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Entourage Delivers the LaughsHBO Comedy Still Going Strong in its Third Season.The Doug Ellin creation, Entourage, may be light and fluffy, but it continues to entertain.
Entourage is a hit HBO comedy program that follows the Hollywood adventures of up and coming superstar Vincent Chase and his eponymous entourage. Vince is looking to make it big in the acting world and he has brought his friends along for the ride, not just to leech off the trappings of his fame but to remind him that it is all just a game. Entourage is produced by Mark Wahlberg and is ostensibly based on his early years in Hollywood. Like Vince, Wahlberg also came from a relatively impoverished background and many of the characters on the show are based on his own entourage, though one would hope they are not as cartoonish in real life. Turtle and Johnny Drama are the two members of the group who provide the comic relief. Drama is the perpetual underdog with the appropriate hangdog expression. He is one of the many fading stars of Hollywood and spends his time reminiscing about the glory days and imparting the dubious wisdom gleaned from years of experience. Like all failed actors he comes across as a tragic figure, living in the hope that his star will someday rise again. Turtle, with his rap star moniker, is the closest thing the show has to a jive talking token black guy. And like all token characters he is under developed and spends most episodes firing off one-liners. Jeremy Piven steals the show as the manipulative, foul mouthed uber-agent, Ari Gold. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has seen his brief but hilarious cameo in Rush Hour 2. Piven devours every scene he is in, portraying Ari as a domineering motor-mouth who twitches and jerks around like he has just done a line of cocaine in the bathroom stall. Eric is the everyman character that the viewer relates to, the one who keeps his head amid all the extravagant excesses of the Hollywood scene. If Eric is the character the viewer relates to, then Vince is the character they all want to be. He is the pretty boy actor who spends his day in a semi-stoned haze, making time for spending money in between having sex with glamorous Hollywood starlets. In this regard, it becomes all too easy to criticize Entourage. It can be seen as nothing more than a male teenage fantasy, portraying a vacuous Hollywood lifestyle where cash is king and the women are willing. The show is a clichéd rap video with white boys and a half hour running time. Unlike other HBO programs such as The Wire and the Sopranos, Entourage is undeniably lightweight in theme and scope; however this does not necessarily translate to it being the lesser production. Despite all of the easily distinguishable flaws, Entourage remains an excellent show for the reason that it is done with such a light touch. The show never claims to take itself seriously and neither should the viewer. Everything is done with a sly wink towards the camera. It succeeds in being both funny and dramatic as Vince’s movie career and hence the careers of his entourage, lurches from one near disaster to the next. And as the group navigates the hazards of Hollywood (unscrupulous movie producers, unhinged directors, crazed drug dealers) the bonds of their friendship grows stronger. For if anything, Entourage is at its core, a show about male friendship. They are a group of males who do not need to be drunk to say I love you. And there is nothing wrong with that, just as there is nothing wrong with enjoying the escapist fare that is Entourage.
The copyright of the article Entourage Delivers the Laughs in Prime Time TV is owned by Justin Biggar. Permission to republish Entourage Delivers the Laughs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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