His second try was much better received, if getting counterintuitive notes is a step up from none at all. "They wanted less story. They wanted less conflict," he said. "They wanted fun and wish fulfillment. They didn't want conflict, they didn't want heart, they just wanted to watch a ride that they'd want to be a part of."

They also wanted less Vince. "They didn't believe we could cast Vince. If he wasn't already a movie star, they didn't think he could be credible."  In the end, a movie star was not cast and Ellin now believes they got very lucky with Adrian Grenier. "We had all wanted a strong man's man, a tough guy. Ultimately I think we were better served. Adrian brings a softer side to it that gives the show a bigger heart. If he'd been the tough guy, we would have hated these guys."

Still, screening the pilot at Wahlberg's house in front of his real-life entourage was "as bad an experience as you could possibly get," Ellin laughed, remembering that one of Wahlberg's friends said, "Mark, you could kick the shit out of that guy."

Before they got to that screening however, Ellin found himself embarrassed to even hand in the draft which ended up getting approved. "In the pilot we shot, the story begins 12 pages in, which is typically not good storytelling. In the original pilot they greenlit, there was no story. They went to a bar, they picked up some girls. They took them home, they had sex with them. They got in the car and had more sex with them. They smoked some pot, they drank some alcohol. HBO said 'let's do it!' Every director in town passed on it. Nobody wanted to do it. Nobody liked it."

Director David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada), who is also a writer, was finally brought on board. He managed to convince HBO it was an unshootable script that needed some story. "They still weren't sold on me," Ellin revealed.

"I think the real tension of the show came out of that last two weeks of the three years [of pre-production]," he said, pointing to the key moment where the gang finds out Colin Farrell is the lead in the film Vince rejected, Matterhorn, and wonder if they've just missed their golden opportunity. "This show's going to be about the chase, the dream."

Ellin, who calls himself a pessimistic, cynical guy, doesn't see his own dream with the show fulfilled just yet. "I've had my share of failures. I still don't look at it like that. The show will be successful when we get our 8th season."