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Kevin Connolly FINALLY Breaks His Legendary Silence About The Johnny’s Bananas Lawsuit

Gabe — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:30:43 +0000

As you legal scholars may recall, a former Real World/Road Rules cast member is suing the creators of Entourage, claiming that they stole his nickname Johnny Bananas to use as the title of Johnny Drama’s cartoon, Johnny’s Bananas (which one must assume at this point, following the narrative thread of Entourage to its logical conclusion, is the #1 television show in the alternate Entourage universe America). This, of course, is what people refer to when they talk about the “Trial of the Century.” Now, you legal scholars know that a trial like this can go on forever, considering how complicated the legal arguments on either side must be with a case of this magnitude, but that didn’t stop legendary recluse and former actor Kevin Connolly from breaking his silence on the matter. From TMZ:

Kevin Connolly thinks the MTV star who’s suing “Entourage” is a frickin’ moron — claiming there’s no way in hell the show could’ve ever stolen the name Johnny Bananas from him.

Connolly was leaving Dan Tana’s in Hollywood last night … when he told us, “I think he’s crazy … he’s bananas if he thinks he’s gonna get the money.”

HE’S BANANAS IF HE THINKS HE’S GONNA GET THE MONEY! You heard it here, your honor. Although, shouldn’t Kevin Connolly recuse himself? I have no idea what that word means, but I think is supposed to do that. As Johnny Drama’s manager, he cannot be objective in a case like this. And/or he should at least rest his case. But I guess the parking lot of Dan Tana’s is basically International Waters when it comes to this stuff. NO RULES. Watch Johnny’s Bananas on FOX, Tuesdays at 5.

The Real Johnny Bananas Sues Entourage: UPDATE!

Kelly — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:45:41 +0000

Back in August we heard the sad news that the REAL Johnny Bananas, Real World: Key West cast member John Devenanzio, sent a cease-and-desist letter to HBO claiming that he’s been going by the name “Johnny Bananas” since 2006 and (therefor?) owns the rights to it. Entourage, of course, had been using “Johnny’s Bananas” as the name of a cartoon starring everyone’s favorite man just in general, Johnny Drama. HOW DARE THEY EVEN? If they did NOT cease-and-desist, his attorney Stephanie Ovadia wrote, “You leave us little option but to seek judicial intervention.” And it turns out HBO just kept showing Entourage, like a regular bunch of Johnny Duhnanas. AND NOW LOOK WHAT THEY’VE DONE. From The Hollywood Reporter (doyoyoy):

This past summer, Devenanzio had his lawyer fire off a cease-and-desist letter to HBO. The threats apparently did nothing to scare the network. So, on Monday, Devenanzio filed a complaint in New York Superior Court against HBO, parent Time Warner, and “Entourage” creator Doug Ellin. The lawsuit charges the defendants with featuring an “unwarranted, unauthorized, and unfavorable mention of plaintiff’s name and personality, and allusions to plaintiff’s physical and mental character.”

Hahaha, name AND personality AND physical and mental character. “That cartoon monkey voiced by Johnny Drama on a fake TV show within the TV show Entourage has my name, personality, and physical and mental character.” - John Devenanzio. When OUR Johnny Bananas was asked what he thought of the lawsuit, Kevin Dillon responded that he thought it was a “bummer.” Indeed. If Devenanzio wins, we may never see the final season of Entourage in syndication. Obviously our thoughts and prayers are with the cast of Entourage and Gabe Delahaye at this trying time.

Entourage S08E08: Series Finale

Gabe — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:15:45 +0000

Well, here we are. Pretty incredible. After ten thousand episodes and 45 years of memories, Entourage finally comes to an end. To say that this is the end of an era hardly does the momentousness of this occasion justice. If anything it’s almost TOO important. I just feel honored and blessed to be alive in these times and in a position where I can offer up a recap, however inadequate. Anyway, where to even begin? How about the only way TO begin. With this:

Powerful stuff. Oh yeah, indeed. SO: Turtle, Johnny Drama, and Billy Walsh are all eating brunch together in the penthouse (HBO’s new slogan should be “It’s not TV, it’s Brunch.”) when in walks Vinny Chase [APPLAUSE]. He just got back from “the best 24 hour date of [his] life,” which apparently is a kind of date, and he’s got some big news. Well, so do the boys. Well, this is bigger. Well, the boys don’t know about that. EASY, LADIES, I’M SURE YOU ALL HAVE BIG NEWS THAT’S GOING TO BE INCREDIBLE! Vince “thinks” he’s getting married. Wait, that’s not how you deliver that news, Vince. You either are getting married or you are not getting married, especially when THE WEDDING IS TONIGHT IN PARIS! Better make up your mind soon, you’ve got six hours. Wait, what is the boys’s news? Oh, right, Sloane is pregnant. Vince falls asleep this news is so boring. He sleeps through his wedding. Ari dies. The End. JUST KIDDING THERE’S SO MUCH MORE WONDERFUL EPISODE TO RECAP:

Entourage S08E07: Deus Ex Millionaire

Gabe — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:30:40 +0000

Vincent Chase is sad because a celebrity profile writer from Vanity Fair rebuffed his gross and lazy advances while trying to DO HER JOB of writing an article about him, which he also found to be unfair because it contained two sentences about his rampant disrespect for women and his view of them as sexual objects which is so obvious that even Turtle at the end of last episode was like “how is this a fucking surprise to you?”. And so, in an effort to rehabilitate his image and to show the world (but not actually the world really, just this one magazine writer) that he is a serious man with a deep well of respect for powerful women, he is…making…a documentary…next to a swimming pool…in which he interviews all his ex-girlfriends…about what they like best about him? WHAT A KEEPER! I really hope this bullshit documentary ends up on his IMDB page. And also is purchased and distributed by HBO’s documentary summer series. Turtle is editing it in iMovie so you know it’s going to be very slick and pro. Johnny Drama and E have their doubts about whether this is a good idea, and then in response, Turtle just says: “it’s classier than it seems.” IS IT? IN WHAT WAY? COULD SOMEONE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW A SELF-FINANCED POOLSIDE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT YOUR FUCK CONQUESTS TO SHOW TO SOMEONE WHO SAID NO IS IN ANY WAY CLASSIER THAN IT SEEMS WHICH IS NOT AT ALL CLASSY? But, of course, as we all know, when Turtle says something, there is no need for explanation. Case Closed. It is classier than it seems.

Entourage S08E06: Welcome To Baked Clamswood!

Gabe — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:00:29 +0000

Johnny Drama and Turtle cannot get over how E banged Sloane’s ex-stepmom last week, and frankly, neither can I. For all of the care that this show puts into getting the lighting just right in Turtle’s SNEAKER COLLECTION CLOSET and making sure that the Maserati interior would really be the kind of Maserati interior that the star of a DC comic book movie franchise would have in his Maserati, they didn’t even spend two seconds explaining how a guy that we are genuinely supposed to believe is mostly “good” and “sensitive” would jeopardize his integrity, his broken but still on-going relationship with is ex-fiance, AND his BUSINESS by sleeping with a woman twice his age after two appletinis and a bit of poorly written banter. Yikes! I mean, I know that people make questionable and out-of-character decisions in this world, but also, DO THEY REALLY? Anyway, there is no time to deal with all of this Real Human Foibles because they have to hurry up and…visit Vince…on the set of a photoshoot for Vanity Fair magazine. All three of them. They won’t stay long. In fact, they only stay for 30 seconds. Just long enough for us to get an image of Vincent Chase wearing a tuxedo with long tails and white gloves. Haha. What, no top hat?!

Entourage S08E05: The Greatest Love Stories Ever Told

Gabe — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:47 +0000

LOVE IS IN THE SMOG-FILLED AIR! (And now a reference to LA’s famous traffic jams!) Vince has an interview with a celebrity journalist for Vanity Fair. Ooh-la-la. Wait, speaking of Vanity Fair, what is up with that magazine? There are some pretty good articles in it, but I started subscribing this year for reasons that I still do not fully understand, and the cover is always, like, Cher. Cher was on the cover of the first issue I received. Cher? What? Anyway, Vince’s publicist is telling him that he really needs to make this interview count and Turtle is telling Vince that he really needs to make this article be about his baked clams restaurant. Haha. I’m pretty sure the potential future of Turtle’s baked clams empire is not going to live or die on whether it was casually mentioned in a Vanity Fair puff-piece about Vincent Chase, but OK. When they round the corner and see the journalist (Sophia), Vince is like STOP THE PRESSES VICKI VALE WHO IS THAT BATDANCE EVER DANCED WITH THE DEVIL IN THE PALE MOON MARRY ME. (She is blonde and has an English accent and later we will learn that she went to Oxford. She’s also kind of an asshole, she talks too fast, she’s super full of herself, and she says things that sound really pretentious but then when you think about them they don’t actually make any sense because they aren’t actually the thoughts of a highly-educated, sophisticated journalist, they’re just shit that Doug Ellin made up. So, you know, HUBBA HUBBA.) Vince spends the whole interview ignoring Sophia’s questions and trying to fuck her. She ends the interview in frustration. In Vince’s defense, her questions were, like, parodies of what a 1980s psychiatrist might ask. “Do you think you’re an actor because daddy issues?” Shut up, Sophia, INNIT? Anyway, Vince’s publicist is furious at him because she TOLD him not to blow this interview and he went and blew this interview. He says he’ll handle it. His publicist says no. He says yes and drives away (well, Turtle drives away, obviously). Uh oh!

Entourage S08E04: Dildo Party On The Roof!

Gabe — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:30:12 +0000

When we last left our pals, Vinzo and Torta just witnessed a murder. They break into the W.C. of the sad man: KABAM! He dead. Vinzo and Torta turn to each other, Mr. E is still on the phone you hear him in the background “Squeak squeak ‘allo?” This can’t be good. It’s going to be a media Picnic Day! I am not sure why I am writing this recap as if it was printed in an Air Italia in-flight magazine and then fed through Google Translate. Maybe it’s because getting some distance from this thing is the only way to survive. ANYWAY: It’s a real madhouse. A celebrity at the scene of a self-murder? Que Scandalo! (That does not mean anything in any language.) Anyway, everyone is there: Vinzo, Turpo, Ed, Dramba, Scott Caan, and Artie.

