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(S06E09) "If that's a personal call you're on Lloyd, I'm gonna waterboard you." - Ari

Ari has always been mean to Lloyd. He treats him like crap, makes him do chores rather than his job, and constantly insults him. However, at the same time, Ari has always been nice to Lloyd too. He's given him one helluva job opportunity to learn underneath him and to some extent, I can understand Ari's plan to toughen Lloyd up a bit before a bump to junior agent occurs.

We know what Lloyd is like though -- he can only take so much. So it was only a matter of time before Ari pushed too hard. On a day when Ari stole Zac Efron from Adam Davies, there should have been a celebration and instead, Ari treated Lloyd worse that we've seen in ages. It's about time this plot went somewhere.

E!'s Watch With Kristen is reporting that Zac Efron will be joining the Entourage gang for season six. Well, maybe not exactly joining the gang, but at least making a cameo on the HBO show.

Ok, so the question is, will he be playing himself? One of Ari Gold's newest It-Guys? An excitable young actor who tussles with Johnny Drama? My guess is that Efron will be playing himself, because he's becoming the Next Big Thing in Hollywood -- if he isn't already there.

And it just makes sense, because so many other stars have appeared as themselves on the show; notably, James Woods, though I've always wondered if he's as hot-headed as they make him out to be on the show. If so, he has quite the sense of humor about himself.

OK, so you might have heard that Bruno (aka Sacha Baron Cohen) fell from the sky last night at the MTV Movie Awards and shoved his rear into Eminem's face. Was Eminem really surprised and ticked off by this, so irritated that he and his crew actually left the show? I'm leaning towards no. You can see Eminem "acting" as he looks up (the camera just happens to be on him), and then Bruno lands on him perfectly. I guess it could be true, but I'm not quite buying it. The funny moment is when he announces Zac Efron the winner of some award and Efron isn't even sure what the hell is going on.

The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:

• Before he hosted SNL last week, I had never seen Zac Efron actually act. In fact, I don't think I've even heard him speak. However, I kind of want to see 17 Again, and I don't know how I feel about that. Cinematical's review helped me decide though.
• I haven't heard of any of the movies on this list, so when Cinematical asks the question, "Are these Summer movies guaranteed to bomb," I'm inclined to say yes.
• Look, you know you're going to find yourself in the theater watching Crank: High Voltage, because you simply cannot resist Jason Statham. At least get an idea as to what you're in for.
• If watching Crank: High Voltage still isn't enough for you, perhaps you can be sated with Cinematical Seven: Adrenaline-Fueled Movies.

Recently I came across a blog post from the Los Angeles Times suggesting that 21 year-old teen heartthrob Zac Efron will be playing Jonny Quest, the 11 year-old kid adventurer of those old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. My first thought: would that work?

I think that casting would be confusing, but I also think that having Jonny spell his name without an "h" in it is confusing.

Of course, strange casting choices and Hollywood go hand-in-hand (Michael Keaton as Batman? Kevin Costner as Robin Hood?). In an industry that believes that a teenaged Matthew Perry would look exactly like Zac Efron, this shouldn't be a big stretch.

I'm a big fan of The Venture Brothers and their take on the whole Jonny Quest myth. This big screen version of the character would likely be a little less parody and a little more Indiana Jones. What a shame.

On the plus side, I think Dwayne Johnson is a perfect choice for the role of Race Bannon. Who would play Hadji, I wonder?

I've been trying to figure out what bothers me about the TV commercials for the new movie 17 Again, and I finally know what it is: it's just not believable.

I know, I know, of course a movie that features a 37-year-old man somehow becoming a teenager again through some complicated process (from the previews I think it involves a whirlpool and/or lightning) isn't supposed to be gritty realism, but I'm talking about the cast members.

(S34E21) When it came to everything unrelated to jazz hands, my expectations for Zac Efron were pretty low. Then again, there was part of me that kept thinking back to Justin Timberlake's first time hosting; he was just another song-and-dance good guy but the enthusiasm and craziness he brought to his performances blew everyone away. Okay, so Efron didn't do as well as Timberlake, but as the evening progressed, Efron seemed to get a little more comfortable and delivered a not-too-cingeworthy performance. Consider that a massive victory.

