: I’m a fan of Little Britain—check out the interview we did with Walliams and Lucas in �?6 here—albeit with some (growing?) reservations. Here’s the deal: The show, a collection of quick sketches with a recurring cast of miscreant characters, is quite funny the first time you see it. But as the episodes continue, and you get a feel for the characters and, more importantly, their catchphrases, Little Britain can become SNL at its least inventive: one-note characters endlessly repeating their catchphrases (“I’m the only gay in the village!�? and/or their one joke. (Look, Andy’s up from his wheelchair and running around behind Lou’s back!)

If the phrases between those parentheses make no sense to you, then you’re in luck with Little Britain USA, Lucas�?and Walliams�?new show for HBO. And at a characteristically British short run of only six half-hour episodes, the show’s gags may not have enough time to wear out their welcome. As a series, Little Britain only had a cult following here in the States, but with a prime, post-Entourage slot on HBO, there are millions of people out there who don’t yet know that Dafydd Thomas is the only gay in the village. Well, uh, we ain’t so good at spellin�?other countries�?names here in the U.S. and A. But HBO did also do this nine-minute sneak preview. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3szcwWgvK0

Aside from a couple specials, Little Britain hasn’t returned for a full “series�?(as they call seasons over there—how adorable!) on the BBC since its third season ended in December of 2005. Lucas and Walliams did a Little Britain tour in the UK in 2006, and the new series for HBO was announced in the summer of �?7. The point of all of this: They’ve had ample time to brainstorm some new characters for Little Britain USA, and the season premiere featured a lot of newbies along with tried-and-true staples of its UK counterpart.

The show opened with the venerable pair of the not-really-wheelchair-bound Andy and his oblivious caretaker, Lou. The duo is one of Little Britain’s one-joke staples: Lou prattles on with someone in the foreground, while Andy gets into all kinds of shenanigans in the background. Repeat. That said, it can be a pretty funny joke, and Andy pissing in a hotel pool made me laugh.

And if you don’t like scatological jokes, Little Britain USA (and Little Britain for that matter) isn’t for you. Without them, there would be virtually no jokes. The premiere episode opens with Andy pissing in a pool, but also includes new character Ellie-Grace (an adorable little moppet with a dirty mouth) talking about cumshots and transsexual porn; a sketch with a sheriff showing off his gun collection with a raging hard-on (which ends with him shooting his load); and ends with Lucas and Walliams in muscle suits as Lucas shaves the bikini area around Walliams�?tiny penis. That doesn’t include this exchange between Rosie O’Donnell and Marjorie Dawes (Lucas), the abusive leader of weight-loss support group FatFighters:

O’Donnell: “I can’t believe how you treat people! You’re absolutely rude, you’re homophobic, you’re racist. You’re meant to help these people, and you keep ridiculing them about their size. It’s disgusting!�?

Lucas: “And licking another woman’s vagina isn’t?�?

Zing! Sometimes Little Britain can slip into “hey, isn’t being gay funny?�?joke routine—witness the cringe-inducingly funny sketch with Lucas and Walliams in the muscle suits—and that, along with the scatological jokes, reminds me of Reno 911!, another show on my regular schedule. I’m not imagining things; co-director Michael Patrick Jann has also helmed Reno 911!. (The other director? David Schwimmer, still apparently in the throes of anglophilia following Run Fatboy Run, in which Walliams made a cameo.)

For the most part, Lucas and Walliams spent Little Britain USA’s premiere introducing new characters. There’s Ellie-Grace; Phyllis—whom I first mistook for Maggie, the perpetually vomiting woman on the British series—a sort of maternal British version of Son Of Sam; Mark and Tom, the muscle-bound dudes with tiny dicks; Mildred, a senior citizen who shares inappropriate tales of her youth with her grandson; Bing Gordyn, the eighth man on the moon; and George and his taciturn wife, Sandra, who have been married for 40 years.

Ellie-Grace seems to have the least potential, as the joke is obvious from the get-go. In each skit, as she and her mother one-up each other by saying how much they love one another, we’ll just wait for Ellie-Grace’s inappropriate comment. I suspect Walliams and Lucas have a list of words and phrases somewhere they can just plug in. This week, Ellie-Grace said “transsexual porn�?and “cumshots.�?Next week: rimjobs and fisting maybe? But I found Bing Gordyn and Phyllis pretty funny. And Marjorie from FatFighters is always good for a laugh.

HBO promises she’ll be around with some others from the BBC series: Dafydd; motormouth delinquent Vicky Pollard; Harvey, a grown man who still breast-feeds; Sebastian Love, the British Prime Minister (!) with amorous feelings for his Obama-esque U.S. counterpart; and Carol Beer, the world’s least helpful receptionist. (Surprisingly, she didn’t cough on the little girl in tonight’s episode, like she usually does.)

