Johnny Chases Old Memories

OK, I was 24 hours late in watching Entourage this week, but did want to mention Kevin Dillon's nods to his career highlights at the end of the episode. Crushed by bad reviews for Five Towns, his John Chase character hurtles his gigantic convertible through the Arizona desert. As tears stream down his cheeks, the Doors' "When the Music's Over" blares on the stereo. Dillon of course played Doors drummer John Densmore in Oliver Stone's '91 biopic of the band.

A little later, he gets a cellphone call from the boys back in L.A. The overnight ratings are in, and Five Towns is a smash. Johnny Drama falls to his knees, looks to the heavens, and exclaims, "Thank you, God!"–his character Rooney's catchphrase in the '85 Catholic school coming of age pic Heaven Help Us.

The episode ends as Johnny Drama tips his cap to his own career–arms shooting skyward as he belts out "Victory!" from Viking Quest.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.