Entourage: Let's Blog It Out

Pretty neat stuff here, my dear readers.

Props to Blog reader lainiek for the tip on this. It's the opening scene to an episode, presumably the Season 5 premiere.

"Medellin" doesn't fair so well on Phillips and Roeper. More importantly, Long Islanders and New Yorkers (and Charles Wang) will love the product placement involving E's T-shirt.

Seriously, how much longer until Sept. 7 at 10 p.m.?

I thought I'd be OK with having my summer Sundays free, but now I'm just a grumpy old man every Sunday at 9:59 p.m.

[Kevin Dillon (HBO Photo); Phil Mickelson (AP Photo)]

So, there I was, staring at the HBO press release, the celebrity guest star paragraph to be precise.

Three words jumped out at me: golfer Phil Mickelson.

Sure, I had already written about his appearance. But now I started to think more, and these wirds jumped into my head:

In real life, Kevin Dillon is the son of a golf coach and knows how to play golf. Mickelson is notorious for collapsing on Sundays at major championships. Johnny Drama has a meltdown every other scene.

So here's my uneducated guess (I have no inside information on this script, which is why this post is field under the Fun & Games categories) as to what we might be in store for:

Who would win the match? Tough call. Who would have the bigger meltdown? Again, tough call.

Let's hear your thoughts on it.

HBO confirmed in a press release on Thursday what we have known for a little while: "Entourage" returns to the airwaves on Sunday, Sept. 7.

My apologies for getting this to you on Friday, but I was swamped with all kinds of other things on Thursday. I know, I know, "Entourage" should take preference over those things, and it usually does, but since this wasn't too earth-shattering news for regular readers, I figured it would be OK.

Plus, most of you should have been out partying on Thursday night and then stumbling into work late on Friday, so now seems like the right time.

It's a 12-episode season which will take us up to Thanksgiving. It picks up where it left off with the boys struggling to survive after sinking all their money into "Medellin."

Guest stars include Leighton Meester, who returns as Justine Chapin. Also on the previously reported guest star list: Bow Wow, T.I., Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Phil Mickelson.

Add to that list Fran Drescher, Lukas Haas, Kevin Pollak, Martin Landau, Paul Ben-Victor, the cast of "The View," Mark Wahlberg, and these two gems -- Eric Roberts and Tony Bennett.

An insider on Entourage: Let's Blog It Out's non-existant payroll who has read most of the scripts so far says we're in for some outstanding episodes this year.

If someone out there has the skills to build me a countdown ticker, I'll gladly post it on the blog. I'm fired up, folks. Get ready.

Victory!

- La Monica

(Getty Images)

Blogger compadre Verne turned me on to this little nugget from E!: Smoking hot Jamie-Lynn Sigler has a three-episode arc on "Entourage" this coming season.

Early reports have the pride of Jericho (the Long Island town, not the defunct TV show) playing herself and a potential love interest on the show.

Now comes the fun: Guessing the plot line.

I have no inside information on this (at least not yet), so I'm just taking a shot in the dark and letting my mind roll with it. I suggest you do the same in the comments field.

I'm guessing her storyline is intertwined somehow with the New York episode. It's too obvious for her to get with Vince, and given her image as anything but a Hollywood floozy, E seems like the logical choice.

However, that's almost too obvious. Consider Doug Ellin's history here. Most guest spots somehow make fun of themselves one way or another. So, the guess here is that Turtle will visit the "Meadow Lands" in some sort of late-night rendezvous at the W Hotel or The Surf Lodge in Montauk.

Again, it's a crazy scenario but anything is possible. Let's hear what you got.

(AP Photo)

Thanks to Blog reader "entourage fan" for posting this link to a Kevin Connolly interview. In the interview, E mentions that Entourage is doing a New York episode.

Finally, the boys are coming home and it's about damn time!

Any chance they read my script idea from two seasons ago about a New York homecoming episode? I doubt it highly, but it's fun to dream the dream.

According to various Internet reports, Leighton Meester of "Gossip Girls" fame will take another turn as Justine Chapin on "Entourage" this season.

T.I. is also set to do a cameo on the show this season, which no doubt will help album sales of his sixth solo effort "Paper Trail," which hits stores Aug. 12. Well, maybe it will also boost illegal downloads.

Time for plot guessing with these two cameos. My random guesses are below, read them and then post yours.

For Leighton Meester: The obvious call here is something to do with Vince and a bed (or a coat room), but I'm going in the other direction. I say Drama lands a date with her in some kind of reverse cougar plotline.

For T.I.: T.I. teams up with Rufus, who after installing home audio systems and repairing cars, is now a club owner. Turtle befriends T.I. backstage at a concert, gets on to his tour bus and actually reveals his first name to land a girl. That girl turns out to be T.I.'s sister and Turtle gets thrown off the bus.

Again, these are just random guesses. Your turn.

- La Monica

By Mark La Monica

This writers' strike doesn't seem to want to end it, does it? It's as if Billy Walsh were in charge or something.

Initially, most of us didn't really care about the strike since we all figured that once the inventory of new shows ran out, they'd settle the strike and maybe we'd have a week or two of reruns.

That was a few months ago. Now, its time to officially begin worrying if this WGA strike will affect Season 5 of "Entourage."

Adrian Grenier and Rex Lee have already said they're not sure if there will even be a Season 5 this summer. Typically, all the scripts are just about written by now and shooting would start in February.

But Doug Ellin and his crew aren't allowed to write during the WGA strike. (Whether or not they have been writing or at least thinking about script ideas is known only by them.)

Co-executive producer Rob Weiss said last August that they planned on sitting down to discuss the new season in September. How far those talks progressed is again known only by those in the room.

Even if all 14 episodes of Season 5 have been written, they can't be shot until the strike ends, if it ends.

How much longer can the strike go on before HBO moves along with its Sunday night summer programming?

There are other questions at hand, too:

* If the strike ends soon, how quickly can the Entourage crew mobilize without sacrificing show quality?

* If the strike doesn't end soon, how quickly can the Entourage crew mobilize without sacrificing show quality?

* Would the perception and enjoyment of the show for viewers suffer by airing in the Fall instead of summer when we all have a more care-free attitude.

Yeah, I'd say it's time to start worrying. Perhaps the WGA and studios should turn to Jeremy Piven in full Ari Gold mode to mediate. We know he'd get the deal done.

By Mark La Monica

And it's Jessica Biel in the . . . with the . . .

By Mark La Monica

With 22.4 percent of the vote, Jessica Biel won via plurality. (See the full results)

The people have spoken . . . and they've said they want to see a smokin' hot chick on Entourage next season.

Now for the real fun. We've created a few storylines incorporating Biel into the show. It's up to you to pick your favorite and you've got one week to do it. The deadline is noon on Sept. 6.

A quick refresher: I know the "Entourage" creators have read this blog in the past. I know they'll be sitting down in September to write Season 5. I don't know if they'll read this blog then. But who knows? Maybe we'll shape a future episode. Maybe we won't. Either way, at least we can have some fun now as the show goes into hiatus for the next nine months.

Here are the scenarios. Read, then vote.

Just a reminder to vote in out "Pick a Guest Star for Season 5" poll. You've got until noon on Thursday (Aug. 30) to cast your ballot.

Vote here