Little Britain USA does a nice job of balancing new material for old fans and recycling popular characters to hook newbies. It’s hard to say how long it’ll be until the novelty wears off; that depends on how willing Lucas and Walliams are to expand on their catchphrase-heavy past for something more sustainable. I’ll be watching.

Grade: B

Other notes:

�?IMDB posted a news story claiming Little Britain USA had already angered some gay-rights groups, specifically the “West Hollywood Gay And Lesbian Alliance,�?who claimed “This is the most politically incorrect, offensive and obnoxious material ever seen in this country.�?The West Hollywood Gay And Lesbian Alliance? A quick Google search turned up nothing—save for blogger Tim Curran exposing the whole thing as a fraud. Looks like HBO was trying its hand at viral marketing.

�?…but not too much. You can’t embed any Little Britain USA clips from HBO’s website. If you’d like to see a bunch of them, click here.

�?A laugh track? I know the original Little Britain has one, but... really?

Fire Sale

Anyway, two big storylines dominated tonight’s episode. The less interesting of the two is Drama’s continuing obsession with his French ex-girlfriend, Jacqueline. Remember that huge sigh of relief we all breathed when we thought she had disappeared from the show completely? Nope, she’s still there, if only in Drama’s thoughts. He’s a man obsessed, which is strange considering he’s always been a man obsessed—but only with himself. (I think I liked that Drama a lot better.)

So after the drunken sweet 16 party that ended the last episode, Drama has to wake up, purge and make it to Vegas to appear on The View (in a strange bit of stunt casting). He appears with all of his Five Towns castmates, only to be interrogated by a really weird-sounding Whoopi Goldberg (was she sick or what?) about his ex-girlfriend. He eventually breaks down on TV, as Shauna and Turtle look on in horror. Later—after Drama gets arrested for drunkenly stripping and throwing his pants at a motorcycle cop—we learn that public perception, at least among Lloyd’s friends, is looking up after Johnny’s meltdown. But overall, kind of a weak use of The View, a lame subplot overall, and—maybe worst of all—a signal that we haven’t seen the last of his girlfriend.

In the main storyline, things are heating up. Eric is in control of the hottest script in Hollywood, Smoke Jumpers, written by gun-toting yokels Lukas Haas and Giovanni Ribisi. Though he promised it exclusively to Amanda (and her client, Ed Norton), he’s allowed Vince and Ari to shop it around town in a desperate attempt to get Vince some work. The studio suits—including Tim Matheson (of Animal House, among other things)—love the script (about firefighters) but don’t want to work with Vince in the lead. Matheson does offer Vince Benji In Alaska, though, which could pan out into something reasonably funny.

Some inside-Hollywood stuff actually worked in this episode—Ed Norton wants to buy the script for �?00 against 300,�?meaning a hundred grand up front and 300 grand if the movie gets made. The writers insist on 500 and a guarantee that the movie will get made, which everyone thinks is insane. Ari teaches Eric a lesson—after they almost get in a fistfight, which I wish they would—about keeping your clients in control, furthering the idea that Eric is slowly becoming Ari. (When Entourage ends and we see a flash-forward of all the characters, Eric will surely be a Hollywood sleaze.)

It finally looks like everything is working out, with Vince agreeing to take the second-lead in the movie and Matheson’s character agreeing to buy it for 500 grand. But then Ed Norton swoops back in, offering a ton more money and a studio to back him. The only catch? Vince burned bridges with Aquaman 2, so he won’t be able to take the secondary role. Decisions, decisions. It wasn’t a great episode, but the teaser for next week’s actually looks sorta promising, with the guys heading out to the desert to make some tough choices. Namely whether Vince should take the role in Benji. Ari promises Miss Alaska in his trailer waiting to blow him after every take, so maybe he’ll go for it.

Grade: B-

Stray Observations:

-- Turtle just does less and less every week, doesn’t he? Wasn’t he going to manage rappers or something?

-- Would these dudes really be excited about appearing on The View? They wouldn’t make fun of it just a little?

-- “You’ve never been hit in the face with anything besides a cock.�?BR>

-- That Cold War Kids song that played over the end credits is everywhere this week, it seems.

Tree Tripping

Am I tripping, or was that a pretty damn decent episode of Entourage. There’s no doubt in my mind that it was the best of this season, and I’m pretty sure I know why: It wasn’t about process, it wasn’t really about this season’s main storyline exactly, and there was some dumb, totally believable stuff going on. I think it was just last week that I was bemoaning the lack of Busey, and here we got Eric Roberts to take his place on an adventure-filled, funny episode.

