Keck's Exclusives: Entourage's Big Finish

During the final season of Entourage, which begins July 24, the naughty HBO buddy comedy will plant the seeds for Johnny's Bananas, an animated potential spin-off that would star Kevin Dillon as Johnny the Gorilla and Andrew "Dice" Clay as Ronald the Baboon. Picking up a story line introduced last season, in which Dillon's Johnny Chase signed on to voice the character, Entourage's season premiere will offer a taste of what the adult cartoon would look like. "We'll see some of the cartoon that I think people will get a kick out of," says Entourage creator Doug Ellin, who hired animators from The Simpsonsand Family Guy to bring the kooky characters to life. "I'd like to [launch] a full show of it after we finish this last season." (HBO, he says, would have first dibs.)
The final eight episodes will also feature The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki, playing a tweaked version of himself, whom managers Eric (Kevin Connolly) and Scott (Scott Caan) sign as a new client, as well as a cameo by Christian Slater. Sports fans should keep an eye out for the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, as well as the New York Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, who are recruited by Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) to help establish a popular New York-based Italian restaurant in L.A.
Ellin is also aggressively pursuing Charlie Sheen to come play with his boys. "I called his manager and was told maybe I'd get him," he says. "But I'm still waiting for Charlie to call me back. I'd come up with something good." By the way, with Entourage set to wrap in mid-June, Ellin says Jeremy Piven (Ari) would indeed be available to replace Charlie on Two and a Half Men, as has been rumored, should CBS want him. "It would be feasible and they'd be lucky to have him."
So what else will the gang face in their final days? Vince (Adrian Grenier), fresh out of rehab, will attempt to get his career back on track, while Ari will try to make things right with his family. We won't see schmaltzy weddings or funerals, though one of the guys may find himself facing fatherhood. Says Ellin, "I'm working on possibly having Johnny knock up Shauna [Debi Mazar]." Oh, baby!
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