Entourage Season 1 Review

Entourage (2004-2011)

Season 1 - 8 Episodes (2004) 
Buy Entourage Season 1
Created by: Doug Ellin
Starring: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven
Rating: TV-MA 

Plot: 
HBO's original comedy/satire features movie star Vince Chase as he navigates stardom with his agent and group of friends.

Verdict
Entourage is a window into the life of a Hollywood star and his friends who leech off his success and money. The core of this show is a group of friends that crack on each other, chase women, and have very little responsibility due to celebrity status. It's very much a boys club. It's an easy watch., and my favorite parts are the celebrity cameos and the satirization of Hollywood.
Watch it.

Review
Read my previous Entourage reviews.

Entourage is an inside look at Hollywood through on the rise star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier). He's surrounded by his friends who ride his coat tails. This includes best friend and manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), driver Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), and half brother, failed actor Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon). The core of the show is a bunch of guys that have almost no responsibility and too much money. This is what every teenage boy wanted. You can buy anything and you're surrounded by hot girls. Most of their time is spent chasing women or cracking jokes at each others expense while living in Vince's mansion. They're mindset is stuck in high school and Vince's success allows them to avoid growing up. This perpetuates the Hollywood playboy stereotype. It confirms everything we suspected about celebrities.

Turtle, Vince, Eric, and Johnny Drama

The four leads have great chemistry and you feel like their interactions are real. I wondered if this season would explore the symbiotic relationship, but it doesn't other than a few comments from Eric. Eric, Turtle and Johnny are wholly dependent on Vince and thus Vince's success for their lifestyle. The fact that Vince is an A-list celebrity makes life even easier as people are willing to give him cars and sound systems for free. Even women throw themselves at him and his friends use that to their advantage.

Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold

Jeremy Piven does an amazing job as Vince's bombastic agent Ari Gold. Gold is based on real life agent Ari Emmanuel. Emmanuel said the character was close, but Piven wasn't over the top and crazy enough. If you've seen the show, you know how absurd that sounds. Gold is a great character that's fun to watch, and Piven won multiple Emmy awards for the character.

You've got to have a weed guy.

The celebrity cameos and numerous references really ground this series and provide credibility. It feels a bit like Tim Robbin's film The Player (1992) in that it makes fun of Hollywood. In one episode I thought, "Is that Val Kilmer? It can't be." It is, and Kilmer does an amazing job though you may not recognize him. Gary Busey plays the characterization he's become, and the character Billy Walsh is a fictional director that pointedly makes fun of Hollywood indie directors.

The show is very light, though it does occasionally become slightly more serious. Johnny Drama considers giving up acting, and there is an ongoing thread with Eric who wonders if he is qualified to be a manager and ultimately decides he wants to officially be Vince's manager.