In case you haven’t been following: Vince is about to make a serious decision. He’s been offered $3 million to do Benji In Alaska, and he’s conflicted. He needs the cash, even though Eric and Drama offer to help him along—right before the posse’s cars get repossessed. Ari wants him to take it, of course, saying “You take it for the reason most people in America take jobs, because they need the money!�?The gang figures the best way to make the decision is to buy a bunch of magic mushrooms and head out to Joshua Tree to trip. “Where do we get shrooms? Eric Roberts, where else?�?BR>

So they head to Roberts�?house, where Julia’s crazy brother insists that Ari punch him in his rock-hard abs. (Pretty damn funny moment, actually.) Roberts decides to join them for the trip to the desert, and they take his one-of-a-kind Winnebago.

Let me get the B-plot out right here: Ari bullies Lloyd into dog-sitting (Mrs. Ari is out of town), and Lloyd’s boyfriend bullies him into having game night at Ari’s empty house. Of course, Mrs. Ari and the kids come home early, and there are 25 naked dudes in the pool. Cue sad trombone noise here.

On their way to the desert, the producers of Entourage insist that the nudity clause in the show is honored, so they have porn star Katie Morgan (who also hosts some HBO softcore) and her friends drive by the Winnebago and somehow realize it’s our dudes. And flash their tits. Not that I have anything against said tits, but these tits seemed awfully convenient.

But then they get to the desert and things actually get funny. Eric can’t speak, but gives some great quizzicial looks. Ari gets lost when he goes looking for cell phone reception, then does a pretty great job tripping—especially when he flips out and calls Lloyd for guidance. When those two aren’t meaninglessly fighting (do they ever actually do any work?) they’re pretty great together, and when Piven tones down the bullishness (of his apparently real personality), he actually seems like he might deserve those Emmys. Meanwhile, Vince and Turtle are trying to complete the actual mission: decide whether Vince should do the Benji movie. Everything is a sign about whether they should, and E is charged with keeping track of those signs. “It feels nice to say, maybe that’s a sign.�?“The script floats, maybe that’s a sign.�?BR>

When they find Arnold, who’s been missing as long as Ari, still-tripping Vince sees it as the ultimate sign. Arnold found Ari and Ari found Benji, and they found the boys. So that means they’re doing Benji. Now, to be honest, I think there could be some amazing scenes if Vince were to do Benji. Because this is the typical Hollywood arc, right? The actor fucks himself over, either by hubris or dumb luck, and he ends up doing a piece of shit, then maybe bouncing back. A couple of episodes of Vince freaking out, maybe drunk on the set of Benji, would be pretty amazing. Even better would be some footage of Benji. And maybe they’re gonna get there. But the end of this episode pointed to the idea that Vince actually has some integrity (or maybe $3 isn’t enough). When the gang sees a bunch of firefighters on the road, Vince pictures his face on one of them. To him, that means he has to do Smoke Jumpers, and he wants Ari to convince the studio head (one of the Eastern Europeans from The Wire’s second season!) to try harder to get him the part.

If this season ends with Vince happy and doing the movie he wants to, it’ll be disappointing. But if he goofs off and does some weird shit like on this episode for a couple more weeks, I’ll be reasonably happy.

Grade: B

Stray observations:

-- Drama: “I thought I pulled my cock off. It’s okay, I didn’t!�?BR>

-- Eric: “My mouth won’t talk.�?BR>

-- Turtle says what the audience thinks, finally: “I got no job, no purpose.�?

'Californication': Whore Logic

 There’s a part of me that wants to think that the record producer in Californication isn’t representative of how they all act. In Los Angeles, sadly, I believe Lew Ashby is only the tip of the iceberg, so how convenient that Hank Moody of all people should land gainful employment with that guy.

These Spoilers have been to Hell and back in the slam van�?take it easy on them.

Previously�?Charlie gets fired, Hank gets hired and then there was Trixie, the hooker with a heart of gold.

Hello Sunshine! Hank emerges from the bedroom ready for a little morning delight, but all Karen wants is to tell him about her upcoming day. Before the fun can begin, Mia arrives to take Becca to her first day of private school. While Mia, of course, looks hot in her outfit, Becca can’t quite pull it off. Then again, catholic school and the Goth lifestyle don’t really mix. They’re all gonna laugh at you!

Up in Mount Olympus, Hank suffers through what has to be the worst death metal ever. And it’s old death metal, too. Lew Ashby is there to “produce�?and thinks very highly of himself but not of his “artists.�?All Hank wants is to gain the insights into Lew’s life, what with it being his first day on the job. Lew begins to pontificate on his mystery woman when who should show up but Trixie! It’s good to know record companies will pay up for whatever services the artists need�?even if it means high-priced hookers.

