[6] To be more satirical of the Hollywood lifestyle, a fictional approach was chosen rather than a straight documentary in order to keep the content light, and avoid directly depicting Wahlberg's violent past.

[4] Vincent Chase was envisioned to be more similar to Wahlberg, but it was decided that some of his and his friends' activities (particularly some elements of their criminal past) would not work well on television.

Appearances include Peter Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Curtis Jackson, Tom Brady, Jessica Alba, Gary Busey, Larry David, Scarlett Johansson, James Cameron, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorsese, Matt Damon, Eminem, LeBron James, Mark Cuban, John Cleese, Phil Mickelson, and many others.

Signed on is indie director Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro), who comes into immediate conflict with E. Eventually their differences are put aside and the season ends with the crew leaving for New York to start production on Queens Boulevard, with E having become Vince's official manager (with salary).

Running subplots include: Turtle's laziness and quest for marijuana; Drama's struggle to follow in his younger brother's footsteps; E dating Ari's assistant Emily (Samaire Armstrong); and Vince's many and varied girlfriends.

Ari's inability to close the contract leads to trouble, but Vince manages to convince the film's director, James Cameron, that he is right for the part.

The third season continues with the Aquaman plotline as the film premieres and becomes a huge hit, attaining the highest-grossing opening weekend in movie history.

The end result is that Vince is unable to star in either and is fired by Warner Bros. E's relationship with Sloan comes into question when he has a threesome with her and her friend Tori (Malin Åkerman), to whom E is attracted.

Even though Ari manages to set up a successful new agency with the help of Barbara Miller (Beverly D'Angelo), it leads him to neglect his star client.

However, in the season finale, Ari is fired as Vince's agent after his abrasive methods and constant mocking of Ryan result in failure to secure the film.

When the Medellin trailer leaks to the public via YouTube, an opportunity is presented to leverage the resultant hype to broker a deal attaching Vince to a new big-budget project.

Meanwhile, Ari contends with various complications in his personal and professional lives, including the incapacitating relationship troubles of his indispensable assistant, Lloyd, the uncertainty of his son's acceptance into the exclusive private school that his daughter attends, and interpersonal conflicts among employees of his agency.

E navigates unfamiliar waters as he clumsily attempts to expand the representation of his fledgling management agency beyond Vince, his only client at the time.

When Ari reads the script of Smoke Jumpers he convinces Eric to start a bidding war for the film with Vince attached.

However, Alan Gray (Paul Ben-Victor), head of the Warner Brothers Studio and the man who fired Vince from the sequel to Aquaman, outbids them.

Rather than accepting the offer and abandoning his clients, Ari instead gets Dana Gordon (Constance Zimmer) the job, therefore locking up Smoke Jumpers for Vince.

Vince later apologizes after learning that Eric's persistence led to an offer by Martin Scorsese for a lead in his next feature, a re-envisioning of The Great Gatsby set in the Upper West Side of New York City.

Vince, back to A-list status after Gatsby, is preparing for his next role, starring in an Enzo Ferrari biopic (to be directed by Frank Darabont).

Finally, Drama leaves Five Towns with some help from Ari, and after a successful audition, receives an offer to star in his own television show pending studio approval.

The incident also pushes Vince to seek out new thrills, including impulsively adopting a shorter haircut, sky-diving, purchasing a Harley-Davidson, popping Vicodin pills, and striking up a relationship with pornographic star Sasha Grey.

Now running a fledgling car service business, Turtle is frustrated when an employee named Alex (Dania Ramirez) causes problems for him; however, she quits after an inappropriate advance he makes towards her.

Turtle's business eventually fails, but after reconciling with Alex, she introduces him to some friends in Mexico, who wish to make Vince the face of their tequila company, Avión.

Ari, who was nearing a deal with Jerry Jones to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles, suddenly finds his life in a tailspin.

His newfound peace is broken when he confronts Amanda at an upper-class restaurant, accusing her of sending the tapes and stealing his NFL team.

The show, a cartoon called Johnny's Bananas, is conceptually a hit with the network but it takes a while (and persuasion from Eric's assistant) for Drama to get on board.

However, Phil Yagoda (William Fichtner) and CBS agree to pay them more, ending the strike and green-lighting Johnny's Bananas once again.

[15] Principal photography began on February 19, 2014, and the film stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Rex Lee, Debi Mazar, Perrey Reeves, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rhys Coiro, and new characters played by Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment.

"[18][19] This view was supported by Jeremy Piven, who plays the talent agent, Ari: "If it was just a show about wish fulfillment and guys getting (sex) because their best friend was famous, it wouldn't be that interesting.

In the United States, the series was syndicated on local stations and WGN America beginning September 13, 2010,[31] but was only carried for one season, due to low ratings.

[33] Dillon and Ferrara appeared as their Entourage personalities in a set of commercials for the video game Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.