By Mark La Monica
Lawyer friend Steve called me Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. to discuss the show. This is a normal occurence. This time, he wanted to discuss the coming attractions.
I've known this guy since we played on the same travel team in PBC soccer 23 years ago, but this may have been the first time I was seriously ticked off at him. I had to explain politely that he should cease speaking unless he didn't mind talking to a dial tone.
He knew better than to attempt to discuss coming attractions. I don't watch them. That would ruin the next six days, 23 hours and 30 minutes. I won't log onto HBO's site after Thursday for fear of seeing a brief plot summary or a photo from the episode. (Although, I have bookmarked the Parapazzi Chase game. Try it here if you haven't yet. It's a great way to kill time at work.)
I don't even take full advantage of the perks this job provides. Since July began, I've had access to the plot lines for every episode this month. Can't read them. Won't read them. Why destroy the one 30-minute block of stress-free, enjoyable life each week? It takes extreme discipline. After the strength of the past three episodes, it's getting harder and harder to not look. I may need therapy.
"Entourage" is one of those shows you don't TiVo until it starts. (Note: I love how TiVo was originally a noun but has revolutionized the way we watch television so much that it has become a verb.)
Setting your TiVo or DVR to record this show in advance of Sunday nights at 10 p.m. should cause those machines to immediately delete their hard drives and unplug itself from the wall, just to teach us a lesson. Even worse, Cablevision should send those who pre-record the show a pair of Knicks tickets. That'll set people straight real quick.
Re-arrange your schedules. Leave a little earlier from your summer house. Heck, stay later and watch the show there.
Just be in front of your television at 10 p.m., then you can hit record. It's for posterity and future viewing, not a catch-all for incomptence.
Comments (1)
Mark, I get your point, especially how it works for the average viewer, but you might want to consider how watching the coming attractions and enjoying the perks you get as Entourage blog writer could add another dimension of your show analysis. One thing I personally find interesting about shows or movies commenting on the television/movie business is how they present themselves. After all, Ari’s concerns and considerations about marketing his client have to stem from the producers’ own experiences, right? So, do the coming attractions and other publicity for Entourage, as compared to what Ari does to promote Vince, suggest anything about our favorite agent’s competence? The same could go for the way Adrien Grenier and the boys talk about the show in public as compared to Vince on the show. Just an idea if you wanted to look at it from that angle.