Charlie is enjoying a coffee and trying to land work when he runs into Daisy, the waxed chick from last week. She scored herself a job, but isn’t too happy about the “amateur�?aspect of it. Charlie tells her to stand up for herself, but before he can go into full-pitch mode, her “job�?arrives in the form of a full-size van.

Our favorite agent is in way over his head as the production is about to begin. He introduces himself to the director while trying to angle himself as a potential producer/partner. The director could care less as he’s about to commence shooting. On action, she goes down on the guy, and it’s only now that Charlie realizes what he’s into.

At Sonja’s house, Karen attempts to go over details of the bid when Julian, the creepy boyfriend, appears out of nowhere. He asks for Karen’s wrist and proceeds to read her energy�?and rather accurately, I say. She seems weirded out by the whole thing. That makes two of us.

Hank’s painting Trixie’s toenails and making up for lost time. The chemisty between these two is just fantastic. Even though she’s on the record company’s dime, she proposes a little fun for Hank only. He stalls, which gives Trixie the opportunity to ask why he never called back after the last time. Maybe it was because he was shaken down for cash last time around? The big bad lead singer comes in for Trixie’s services, and since she’s on the clock, obliges.

At school, Becca enters the lunchroom and makes a beeline for the only other awkward kid in there, complete in requisite emo garb. The boy makes it known he’s only at the all-girls school because he’s been suspended from his regular school. They bond in their own weird way�?what with the common love of Guitar Hero.

 Back in the van, we’ve progressed to full on action and Charlie’s loudly wondering when it’s going to end. He laments to Daisy why she’s settling for van action when she herself said she wanted more for her career. The director takes about all he can before he kicks the two out, spelling out o-u-g-h-t. Sans shirt, Daisy is offered Charlie’s jacket while he tries to ascertain where they are. I’m going with the obvious answer and say three blocks from where I live.

Hank’s banging on drums, so it seems he’s found his new high. Lew wonders why Hank didn’t take Trixie up on her offer, but Hank turns it around wondering about his woman that got away. Out of nowhere, Trixie storms away from the bad job the lead singer is/was doing to her. The singer comes out quickly (hee!) and when he disrespects Trixie, Hank tackles him. It’s a regular battle royal until Lew presents his shotgun.

Apparently not content with one offer, Trixie propositions Hank once again. Lew wonders why Hank is turning her down, even though he’s with Karen now. After words are exchanged, including a smartass remark from Hank, the two men metaphorically whip ‘em out and engage in a good old-fashioned wrestlemania. Speaking of Karen, she arrives in the middle of the first round and Trixie catches her up on all their previous shenanigans. Karen is shocked to learn how much Trixie actually knows of her and Hank. Meanwhile, the fight continues with Hank stopping only long enough to find out Karen got the job.

Later that night, Hank tucks Becca in and they trade stories of their respective days�?how he inadvertently pissed Karen off and how she’s instant messaging her new Goth friend Damien. In the bedroom, Karen stops Hank’s advances because she’s having issues over what he did when they weren’t even together. Really, Karen? I can’t imagine what you did with Bill was any better, no matter how legal it might be.

Hank, was it really worth it to get back together with her? Sheesh.

Next time on Californication, it’s a Moody dinner party and everybody’s invited! I don’t think their house is big enough for all the drama. Also, Hank proposes?

ReDOMption 

Why hello there. Josh is out of town tonight, so I’ll be covering his TV Club duties for the evening, as I am apparently the only other person around the office who still watches Entourage. And you know what? The way this season’s been going, I’m glad I’ve stuck it out. While a lot of the show’s comedic premise has gotten pretty tired—Ari is angry, Drama is dumb, Turtle is high—plot-wise, I think the show is more interesting than it’s been since the days of Aquaman.

Vince’s struggles to land another role continue this week (though he and Eric are left mostly out of the dealings), with Ari heading out to the golf course to try to win his client the second lead in Smokejumpers by hustling studio head and supposed hopeless putter Alan Grey. Of course, nothing’s gone right for Ari lately when it comes to Vince—to this season’s benefit—and his plan goes quickly awry when doddering, vindictive producer Bob (Martin Landau) and Alan’s golf pro (Phil Mickelson, who is apparently someone golf fans care about) team up to help him give Ari a solid spanking on the green. At first, this whole plotline seemed like an excuse to have Ari eat more shit and for the writers to spin out the Smokejumpers conflict a little longer. (Doe anyone really think Vince isn’t going to eventually land that part? Hell, I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t somehow finagle the lead.) But we got a big dose of forward momentum at the end, courtesy of the Entourage deus ex machina, who saw fit to strike Alan down in the middle of his victory bitching out of Ari. While this development is indeed a little too convenient, it’s also nicely double-edged. Sure, there’s an ugly silver lining in Alan’s death—as only Drama is willing to point out—but it’s hard to celebrate a victory when there’s a corpse bringing everybody down. Ari especially seems shaken, probably because Alan’s vindictive, angry existence so closely mirrors his own. Life is short, particularly when you’re a rage-filled ball of stress. So, even though it’s looking like things are finally on the uptick for Vince and Co., the way it all went down is a little messy.

