Parties, sex, bromance -- the hit that had it all
'Entourage' might have lost some of its initial kick, but it still packs a punch, writes Declan Cashin
It's time to hug it out for one last time. Showbiz-bromance comedy Entourage returns tonight for its eighth and final season, where over the course of just eight episodes fans will learn if pretty boy actor Vinny Chase and his coat-tail-riding buds get their 'happy ever after' endings.
Credit should go to Sky Atlantic for being so on the ball: this opening episode only aired last night on HBO in the US. Long-dubbed the blokes' version of Sex and the City, Entourage is loosely based on executive-producer Mark Wahlberg's early years in Hollywood in the 1990s, when he and his ligging friends became (in)famous for their wild partying and womanising.
Entourage centres around rapidly A-list-climbing actor Vinny (played by the suitably 'bland-some' Adrian Grenier) and his New Yorker buddies who have followed him out to Tinsel Town: best bud and manager Eric Murphy (Eric Connolly); driver and assistant Turtle (Jerry Ferrara); and Vince's older half-brother, hot-headed D-list actor Johnny 'Drama' Chase (Kevin Dillon, himself the real-life lesser-known brother of the more famous Matt Dillon).
Rounding out the entourage -- as well as turbo-charging every scene he's in -- is Vince's foul-mouthed, ball-busting agent Ari Gold, played with ferocious energy by Jeremy Piven, who quickly became the breakout star of the show, bagging three consecutive Emmy awards for his work.
In truth, it's not hard to steal every scene going when you're gifted with dialogue like, "I don't care if Justin Bieber calls and wants me to negotiate the rights to his virginity, I don't want to talk to him", and. . . well, that's about all of Ari's lines that can be printed in a family newspaper.
Ari is reputedly based on the real-life Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel, brother of US President Barack Obama's former chief of staff and the incumbent mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel.
In fact, Obama himself is the most famous Entourage fan on the planet. His former press secretary Robert Gibbs has revealed during the 2008 election race that Obama once delayed the start of a Sunday night campaign call just to catch the last 15 minutes of an episode.
While Obama and the show's other hardcore aficionados will no doubt be chuffed that the boys are back in town, there seems to be a sizeable proportion of disenchanted viewers who long ago dropped out of this particular entourage.
Some have criticised the comedy for losing its breezy charm and magic.
There's certainly some truth in that. Characters and storylines now seem more tired, and the action repetitive. But this is a common problem with shows that simply run on too long. Sex and the City, Frasier and even the almighty Friends all began to look and sound creaky by the ends of their equally lengthy runs.
That being said, Entourage remains a guilty-pleasure watch that allows viewers -- men, really -- to buy into Vinny and the boys' aspirational lifestyles of sex, booze, drugs and even more sex. It also remains deliciously knowing and incisive about how Hollywood and the entertainment industry works.
Indeed, over the years celebrities like Mark Wahlberg himself, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Sorkin, Jessica Simpson, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron and Kanye West have been tripping over themselves for cameos on the show, playing either real or mildly exaggerated versions of themselves.
As for what's coming up in season eight, star Piven said in an interview last week this final series was all about change.
"Some of these guys are men-children. The theme of this season is that at a certain point in life, everybody grows up," he said.
In tonight's episode, we catch up with Vinny, who is just out of rehab for the drug addiction that made last season such a downer, determined to make a movie about the trapped miners. His pals are afraid not to be supportive lest he fall off the wagon, so they throw him a dry welcome-home party with hot babes recruited from AA meetings instead.
Meanwhile, Ari is trying desperately to win back his long-suffering wife. As it turns out, this series mighn't be the final outing for the lads either. Depending on how the season fares, creator Doug Ellin has hinted that he'd like to fully round off the series with an Entourage movie.
"It feels like the kind of show that would benefit from opening it up on the big screen," said Piven recently.
"This show begs to be expansive. The idea of having an Entourage movie that takes place across the globe, and is seen around the globe, just feels great to me."
Irish Independent
