Film Friday: Would a spin-off of Entourage's Ari Gold be a success?

Usually, I dive into a movie, but television will be taking center stage this week with the possible return of one of the best to ever do it on HBO.

Hollywood loves a sequel.

Nobody would understand that more than one of my all-time favorite characters, Entourage’s Ari Gold, a Hollywood super-agent whose personality lies between psychotic and iconic.

Played by Jeremy Piven, Ari’s character is written as satire for stereotypical overbearing corporate “suits” in the industry who represent talent and are trying to make it to the top.

Ari’s character is based in part on real-life Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, who happens to represent Jeremy Piven and Mark Whalberg, who is the inspiration for the Entourage series.

Here are some of Ari Gold’s best moments in the series. Fair warning: There is a lot of bad language in this clip.

Why do we care about Ari Gold?

As I said, Hollywood loves a sequel.

Entourage is one of the most successful shows in HBO's history.

The series ran for seven seasons and released a movie in 2015. This show gives viewers the ins and outs of the industry from low-budget indie projects to massive hits such as “Aquaman” that would years later be turned into the movie starring Jason Momoa.

Since Entourage ended in 2014, several shows have tried to replace its brilliance from Billions, Ballers and a bunch of others that haven’t seemed to quite add up the mark. This show has stood the test of time.

Earlier this week, Mr. Ari Gold released a video calling for a potential spin-off show starring Jeremy Piven, who would reprise his old role.

Could an Ari Gold series replicate the success of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul?

Breaking Bad shattered so many television records and awards, creating one of the greatest series known to man. The show creator, Vince Gilligan, quickly turned one of the show's favorite characters, Saul Goodman, into a series of his own, to the point some believe Saul Goodman is a better series than Breaking Bad. I haven't seen Better Call Saul, but the hype surrounding the show has only built as the years have gone on.

Seeing this success is extremely rare with a spin-off. Friends was one of the greatest sit-coms of all time, but it’s spin-off Joey only lasted two seasons before getting pulled off the air.

The same could be said on cult TV classic The X-Files, which had a cult following and was a fantastic series, but the spin-off The Lone Gunman ultimately fell flat.

Whether a potential spin-off show based on Entourage’s Ari Gold will be successful is all rumor and hearsay. I do think revisiting the crazy Hollywood world from the perspective the show had still held value.

The series was one of the best insights anyone could have on the film industry as a whole and showed what actors, directors, producers and agents have to deal with on a day to day basis.

The film industry needs Ari Gold back.

Julian Del Gaudio was once Nevada Sports Net's self-proclaimed Minister of Culture before losing that title in landslide fashion. But he knows about movies and will post a Film Friday review every week. You contact him at jcdelgaudio@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @JulianDelGaudio.