Though I guess Ari’s adventure was technically the B story tonight, it felt like the episode’s main thread, probably because Vince and E’s plot felt so unnecessary. Entourage seems committed to foisting the guys�?oafish childhood buddy Dom on its viewers, no matter how much we dislike him. It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing too much more of him though, as he’s now apparently off to prison for 30 years after panicking and running from the cops trying to pull him over for speeding. (His mother-in-law’s medicinal marijuana was in the glovebox and he had priors.) The whole Dom story really just served to highlight, once again, the difference between Eric’s cerebral skepticism and Vince’s blind, inherent trust in people/projects that don’t deserve it. While it was amusing enough to watch Eric shadow Dom after putting up his own money for bail—since Vince can’t afford it—the whole “if you can’t trust your friends who can you trust�?thing is getting a little old.

As usual, Turtle and Drama get the leftovers, in a sitcom-y C-story that had Turtle working as Drama’s assistant for a day. Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of these characters could see how that was going to play out—there’s no way Turtle could put up with Drama’s bullshit without the usual buffer of Vince. Unsurprisingly, Drama is a pain in the ass to work for, and Turtle quits after handily completing every asinine task handed to him. Good on Turtle for showing a little work ethic under all that smarm, but he should have taken his fellow assistant’s advice more literally and actually drugged Drama instead of trying to placate him with pussy. It probably would have been more amusing, and make more sense: Sexual harassment complaints or no, does anyone think Drama would turn down some consensual ass from a hot extra? Unless, of course, he’s still broken up over Jacqueline. (Please God, no more of that.) Thankfully, it seems Turtle won’t be unemployed much longer, as Smokejumpers has almost certainly become a reality for Vince with Alan out of the way. And that’s probably a good thing: Although it’s been refreshing to see the guys flounder for a bit in the wake of Medellin, it’s about time to get back to the movie-star shenanigans.

Grade: B-

Stray observations:

�?Ugh, the title of tonight’s episode is so, so horrible. It fills me with more rage than Ari and Alan have combined.

�?Apparently Eric’s client Charlie (Bow Wow, nee Lil�? is doing well, despite the fact that Eric seems to be a horrible manager, busting out mid-meeting to chase after Dom. In his absence, Charlie managed to land himself a pilot AND get Vince a job to boot. Maybe Eric should be paying him.

�?Alan just brought up Bob’s Ramones script again to fuck with Ari, right? That’s not going to become a thing again, right?

�?Hey look, Ari found the tightest golf shirt in the pro shop.

�?In a weird little coincidence, not 20 minutes before this episode aired, I was re-watching the series finale of The Wire, only to come across both Herc and Spiros tonight in Entourage land. HBO, keepin�?it in the family.

Gotta Look Up To Get Down

The problem with Entourage expecting us to actually care about the characters this season is that the show hasn’t really done anything to earn it. We’ve spent plenty of time hanging out with the guys (as always), but there hasn’t really been a conflict or a solid emotional moment—save perhaps Vince’s questioning of Ari about whether he thinks he can act—to hang anything on. We’re still watching (some of us, anyway), but it’s more for empty fun than out of any real attachment to any of the dudes. (You could argue that was always the case, but you’d be wrong.)

So this big conflict has somehow snuck up on us: Ari has been offered the job as “the studio head�?(do they ever say which studio?), which means fancy jets, tons of money, lots of power—pretty much the fulfillment of Ari’s every Hollywood fantasy. And yet�?He’s conflicted. Ari. When there’s money and personal gain on the table, the man who everyone relies on to be completely self-serving has a moment of doubt, because he doesn’t want to leave a couple of friends behind. This guy doesn’t have friends—that’s part of his charm. He’s a professional asshole. He’s introduced in the this episode talking to the corpse of the old studio head, and then lying to the corporate boss about what the dead man promised him. No one should expect for a second that Ari would turn down this job out of some sort of loyalty to Vince. It’s too out of character. And if he does it, I’ll be mightily let down.

