Friday, Dec. 17, 2004
Entourage (HBO)
HBO specializes in intelligent, risky series that look at the dark side of American life (see no. 1, above). Entourage is not one of those shows. An amiable half-hour hangout with a rising young movie star Vince (Adrian Grenier) and his posse, this sitcom reveals that life in the shallow, soulless world of Hollywood is ... actually pretty good. Although there are industry jokes and cameos aplenty, this sitcom is ultimately less a satire of show business than a good-hearted and very funny tribute to male friendship and the transition from dumb adolescence to slightly-less-dumb adulthood. Jeremy Piven adds a needed dose of acid as an abrasive agent who wields his cell phone like an AK-47.