him Vince wants them to talk instead. Ari then tells him that Colin Farrell took Matterhorn. When Eric breaks the word to Vince he says, "I hope you know what you're doing, pizza boy." Production The pilot was written by series creator Doug Ellin and directed by David Frankel. On reading the script, Frankel was concerned that Ferrara was too young for the role of Turtle, Dillon was too old to play Drama, and Grenier was very unlike Wahlberg/Vince. Furthermore, Connolly was ambivalent about his part. However, Frankel was impressed by the group once all together and felt that Connolly's sincerity boosted the show. Ellin's first version of the script had the show beginning at the movie premiere, with no-one liking Vince's acting but none willing to tell him. HBO executives rejected this version, and urged Ellin to make it more upbeat. Mark Wahlberg's entourage in this episode includes the real life Turtle, Eric, and Johnny. Reception The pilot was initially broadcast on July 18, 2004 in the United States on HBO. Phil Gallo of Variety was critical of the episode, citing what he perceived as a lack of subtext and bland characters. However, he praised Piven's giving Ari Gold "an intensity and a moral void that gets better with each episode", and foreshadowed what he saw as better writing by episode 3. Conversely, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle cited the show's and characters' soullessness as reasons the show is entertaining. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an A−, describing it as "excellent, dirty fun", praising the casting, in particular Dillon and Piven. Frankel received a 2005 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for his work on this episode. Music credits "Bang Bang Boom" by Drag-On "Grown Man Sport" by INI "Rocky Mountain Way" by Joe Walsh "Eminence Front" by The Who "Hey Ya!" by OutKast "Hey Mama" by Black Eyed Peas "Fire (Yes, Yes Y'all)" by Joe Budden "Wanna Get to Know You" by G Unit "Oooh." by De La Soul feat. Redman "Barely Holding On" by Sean Anthony "Cold Hard Bitch" by Jet "Lucifer" by Jay-Z References External links "Entourage" at HBO.com American television series premieres 2004 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Mark Wahlberg Entourage (American TV series) episodes