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HBO continues
to prove itself to be amongst the forerunners
high-quality, well-written episodic TV.
It seems that every year, they hit us with
another show or two, each time racking up
Emmy nominations and wins. Shows like "The
Sopranos", the too soon cancelled "Deadwood"
and the too soon cancelled "Carnivale"
deliver the goods in the drama department,
and if you've ever seen any of their comedy
series, you'd realize that they have that
category all sewn up as well. A couple of
years ago they added to "Entourage"
their line-up, which follows the life and
times of an up-and-coming actor (and his
hangers-on) caught up in the Hollywood scene.
The series stars Adrian Grenier as Vincent
Chase, a young actor trying to make the
right career moves in order to keep from
crashing and burning. These decisions are
made even harder by his circle of friends,
most of whom have no reason hang with him
other than to take advantage of a good thing.
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Amongst them are two friends from high school,
Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) and Turtle (Jerry
Ferrara). Eric has taken on the role of Vincent's
manager, but being new to the scene himself he
often finds himself in over his head. Turtle,
on the other hand, doesn't have such high aspirations.
Well, rather he aspirations of getting high…
and playing video games. Vincent's brother, Johnny
'Drama' (Kevin Dillon) also hangs with the group,
having once been an actor himself. He was once
on a series called "Viking Quest", which
fortunately has a following of fans similar to
Trekkies, so at least fame hasn't escaped him
completely.
On the heavier business end, Vincent contends
with his outrageously obnoxious agent, Ari Gold,
played to perfection by Jeremy Piven. I've seen
Piven play a lot of roles, some even similar to
this one, but this has got to be the performance
of his career. Finally, the light shines on Vince's
publicist Shauna (Debi Mazar), who is equally
as obnoxious and comes a close second to stealing
the show.
Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy HBO's shows,
I do not actually have HBO in my house. Most of
the shows I've become familiar with, I've done
so because of the great DVD sets HBO has been
releasing. And in a second set of unfortunate
circumstances, being new to HBO Home Entertainment's
roster of reviewers, I ended up watching last
year's 2nd season DVD release… without familiarizing
myself with the 1st season. On the bright side,
knowing the basic premise of the series mixed
with the excellent work of the writing staff,
I was able to get right into it and enjoy it just
the same. Any little bits of catching up plot-wise
I was able to do with a little Internet reading.
What I didn’t see in the 1st season pretty
much served to set up the characters and ready
them for the roller coaster ride that the series
was bound to turn into. Vincent dealt with the
success of his first big budget success (which
was a film in which he co-starred with Jessica
Alba) and the aftermath. Suddenly, he was a media
darling and everyone wanted a piece of him. 'Flavor
of the month' is what I believe they call new
actors at this point in their career. He found
himself at a bit of a crossroads, faced with the
decision of taking another role in a big budget
film… that just happened to have a lousy
script or a better low-budget project which had
the possibilities of really stretching him as
a actor. Hmmm… big money / bad script….little
money / great script….. what a choice.
The 2nd season focused on Vince's bid to take
on a coveted lead role in a new James Cameron
movie. If he got the part, he would soon be swimming
superhero-style in Aquaman's green tights. In
between his attempts to land the role, Vince bought
a house (next door to Bob Saget, no less…)
and he continued to hang out with the gang everywhere
from a U2 concert to a comic book convention (the
latter being especially funny when comparing it
to the few I've been to). They even wound up hanging
out at a Playboy Mansion party.
For the first time, earlier this year, HBO released
only the first half of the 3rd season on DVD.
And unlike most of the studios that split seasons
up because of marketing and costs, I think they
are doing it here because they spread their seasons
out so far apart. The story of Vince's rise continued
following the premiere of "Aquaman"
and the subsequent craziness that follows celebrities
on their way to, and after reaching, the top.
I felt as though this season started to slow down
a little in terms of plot development, but the
performances were still top notch. Everything
that happens to the characters still feels real
in light of the insane life that fame gives people.
They are finally following it up with "Volume
2", which delivers the final 8 episodes of
the 3rd season. This set picks right up with Vince
firing Ari and hiring a hot new agent, Amanda
who comes in the form of actress Carla Gugino…
sigh… The sparks definitely fly between
these two, though Ari has definitely not given
up the battle. Most of the rest of the season
deals with Vince and his posse working to find
him a new project.
It seems like each time a new set for "Entourage"
comes out, HBO kicks the features up a notch.
This time around there are more extras than ever,
including 3 commentaries with Doug Ellion, Kevin
Dillion and Jerry Ferrara, as well as a 4th that
includes Kevin Connolly. You'll also find 3 short
recaps for each season, a must if you start watching
the show from this point. (Though I really recommend
starting from the beginning.) There is a featurette
focusing on the final episode of the season, but
perhaps the best extra of all is a lengthy video
from a panel of the actors tape at the Museum
of Television and Radio. It runs a little under
an hour and is full of great questions and answers,
and a lot of laughs to boot.
The 2nd volume of the 3rd season DVD release of
"Entourage", is definitely a worthwhile
addition to any collection. The show is bitingly
funny and takes some well deserved stabs at the
Hollywood lifestyle. I did finally pick up a copy
of the 1st season just to see for myself where
the whole thing began. Now I'm ready for more!
Episodes:
Less than 30
Dog Day Afternoon
Manic Monday
Gotcha!
Return of the King
The Resurrection
The Prince's Bride
Adios, Amigos
Starring: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin
Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Debi Mazar, Jeremy Piven
Extras: Season One Recap, Season Two Recap, Season
Three, Part I Recap, Museum of Television and
Radio Panel, Anatomy of Entourage
Specifications: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround Sound
Studio: HBO
Release Date: 10/2/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give Entourage: Season 3, Volume 2 a B.
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