The Entourage Guide To L.A.

David Allan April 13, 2007

 

Hanging with your Hollywood crew

As any agent, screenwriter or producer can tell you, show business is all about perception. So it’s not surprising that one of the best television shows of the last three seasons, which is also hugely popular within the entertainment industry, is about the exploits of a fake movie superstar, his nonexistent talent agent and imaginary entourage.

Trying to discern where the real meets the imaginary is part of the allure of Entourage. Creators Mark Wahlberg and Doug Ellin (very loosely the Vince and E characters) based the show on their move to LA from Southie Boston. Ari Gold, the show’s colorful, hardball agent, is blatantly based on uber agent Ari Emmanuel of the ICM agency. And the show itself has done a very authentic job of putting these characters in very real world Los Angeles—setting key scenes in the places an imaginary movie star and his posse would presumably hang out.

“Given that it’s only showing a small slice of Los Angeles, I think a lot of locals take pleasure in its authenticity. It’s definitely got street cred,” says Miranda Banks, a film and television professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. “And the fact that the protagonists are just as relaxed and casual in places like Spago or Koi as they are hanging out in Canter’s Deli is really appealing. Most people can’t afford a lot of the places on the show, or couldn’t get in in the first place, so the characters are kind of like friendly tour guides.”

Click here to see the Entourage weekend itinerary.

The Entourage producers have always been up-front about their love for Los Angeles -- the show’s official site offers detailed scene by scene location credits (ex. “Alan Gray, Vince and Eric have dinner and exchange ultimatums – The Palm.”). The series pays dutiful homage to legendary industry watering holes like Spago and the Chateau Marmont, but since its protagonists are young Hollywood players, plenty of the locales are age and income appropriate, like the exclusive hot spot the Shelter Supper Club.

But it’s not all sommeliers and bottle service. For example, every coffee house in Los Angeles doubles as a writing studio and a development office. “I go to work every day at a coffee place in Silver Lake,” says television writer Ross McCall. “The place is full of nice people who seem to be doing many things besides working on scripts. There's another place called on Beverly which seems to be more about letting everyone know how much work you have, than actually getting any work done. I’m suspicious about that place -- the people are way too good-looking to be real writers. I've been writing for TV for almost 10 years...we are not an attractive bunch.”

It’s not surprising, then, that the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (which served as Ari’s interim agency) and the Urth Caffe have become regulars on the program. It’s at the Coffee Bean that a desperate Ari meets his client Richard Schiff of “The West Wing,” who offers the immortal line: “Am I with you? We’re in a fu**ing Coffee Bean here, Ari.” And the show has a soft spot for hometown classics. You don’t need DVD residuals to enjoy the pastrami at Jerry’s Famous Deli or the hot dogs at Pink’s.

Inevitably, the show has spawned its own minor tourism boom. The Hollywood Entertainment Museum offers a whirlwind Entourage tour which starts in Hollywood (Roosevelt Hotel, Lucky Strikes Bowling Alley, Arclight Cinemas), then moves to the Sunset Strip (Chateau Marmont, The Standard, Sunset Plaza, Book Soup, Hamburger Hamlet) to West Hollywood (Jerry’s Famous Deli, the Urth Café, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Koi) and concludes on the Santa Monica Pier, the setting of the climactic final scene of Aqua-Man.

But we certainly don’t recommend that kind of tour bus travelling. If you’ve got a weekend to spare, you can easily fit in a few Entourage favorites at a relaxed, Southern California pace. Bring your shades, your Blackberry, and adequate representation.

Click here to see the Entourage weekend itinerary.

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