After a marathon six seasons, Sex and the City has finally drawn to a close. So what is going to fill those evenings that were once devoted to the etiquette of sex and Manolo Blahnik shoes led by Carrie Bradshaw and her entourage of friends? Well, the replacement is in fact Entourage. Already into its third season in the US, it will be premiering on HBO Asia on Monday.
The show has generated huge interest in the US, and the lure of the lifestyle portrayed in Entourage, an up-and-coming Hollywood pretty boy star and his posse, is likely to translate well into Asia. It could be regarded as Sex and the City from the testosterone-driven male point of view. The subtleties of making a relationship work in the world of New York's glitterati, becomes a hunt for pussy, and the ultimate car, in glamor-obsessed LA.
The story is supposed to be inspired by some of the experiences of Mark Wahlberg, who is also one of the show's producers, and the show has a realism and edge that lifts it from being merely a dramatization of “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” And if you are into cutting put downs, over-the-top flights of fancy and hard-edged one liners, you won't be disappointed. A line by the super-agent character Ari Gold — “Let's hug it out bitch” was ranked 6th in TV Guide's list of TV's 20 Top Catchphrases (21-27 August 2005 issue).
The main protagonists in Entourage are Vince (Adrian Grenier), the good-looking young actor rising up in Hollywood; Eric (Kevin Connolly), trusted enough to be Vince's manager; Drama (Kevin Dillon), Vince's less successful half-brother actor; and Turtle, the ultimate barnacle who mainly drives around, does the menial tasks and lives large off of Vince's paydays.
The insight into the relationship of these four men, which involves power, money, as well as loyalty and friendship, is remarkably successful, and while the culture of fame, and the relentless accumulation of possessions and women can begin to grate, there is a truthfulness in the portrayal that keeps your finger off the remote. The series' willingness to rely on witty banter and do without a laugh track also underlines its ambitions, or pretentious, to be considered as “serious” comedy.
And Entourage's gambit comes off. The script steers clear of broad laughs and ribald caricature, something that the theme and the characters could easily lend themselves to, and the acting is sufficiently nuanced that you occasionally get a glimpse of the real people beneath all the posturing and the bling.
As befits a series about Hollywood, there are plenty of star cameos dotted throughout the series, so in addition to the pretend star, Adrian Grenier, there are plenty of real life celebs to spot. And Grenier's own career is clearly on an upswing as a result of Entourage, with a role in the high-profile fashion world satire The Devil Wears Prada, which is scheduled for release in Taiwan Sept. 1.
Entourage will premiere on HBO Asia on Sunday.
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