Culture

HBO's Entourage Began From What Its Creator Called the 'Worst Idea'

By Febspot • 1 min read
HBO's Entourage Began From What Its Creator Called the 'Worst Idea' — Collider
Source: Collider

Since the turn of the millennium, HBO has been linked with prestige television, and one of its 2000s achievements was the raunchy showbiz comedy Entourage. The series was loosely based on the rise of Mark Wahlberg's career — an idea that creator Doug Ellin initially dismissed as, "That's the worst idea I've ever heard." The pitch came from Wahlberg's manager, Steven Levinson, who left Ellin to ruminate on the loose premise.

Entourage follows movie star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) as he navigates Hollywood with his circle: half-brother Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) and agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Running from 2004 to 2011 across eight seasons and 96 episodes, the show leaned on cameos and recurring turns from real-life stars, and episodes often depicted film sets, studio negotiations, debauchery, and various financial and romantic troubles.

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