But on to the rest of the relatively dull episode: Vince’s plot was all about him being a knight in shining armor, too. Hired by Dolce & Gabbana to do a one-day, million-dollar photo shoot, Vince runs into an old flame named Natasha, who’s supposed to do the shoot with him. (They never had sex, just “connected�?on a long plane ride. How sweet.) When Freddy, the D&G rep, notices the sparks, he fires Natasha. Instead of just getting over it and tracking her down some other way, Vince forces the issue, eventually confronting Freddy—who, it turns out, just wants to suck Vince’s dick. (Insert Sad Trombone noise here.)

It was all a set up to get Vince and Ari to the airport at the same time—Natasha invites Vince and the boys to Hawaii for a photo shoot, the suit invites Ari and Mrs. Ari to Switzerland to buy a watch company, and they end up in the same hangar. This is where Ari breaks the big news to Vince, who instead of congratulating him and fully expecting him to take the job without hesitation, says, “I think I’d like us to finish what we started together.�?And then, no joke, Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees�?plays as Vince looks wistfully at Ari. Even though he’s in a private plane full of models, headed to Hawaii.

This is all because we’re supposed to believe that Ari not repping Vince anymore is going to be the end of Vince’s career. Haven’t we spent this whole season talking about how Vince’s career is in the shitter anyway? He’s gonna turn down a dream job to maybe revive the flagging career of his favorite client? That seems about as likely as Turtle turning down a hummer from one of those gigantic models. But I guess we’ll find out next week. I hope Ari takes the job, if only to kick the show in the pants.

Grade: C+

Stray observations:

-- Jeffrey Tambor was pretty funny, as was Ari’s scene with the two reality show writers.

-- What’s Lloyd worried about? I imagine he’d either replace Ari, or at least go along with him to the new job.

-- “Tonight I’m gonna fuck something so tall they’ll be scuff marks on my ceiling to prove it.�?

-- I hope Dana Gordon remains in play. I like her.

Summer Heights High: Premiere 

Summer Heights High is a perfectly entertaining, well-made and sharp-witted comedy made for fans of shows like The Office and films such as Waiting for Guffman. The only downside (based on the pilot) is that it still needs to demonstrate how it is much different from such faux-documentary cringe-realism fare.

Imported from Australia, it features the work of comedian, producer and writer Chris Lilley, who plays three separate characters in this would-be reality TV show about the eponymous high school. He plays Greg Gregson, the over-the-top effeminate drama teacher who seems like the Australian Corky St. Clair. He also takes on Ja'mie, a bizarrely confident Queen Bee exchange student sent to the public Summer Heights High from a private school. And he also plays Jonah, a Polynesian problem child, which I found most impressive. The first two characters are instantly recognizable and easily mocked but Jonah is also a new type of character in a comedic show. The quote "Fuck you, sir," kind of nails the role down: you can see why Jonah's a pain in the ass to his teachers but you like him just the same. Lilley embodies the bad-but-maybe-well-meaning kid so well--the mumbled verbal diarrhea, the sprawling limbs, the physical affection with his boys. The other students in the show are played by real kids; it's a testament to both Lilley's and their own acting ability that it doesn't seem totally strange that an actor in his mid-30's is playing someone who pals around with 13-year-olds.

In the premiere we just get to know the school and the main characters and the biggest laughs come from Greg Gregson, who inserts lines into his drama class scenes like "Thank god you're here--grandma's been raped" or, my favorite, "Thank god you're here--where've you been, bitch?" There is a lot of "Check out our political incorrectness!" type humor, especially aimed at Asians and rape and special-ed kids, which I didn't find offensive but just a little played, a bit like the initial formula of the show (minus Lilley's playing three characters).

That said, Lilly is obviously incredibly talented and this show definitely should be put on season pass for anyone who does enjoy the Guest movies, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Flight of the Concords or either version of The Office. Which brings me to the point that this show is Australian and not a remake in the Kath and Kim model. I'd heard from some Australian fans that "Americans won't get it." First of all, screw you Aussies. But moreover, the show got no more lost in translation for me than the British Office: a few phrases may not be entirely clear but the awkwardness and cruelty of high school and the comedic ability of Lilley are loud and clear here in the States.

Grade: A-

Stray observations:

--Some of the similarities between the pilot and Waiting for Guffman are uncanny, like the posters from previous shows that Mr. G's done such as "Downloadin'" and "Ikea the Musical."

--The production quality of the show is quite strong, from the B-roll of the school to the string soundtrack.

--One more program Summer Heights High reminded me of, vaguely, was the British 7-Up series, which could use some yukking up.

