Entourage” at 6.8/10: Ari Gold Still Screams, the Satire Still Goes Soft”

“Entourage” ran eight seasons on HBO, from July 18, 2004 to September 11, 2011, and built 96 episodes around a simple engine: a movie star and the friends who came up with him.

Doug Ellin created the show and wrote most of it. Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson executive produced, and the premise borrows loosely from Wahlberg’s own years as a young film star. The result is a comedy-drama about Vincent Chase, an A-list actor from Queens, and the childhood circle that follows him to Los Angeles.

Trailer, via Iznaow.

Vincent Chase and the Queens Circle

Adrian Grenier plays Vince. Kevin Connolly plays Eric Murphy, his best friend and manager, the one the group calls “E.” Eric is based on Wahlberg’s friend and associate producer Eric Weinstein, and has also been reported as inspired by Levinson, Wahlberg’s manager.

Kevin Dillon plays Johnny “Drama” Chase, Vince’s older half-brother, who works as his chef, trainer and bodyguard. Drama is a C-list actor from the old fictional series “Viking Quest” whose role on the fictional hit “Five Towns” starts to rebuild his career, though he never gets the credit he thinks he deserves. By the end of the run he has his own animated show, “Johnny’s Bananas,” and a new TV movie that Vince helps him land. The character draws on Johnny “Drama” Alves, a longtime friend of Wahlberg.

Jerry Ferrara plays Turtle, another Queens friend, officially Vince’s driver and assistant, a role whose value the show itself keeps questioning. Turtle is based on Donnie Carroll, Wahlberg’s former gofer, known as “Donkey.” Carroll auditioned and lost the part when the decision was made that the actors had to be New Yorkers. He died on December 18, 2005, after an asthma attack.

Ari Gold and the Business of Being Liked

Jeremy Piven plays Ari Gold, Vince’s agent — abrasive, and the show’s best creation. Ari is based on Wahlberg’s real agent, Ari Emanuel. Piven won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series three years running, 2006 to 2008, and took the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor as well.

Later seasons promoted Debi Mazar, Perrey Reeves, Rex Lee, Rhys Coiro, Gary Cole, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Scott Caan to the main cast. Perrey Reeves plays Melissa Gold, Rex Lee plays Lloyd Lee, Rhys Coiro plays Billy Walsh, Scott Caan plays Scott Lavin.

The guest list is the show’s signature and its crutch. At least one celebrity usually turns up per episode, and the cameos do as much world-building as any scripted scene.

What Holds Up and What Doesn’t

Here is the ranking of what “Entourage” gets right, in order:

1. Piven’s Ari Gold, the one performance that turns a joke into a character.
2. The friendship between Vince and Eric, which gives the Hollywood satire something to cost.
3. The insider texture — agents, studios, premieres — that made the show feel like a report from inside the industry.
4. The cameos, which were fun and are now the most dated thing in it.

The show drew generally positive reviews across its run, with the final season landing mixed. That split is fair. “Entourage” was never a hard show to watch; it was a hard show to respect for very long. The early seasons have a loose, funny confidence, and the premise — a star who never quite earns what he’s given, surrounded by men who earn nothing — is sharper than the show usually admits.

The problem is that the satire goes soft. Vince’s world is described as vapid, and the show agrees, but it also wants in. Male friendship is the stated theme, and it’s the real subject: what happens to a group of friends when one of them becomes the product. The last season loses that thread and settles for wrapping up plot.

The Numbers Behind the Run

• Network: HBO
• First aired: July 18, 2004
• Last aired: September 11, 2011
• Seasons: 8
• Episodes: 96
• Creator: Doug Ellin
• Executive producers: Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson
• Metacritic: 68/100

“Entourage” is a time capsule of a specific Hollywood moment, and its best asset is still Ari Gold screaming into a phone. The friendship at the center deserved a harder look than the show ever gave it. Score: 6.8 of 10.

Ari Gold · Entourage · HBO · Jeremy Piven · Mark Wahlberg · TV comedy