If everything old is new again, then there is no finer example on television than "Entourage." Cutting edge, you say? Hate to burst your bubble, but it's "The Beverly Hillbillies" nearly half a century later.
For those who don't get HBO, "Entourage" is the wickedly funny series regaling the antics of dreamy-eyed A-list movie star Vincent Chase, cinema prince - by way of Queens - of LA and his entourage of older brother, struggling actor Johnny "Drama" Chase, best friend and manager Eric "E" Murphy, and driver, "Turtle." Much as the Ozark hillbillies of yesteryear struck oil and headed for Beverly, so too did Vinnie Chase, striking cinema gold and bringing his homies with him, the ensemble of which uncannily hearkens back to the Clampett clan.
Vince of course is Jed Clampett. Wealthy, albeit new money, he's the same guy he's always been, right down to his attire. Just like Jed, he is unfailingly courteous, averse to conflict, principled, humble and seemingly in tune with some benign truth to which the others seem oblivious. Savoir-faire accorded each, but with a country twang for Jed.
Resident buffoon Johnny Chase is a near replica of Jethro, the brawny, quick to anger, insecure dim bulb of the lot.
Turtle is Elly May, each the easy-going animal lover. While Elly May had her "critters," Turtle hangs with his lovable rottweiler, Arnold. Neither character possessing a mean bone in their body.
Then there's "E," i.e. Granny reincarnated. Small in stature but not in heart, as Granny was born to play bad cop for Jed and kin, so too will Eric if push comes to shove, his Irish pluck every bit the carbon copy of shotgun-toting Granny's twitching finger.
But the parallels don't end there, for you can toss in the mansions in which both foursomes reside as well as each show's opening montage, the junk-strewn Clampett heap barreling down a palm-lined Beverly Hills thoroughfare, while "Entourage's" four young dudes cruise Sunset in open convertible.
Just as Vince has his comically ruthless agent, Ari Gold, so did Jed have Milburn Drysdale, President of Commerce Bank. And where Mr. Drysdale would sell his soul to hang onto his champagne client, so too does Ari dread losing the key stallion in his stable, Vincent Chase. As played by the spectacular Jeremy Piven, Ari fears no one, excluding of course his spouse, "Mrs. Ari," mirroring Milburn Drysdale's never-ending worry that he will incur the wrath of his beloved wife, Margaret.
Easily the most entertaining relationship on the show is that between Ari and Lloyd, the latter the long-suffering assistant to the uber-caustic agent and a near perfect match for Jane Hathaway of "The Beverly Hillbillies," each toiling in jobs beneath them, each enduring a chain of petty humiliations, but each paradigms of unswerving loyalty and never once straying from cordiality to the champagne client, a courtesy we sense would be nobly extended even if said clients were more of the beer variety.
Now I am not suggesting even the faintest whiff of plagiarism toward series creator Doug Ellin, a mere toddler when the Hillbillies' TV run came to an end in 1971. I'll go further. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the 42-year old has never even seen an episode of the sixties comedy classic. What I am saying is that there exists a dynamic tension between certain characters that lends itself to inherently dramatic - or even comic - situations. Doug Ellin clearly and cleverly thought these through, much in the same way “Hillbillies” creator Paul Henning did decades ago. For example, it's simply funny to have an otherwise fearless pit bull of an agent deferring time and again to his classy, world-savvy wife, much as it is interesting to have this same vulgarly homophobic unpinned hand grenade concede that by far the best and most dedicated assistant he has ever had is openly gay.
These are among the reasons why "Entourage" works so well and why for six seasons I have so enjoyed every episode, watching some of them repeatedly. It is in fact the only show I watch. But if you want to label it "original," well, as they say: "There's nothing new under the sun." And even stars like Vinnie Chase get lost beneath its glare.
BILL
No comments:
Post a Comment