Entourage S08E03: This Too Shall Blow Its Brains Out

Gabe — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:30:18 +0000

It’s the best time of every week: catching up with the boys! Vince is speaking at an AA meeting. One day at a time, Vince! What doesn’t kill you makes you cocainer. Everyone in the audience keeps smiling and laughing and applauding at everything that Vince says. Cool. “As a matter of fact, I just wrote my first screenplay.” [APPLAUSE] “Don’t worry, it sucked.” [LAUGHTER] It’s probably the best AA speech ever. After the meeting, Carl Urtz comes up to him. Oh great. You guys remember Carl. He’s the douchebag who screwed us on Danger Beach. (Oh man, seriously though, remember Danger Beach? The best name for a thing ever until Johnny’s Bananas came along.) He wants to produce Vince’s Ukrainian mining disaster made-for-TV movie. The whole thing is very ’90s. Remember in the early ’90s when people always talked about how AA meetings in Hollywood were great places to network? That was weird. That was a weird ’90s thing. Well, it’s back! Awesome. Vince agrees to send Carl his script, even though Carl did screw him on Danger Beach. But he’s in the program now and he’s trying to make amends. Carl thanks Vince again, and then says, “Great, I’m gonna get some ice cream.” Wait, what? What kind of adult man walks out of a conversation like that? Showbiz.

The Real Johnny Bananas Sues Entourage

Gabe — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:30:55 +0000

If you have been following the eighth and final season of Entourage, then you know that on the show, our dear friend Johnny Drama is the star of his own animated sitcom called Johnny’s Bananas. Oh man, it is easily the best thing that has ever happened in the herstory of stupid Entourage. He plays a monkey! And the show is called JOHNNY’S BANANAS! Also Andrew Dice Clay is his co-star! I’m telling you, everything about it is perfect. All eight years of that vaporizer-weed-scented energy suck of useless Maserati worship has all been leading up to this one perfect moment. And we might end up losing the whole thing if a guy claiming that he is the REAL Johnny Bananas has his way in court. From ONTD:

An MTV reality star is threatening to sue the people behind “Entourage” — claiming the show stole his nickname, “Johnny Bananas” … and used it to fuel a storyline without his permission.

In case you gave up on “Entourage” … Johnny Drama recently agreed to be the voice of an animated TV show called “Johnny’s Bananas” … in which the characters are all apes, gorillas, and other primates
Problem is, former “Real World” star Johnny Devenanzio (pictured above left) says he’s been going by the name “Johnny Bananas” on various MTV shows since 2006 … and claims he owns the rights to the name.

Now, Johnny Bananas — the human — got himself a lawyer … who fired off a cease and desist letter to HBO, the network behind “Entourage.” In the letter, Johnny’s attorney Stephanie Ovadia writes, “If you do not cease and desist … you leave us little option but to seek judicial intervention.”

Johnny tells TMZ he believes the name controversy is “in no way coincidental and is instead an attempt to capitalize on the name recognition which I’m solely responsible for creating.”

I’m pretty sure the summer series HBO documentary Hot Coffee was about this. Sure, it might seem like a frivolous lawsuit to a bystander without all the facts, but really this is just an American trying to gain protection from the United States justice system from the egregious over-reach and dehumanized exploitation of multi-national corporations. Good luck, buddy! Of course the real Johnny Bananas also went crazy on Twitter because it’s called RESTING YOUR CASE:

Entourage S08E02: Turtle’s Outfits As Metaphor For The End Of Culture

Gabe — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:45:11 +0000

As you may recall, last week’s episode ended with Turtle burning down the mansion. Oh jeez. Tuurrrtle! [Trombone slide.] So this week our old pals are staying in a beautiful hotel suite. So sick. Sick hotel suite, boys. I almost wish that my house would burn down so I could just move into a gorgeous hotel suite with 360 panoramic views of the city with all my friends and not even give a shit! Hahaha. It’s called real life and it’s super normal. Turtle is wearing a basketball jersey and an old baseball hat and everyone keeps talking about how he looks weird because he’s dressed like it’s 2003 and all of a sudden I am genuinely starting to think that the entire purpose of the “Turtle burning the house down” storyline was just to get Turtle to dress like he did in season one. It’s weird! Like, I think the creators of this show think that people have spent a lot of thought and energy tracking the changes in Turtle’s wardrobe over the years and that somehow it would be both interesting and exciting for us to see him wearing an outfit that apparently he stopped wearing a few years ago, although you could have fooled me. Slowly but surely each episode will bring a different minor plot turn that somehow forces each character to return to their original look (“Hey, have you guys tried these magic hair-growing pills?” “Sorry, Vin, I haven’t had time to, I’ve been so busy replacing my calf implants”) so that by the time Season 8 ends everyone will be exactly where they were when they started and the Universe will collapse on itself and we will all die and the memory of this entire thing will be erased from existence. Fingers crossed!