High School Musical: Talking with "Summer Heights High" Creator/Writer/Star Chris Lilley

It's been with much enthusiasm that I've been following the career path of Australian comedian/writer Chris Lilley, the creator of the sensational mockumentary comedy series Summer Heights High, which originally aired in Australia last year, earlier this year on BBC Three, and launched Stateside last night on HBO. (I watched the eight-episode series shortly after it aired in Australia and have been gushing about it ever since.)

I had the opportunity to speak with Lilley while he was in Los Angeles as part of his promotional tour of the US for Summer Heights High and was immediately struck by just how vastly different the real-life Lilley is from the three characters he portrays on Summer Heights High. Soft-spoken, articulate, and calm, Lilley couldn't be more at odds with the hyperactive Jonah Takalua, the bitchy Ja'mie, or the egocentric Mr. G.

It's the Mr. G character in fact who has been with Lilley the longest; Lilley first created the failed actor/arrogant drama teacher while doing stand-up comedy ten years ago and he later appeared on sketch comedy series Big Bite. Lilley, however, found the series' laugh track "restrictive" and, went on to create mockumentary comedy series We Can Be Heroes, which introduced, among others, Summer Heights High's Ja'mie King, here up for the prestigious Australian of the Year award. (The series aired in the States and in other countries under the title The Nominees.)

So where did the idea for Summer Heights High come from? "I started to hang out in schools," said Lilley, who began researching a project after the end of We Can Be Heroes. "[The project I wanted to do] was going to be about three different worlds: school boys, school girls, and the teaching staff world. I wanted there to be this interesting contrast between the school boy and the school girl, where there was this [private] school girl that everyone thought was wonderful who was visiting the school. I thought she was a great contrast with the boy that everyone thought was terrible when actually it's the girl that is the nasty mean one and the boy is just a little bit lost in the system. It just went from there. I just hung out in schools for a long, long time, meeting kids and interviewing people and it just came together from there."

How did Lilley get into character as wayward Tongan Jonah Takalua and what was the motivation behind creating his character? "I was really interested in doing something that was quite far from me, that was really different than me and what I was like when I was at school," said Lilley. "I was really excited about it. So I met Pacific Islander kids and just naughty teenage boys, those types of kids and hung around them enough to feel confident to write in the voice of the characters."

Lilley couldn't have created three more disparate characters in terms of age, background, or personality than Ja'mie, Jonah, or Mr. G, so I was curious to know which of those characters did he most enjoy performing? "Jonah was really challenging," said Lilley, "but is the most rewarding to watch, perhaps because he is the most different to me."

As for getting into the character of Jonah, Lilley didn't over-workshop the character, which is surprising given just how much he transforms himself into the Pacific Islander teen, a rare example of an actor disappearing into a character vastly different than himself.

"I don't sort of rehearse stuff, it's not like I put up a mirror and practice physical things," explained Lilley. "I guess I just study the types of people [I want to portray] and I think about the characters a long, long time in the writing process so when it comes to shooting it, it's all there and it's all instinctive rather than thought out."

Adding to this verisimilitude is the fact that Lilley creates an entire world for Jonah that assists in the ornate illusion he's created. "I had the example of the other boys that were Jonah's friends and that was intentional as I wanted to surround him with kids that were just like him in order to help the illusion and you could place him," admitted Lilley. "I knew that physically I didn't really look like a Tongan kid but if you surrounded him enough with the other kids and got the hair right, maybe people would get the illusion. But I find it really strange myself and kind of weird [just how well it worked]."

I have to say that one of the reasons the audience so quickly (and willingly) buys into the illusion that a 34-year-old comedian is playing a 13-year-old Pacific Islander or a bitchy private school girl is the fact that the rest of the cast is made up of non-professional actors. The woman playing Ms. Murray, Summer Heights High's gruff principal, is an actual high school principal and the kids that interact with Ja'mie, Mr. G, and Jonah are actual kids at the school where they filmed.

"It was really complicated to shoot what we needed in such an uncontrolled environment," explained Lilley about the decision to use actual real-life kids rather than trained actors. "A lot of times the excitement of us being there made the kids act strange," said Lilley, relating a story about how the kids began to jump up and down during a shot of Ja'mie walking across the playground.

But often times, the cameras would be far away, more than 50 meters in distance from Lilley, and that created an environment that was "so real" and often confused the difference between reality and fantasy as the cameras were rolling all the time and the crew was surrounded with the teens all the time. In fact, Lilley ended up actually teaching drama classes so they could get enough material for the Mr. G character. And, as for the aforementioned Ms. Murray, "casting" her role was extremely difficult as Lilley wanted someone with a "natural authority" but found that they had to often cut around her as she proved "quite unique" in her true-to-life performance.

