It’s time to stop what you’re doing for three minutes and thirty seconds and watch this Entourage-themed ad that Betr released on Tuesday:
— Jeremy Piven (@jeremypiven) September 8, 2026
This is good stuff. This is what’s up. Entourage is back. Betr has gifted us an Entourage scene. It’s got all the hallmarks of Entourage:
Ari Gold is here. He’s doing his thing. He rolls up to a party is a slick shiny car. He gets out of the car and walks while staring at his phone seeming irritated. He appears to be at some kind of party where there’s a guest list. The security guy asks for Ari’s name and Ari laughs and says he’s “Ted Lass-hole.”
This is nice. This is close-ish to what Ari would say. It’s not exactly right. I’m not saying it’s exactly correct. Ari usually has better quips than Ted Lass-hole. Ted Lass-hole has nothing to do with anything. No one had mentioned Ted Lasso. Him blurting out “Ted Lass-hole” feels unearned and plopped-in, like the writer of this ad had “Ted Lass-hole” in their head for a while and really wanted to find a place to use it. I’m not knocking the writer. We’ve all done this. I’m just pointing out Ari usually says cooler stuff than “Ted Lass-hole,” and “It’s the missing member of the Jersey Shore, here,” and “You look like me if I gave up, sold boner pills, and moved to Brickell.”
But that’s okay. I accept this Betr Ari, because after these so-so quips, Ari says, “Where’s my boy?” And that is what Ari would say. This is good. We’re back on track.
Ari goes into the party. That’s another thing Ari is famous for. Then he talks to some celebrities like Lonzo Ball, LiAngelo Ball, and Jake Paul for a while. More vintage Ari there. Ari loves banter and kind-of famous people. The timing of it all is not quite right, but that’s okay. I’m okay with this.
Ari asks if anyone’s seen “the good-looking kid with the blue eyes.” He’s talking about Vinnie Chase. Adrian Grenier is now 50 years old. But that’s alright. I accept this, because soon thereafter, Ari finds Vinnie. He’s on a big boat in the backyard.
This is good. This is Entourage. We’re back to Entourage stuff. Ari climbs onto the boat and he and Vinnie talk about a deal with Betr. The way they talk about it is the same way they used to talk about signing movie deals. Aquaman. Which beat Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man at the box office. People forget that. Queens Boulevard was a cult hit and Aquaman beat Spider-Man at the box office. Vinne could do both types of movies.
Ultimately, Vinnie agrees to do the Betr deal. He seems happy, and so does Ari. Then everyone agrees to move the party onto the boat. Three minutes and thirty seconds have gone by. The ad is over. I’ve watched it a few times now, at each time, at the end of the three minutes and thirty seconds, I am smiling.
Not everyone enjoyed it as much as me, though. The creator of Entourage, Doug Ellin, had this to say:
I think it’s pretty damn obvious I didn’t write it. My god https://t.co/9CqnRPwqpG
— Doug Ellin (@mrdougellin) September 8, 2026
I have zero positivity in watching things I busted my ass of on for years he turned into garbage seek. Zero positivity. Go create your own shit. And if you need money for
Flip burgers. This is trash and theft. Period. https://t.co/lYn0UcPUG1— Doug Ellin (@mrdougellin) September 9, 2026
Doug sure seems pissed, huh. Must be weird to see characters you created and wrote full arcs for over eight seasons (plus a good movie, people forget the movie is good) used in a commercial. Got to be a strange feeling seeing Ari Gold eagerly lob a joke as boring and pointless as “Ted Lass-hole” pretty much unprompted. Must be like looking through your old journal and seeing that someone started moving all your writing around to make your stuff way lamer and dumber and in service of a business that you’re not profiting from at all. Would probably feel bad if you’re Doug.
But on the flip side, I am not Doug Ellin. I didn’t create these characters. I just liked to watch them on TV when I was in high school. Was always fun seeing Vinnie Chase hang out on boats and Ari Gold stomp around and walk all fast and yell at Lloyd and try to get Vinnie to sign a big-ass contract. It was fun having E around. Johnny Drama yelling “Victory.” Turtle overeating. Wearing his hats. That was good stuff. That was good TV, and for three minutes and thirty seconds there, I was back to watching that show I used to enjoy.
In conclusion: I am sorry, Doug, but this ad is good. Entourage is back. It’s close enough. I sincerely hope that Betr makes a whole season of this strange, uncanny valley, betting-themed Entourage. I would gladly watch that and smile and smile. Again, sorry Doug.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…)
email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com
