HBO's "Entourage" (10:30 p.m. Sunday) returns for a new season and my enthusiasm for the show continues to dissipate.
Last season actually turned out better than the one prior but the comedy about movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his buddies has still worn out its welcome. There are only so many times you can tell the same stories about a celebrity on the rise of on the decline before it gets old. I keep watching because I do enjoy the characters and the setting but the plots lack originality.
Actually, last season the show started to go in a new direction when agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) almost landed a job running a studio. That would have been interesting: A new realm, conflicting loyalties with Vince, etc. But then the show chickened out and Ari didn't get the job, sending things back to square one.
In the first two episodes of the new season, all eyes are on Vince's career resurrection as the Martin Scorsese remake of "The Great Gatsby" gets ready for its premiere but the show's focus is more squarely on Vince's manager, Eric (Kevin Connelly), and his attempts to win back former girlfriend Sloane (Emmanuelle Chriqui) while fending off the advances of a stalkerish new neighbor.
When "Entourage" does set its sights on Hollywood it fumbles by presenting two out-dated scenarios. In the first, Vince appears as a guest on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," which producers would have known would be off the air by the time "Entourage" premiered. Less easy-to-predict but no less anachronistic, Ari crows over partner Andrew (Gary Cole) landing "My Name is Earl" creator Greg Garcia as a new client. "Earl" was canceled in May so in reality there'd be less likelihood for an agent to link a new client with a show that's been flushed down the toilet.
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Posted
Jul 08 2009, 01:29 AM
by
Rob Owen