We’re all going to care soon. HBO’s “Entourage” (debuting July 18) is that rarest of beasts–a terrific new sitcom. “Entourage” follows Vince and his pals as he becomes a movie star and they hitch a ride on his fame. There’s his obnoxious agent, Ari (Jeremy Piven); his inexperienced manager, Eric, who’s actually Vince’s childhood friend from Queens, and Johnny, Vince’s half brother whose own acting career hit the skids after he was fired from “Melrose Place.” (The fact that Johnny is played by Matt Dillon’s brother is a nice unspoken joke.) At a time when TV has lost so many good friends–the gang at Central Perk, the ladies of “Sex and the City”–“Entourage” may be the next great buddy show. Perhaps that’s because it was co-created by a man with a real Hollywood entourage: Mark Wahlberg. “The show is very authentic,” says Wahlberg. “It’s all real.”
Just how real? Vince is a sweet-tempered city guy who fires golf balls off the roof of his mansion and travels everywhere with his homeboys. Funny how Wahlberg owns a Rolls and a backyard driving range, not to mention having a brother, Donnie, whose acting career has never come close to his. “There are bits and pieces of me, which is cool, but I don’t live the lifestyle these guys are living,” says Wahlberg. Such as? “All the women he’s with, the bevy of beauties. There have been some women in my life, but this guy is really living the life.” “Entourage” originally copied Wahlberg’s gang more faithfully, but HBO didn’t love the tough-guy stuff. “Especially in the early years, there was a lot of physical violence between us. You’d punch somebody out and make up afterwards,” says Wahlberg. “We wanted regular guys who everybody out there can relate to.” Well, sort of regular. Wahlberg also borrowed from other celebs. “We’ve got some Clooney stuff in there,” says Wahlberg, who starred with him in “Three Kings” and “The Perfect Storm.” “He’s got his crew. Everybody’s got their crew. I’ve always said, you’re either with the entourage or you’re against it.”
No one would hang with “Entourage” for long if it were just about a bunch of guys on the make. The show works because you really feel for them, despite the fact that they’ve got a lifestyle they don’t deserve. There’s a sincerity and sweetness that makes you forget, or at least forgive, their faults. Vince can’t be bothered to read scripts, but he’s so trusting and so ego-free, you don’t hold that against him. Johnny Drama could easily be annoying–after all, this is a guy who goes around reciting “The Vagina Monologues.” (“It’s a gender-reversal exercise, bro,” he explains. “That’s what being a great actor is all about.”) But he believes in himself so much, you like him despite the fact that he’s constantly basking in his half brother’s spotlight. These are the rare TV characters who feel an awful lot like real people. “It’s more than Hollywood. It’s about friendship,” says Doug Ellin, who created the show with Wahlberg. “Everybody’s got a friend who’s doing better than them. Everybody knows the brother or sister who’s the unsuccessful one. I had 20 friends from elementary school at the premiere, and they were all like, ‘I know who Turtle is!’ "
You’ll recognize a lot of other people in the show, too. Wahlberg and company have used their considerable connections to enlist a slew of cameos–Luke Wilson, Larry David, Val Kilmer–another way “Entourage” keeps it all feeling real. There’s a great party scene at Jessica Alba’s house, and another on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, during which Vince has sex in the greenroom moments before going on the air. So far, Wahlberg has limited himself to one cameo in the pilot. “We were nervous,” says Ellin. “We didn’t want to just plaster him around.” Besides, he’s busy. He supervised the casting and all the scripts. Next season he’s planning to write and direct an episode. And then there’s fielding requests from other actors in town. “After we shot the pilot, there was a lot of talk about it. We started getting phone calls from people saying, ‘Hey, you want to give me a part in the show?’” Wahlberg says. “We had to tell them we’d figure out something for next year.” It’ll probably get worse. Everyone’s going to want to roll with “Entourage.”