So does the end of Summer Heights High signal the end of Ja'mie and Jonah? "I really loved these characters," said Lilley, speaking about his trio of creations for Summer Heights High. "Mr. G [from Big Bite] came back, Ja'mie [from We Can Be Heroes] came back. I'd love to bring back these characters, so who knows."

As for what Lilley will do next, anything is possible, except maybe an extraneous cameo appearance in a Hollywood blockbuster film. "I love to control people's lives, I love the whole aspect of being a performer/creator/writer/producer. (I should just say everything.) I definitely would like to do something along those lines. I am not going to do a cameo in an Adam Sandler movie or something. I've got about five diferent ideas of things I'd like to do and it's just sort of narrowing it down. But I like the idea of playing new characters and bringing back old ones."

Whatever Lilley does next, however, it won't be selling the format rights for Summer Heights High so that foreign networks can remake the local versions of the series. "It felt completely wrong to do," said Lilley. "It was a hard decision to make because there were lots of people around me saying that there's lots of money if you do sell the rights."

"I got flown over here [to the States] to meet all these people and everyone is saying, 'No one in America is going to buy this show. They're never going to watch it,'" said Lilley. "The first thing they said was, 'You need to come here and redo it in an American accent,' which to me was just so wrong. And just the thought of someone else playing these characters, I couldn't handle watching it or living through it, it felt so wrong. Because I'm not just playing them, they've been with me for ages and I think about them constantly, and they're me. I'm the reason they came to life. So someone copying that just makes no sense."

Still, admits Lilley, "I am probably going to be less rich and famous because of it but I just don't want to have to live seeing someone else copy it."

If Summer Heights High is any indication of Lilley's skill and range, I don't think he'll have to worry about not being rich or famous.

Summer Heights High airs Sunday evenings at 10:30 pm ET/PT on HBO. Missed this week's episode? Head over to HBO2 each Friday evening at 8 pm ET/PT for another chance to see Summer Heights High's latest installment.

 

On tonight's episode of Entourage, Turtle wakes up to a phone call from Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who invites him over to her place.  She tells him to keep his mouth shut and just head over but he runs into Vince on his way out.  Turtle manages to make it out of the house without telling him but the next morning, the guys are all curious as to where he went at 4am.  On the set of Smoke Jumpers, Vince promises Verner that he will do whatever is asked of him and tries not to let all of the lines that have been taken from him get in the way of his performance.  While filming a dramatic scene, in which Vince's character doesn't think he's going to make it out of the fire, Verner shouts at him to show passion in his performance and insults him in front of the crew. After Vince asks to be taken out of the scene, Verner goes crazy on him, saying that he never wanted him in the film and then fires him from the project.  Back at the agency, as Ari celebrates Andrew joining forces with him, he receives the bad news that Vince has been let go.  Ari tells the boys not to leave until he gets there to try to straighten things out.  Turtle tries to sneak out of Jamie's place but she asks him to not only stay, but head out to eat with her as well.  When he asks why she called last night, she says that her therapist told her that she's attracted to losers.  Ouch.

Ari big pimps it to Big Bear in style, borrowing Jerry Bruckheimer's helicopter to get there as quickly as possible.  He makes his way to Verner and threatens him if he doesn't put Vinny back in the film but he's not very successful in his first attempt.  For his next move, he gets on the phone with Dana Gordon and tells her to get Verner off the movie.  While with Jamie, Turtle really opens up about his life back home and what kinds of things he would want for his future.  She tries to find out what his real name and we finally find out that Turtle's name is actually Sal.  The two make plans to spend more time together - can this really be a love connection?

Dana organizes a meeting with Verner, Vince, Eric, and Ari but Verner refuses to bring Vince back on.  Ari bluffs and says that Peter Berg (who directed Hancock) will get ont he project and take Verner's place.  Verner goes to John Ellis, who shuts down the movie and threatens to fire Dana.  Vince calls Turtle, who gives up his plans with Jamie to be there for his friend.

 

We have approximately four weeks before Flight of the Conchords invades our small screens with fresh quirky episodes (unless you've already seen the first episode of the second season on FunnyOrDie.com) and I thought it would be fitting to revisit some of the most hilarious storylines from season 1 that made Bret and Jemaine an irresistible comic concoction.

Created by cast members Jemaine Clemaine and Bret McClegnie, as well as James Bobin, Flight of the Conchords is a pleasing mix of deadpan wit, picturesque songs, and silly music videos written into the storylines.  Jemaine and Bret take the center stage as guys from New Zealand trying to make it as a digi-folk band in New York City.  The program's humor is mostly focused on trivial matters, but it also pokes fun at serious topics from time to time with its inimitable approach.  And while most of the plots don't really count as groundbreaking comedy, the witty music videos make this half-hour series worth watching.