Here are some video highlights from the evening.

Yes, it's back. And once again, it's on the Disney Channel.

High School Musical 4 is returning to its cable roots and being broadcast sometime in 2010 in the House of the Mouse. The new installment will star none of the previous cast. Hopefully all the Zac Efron fans won't commit ritualistic mass suicide over this fact.

I've already written of my opinion on this franchise. My only question is will the lack of original cast simply suck in a new generation who have no associations with the original version and from whom Disney executives will feast on their child brains for years to come, or will it suck like Ace Ventura III (admittedly, I haven't seen this direct-to-DVD gem. I'm just assuming).

Honestly, they should get back one or two of the original cast, just to have a sense of continuity between the two "generations" of the films. It worked for Grease II.

It was the first theatrical release of the franchise. The first two were direct-to-television movies on the Disney Channel. However, High School Musical 3 stomped the competition with a $42 million opening and the number one spot for this past weekend.

Given the amount of merchandising and publicity the entire franchise has (walk into any Toys R Us to see it), this outcome is really no surprise. It's a wonder the second movie wasn't released directly to the theater rather than the Disney Channel.

I was once forced to watch the first movie and found it to be this generation's version of Grease. I understand the franchise for what it is: a saccharine, watered-down, feel-good musical for kids that have the depth of a potato chip using the same sort of music sung by Britney and her pop kin. I just don't get the appeal. But then, I'm not the target demographic.

But even if this particular franchise ends, the market for Disney kid's movie musicals will sadly drive onwards. Two words: Camp Rock.

In a recent interview with Newsweek, Vanessa Hudgens talked about High School Musical and Zac Efron's hygiene. (Yep, you read that second item correctly.)

About High School Musical 3, Hudgens, who is currently on location shooting San Francisco, says that she thinks the crew is done after the completion of the trilogy. She also reveals that her character gets accepted to Stanford.

Hudgens also refutes reports that beau Zac Efron doesn't shower. (Has anyone else heard this? Am I just not hip to the goings on of tween dreams like Zac Efron? Maybe I should pick up a Tiger Beat magazine.) She says, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Whoever came up with that is completely idiotic. He showers! He showers! ­Believe me, he does."

So, there's no more High School Musical after this one. Looks like Camp Rock, which stars the Jonas Brothers, will be Disney's new cash cow.

[via Yahoo]

I know you've all been wondering if the Jonas Brothers squash the machine that is Zac Efron. Well, they can ... kind of. Camp Rock averaged 8.9 million viewers on Friday night. That's more viewers than High School Musical, which had 7.8 million for its debut. However, 8.9 million pales in comparison to last summer's 17.2 million (ZOMG!) viewers for High School Musical 2. And it proves that the Efron is unstoppable and more bankable. In fact, High School Musical 2 is the most watched non-sports program on cable.

Joal Ryan of E! Online points out that Camp Rock could still beat High School Musical overall, "The Jonas Brothers are far bigger stars than Efron or any of his costars were in January 2006, when the first HSM premiered." He goes to say that the real test of Camp Rock will be if it has the ability to rule the ratings in the inevitable many, many reruns.

High School Musical star Zac Efron underwent emergency surgery this past Tuesday to remove his appendix according to his publicist. Recently, Efron has signed on to star in the theatrical release of High School Musical 3: Senior Year and was one of the stars of the movie Hairspray.

Maybe it's the cynic in me, but this smells of cover-up. Too many self-destructive celebrities have started under the Disney umbrella (such as Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears) and it wouldn't surprise me if this were more the case.

You thought the big news on Disney this past week was High School Musical 2? Nope. It was actually what happened to Hannah Montana (wow, a mention of High School Musical and Hannah Montana in the same post - my 14 year-old girl demographic fan base just exploded).

While the musical sequel got big numbers and got all the buzz, the episode of Hannah Montana that followed averaged 10.7 million viewers. That's the highest ratings for a regular series in the history of basic cable. Now, are all these people tuning in to see Miley Cyrus or her dad Billy Ray?

Of course, it helped that Zac Efron and company were the lead in, since High School Musical 2 got over 17 million viewers, the single biggest ratings in basic cable history. Lots of history made over at Disney this week.

[via TV Tattle]