Creator:
Doug Ellin
Cast:
Adrian Grenier ………. Vincent “Vince” Chase
Kevin Connolly ………. Eric
Kevin Dillon ………. Johnny “Drama” Chase
Jerry Ferrara ………. Turtle
Jeremy Piven ………. Ari Gold
Debi Mazar ………. Shauna Roberts
The Show
Loosely based on the real-life experiences of Mark Whalberg’s rise to super stardom in Hollywood, Entourage is one of the best comedies on television today. The show has an ensemble cast that focuses on one star, who ironically enough is not really the “star” of the show at all. If you have ever wondered what it is like to live the life of a movie star, watch Entourage and wonder no more.
The entourage is four friends from Queens, NY. Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is the movie star on the rise. The three friends around him are his “entourage”. It consists of Vince’s business manager and best friend, Eric (Kevin Connolly), Vince’s older brother Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), the unofficial chauffeur and gopher of the group. If they weren’t interesting enough, you also have Vince’s on-and-off agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Entourage follows the lives of all of these characters as they try to make their own name in Hollywood.
HBO decided to divide up season three of Entourage into two parts. Why? Apparently so they can show more episodes of Entourage. Instead of 12 episodes for season three maximum, they did 12 episodes for part 1 and 8 episodes for part 2. While some may have thought that part 1 was a little slow with some definite “filler” moments in the middle, they can’t say the same here. With only 8 episodes, there is nothing but quality stuff here.
At the beginning of Season Three, Part 2, Vince has signed up with a new agent, the sexy Amanda (Carla Gugino). Amanda has two problems. She has an undeniable sexual tension with Vince and the fact that Ari wants Vince back. Ari trying to win back Vince provides a lot of scene-stealing moments for Jeremy Piven. Piven proves why he has won numerous Emmy Awards for this role throughout the rest of season three. In addition, the roles of the supporting players around Vince are expanded on much more. Eric has a more active role as Vince’s manager, Johnny Drama ends up on a successful TV series, and Turtle gets a girlfriend. Not to mention the fact that there is a new crop of guest stars to further blur the line between fiction and reality. The guest stars include Shelley Berman, Leslie Bibb, Ed Burns, Nora Dunn, Adam Goldberg, Artie Lange, Chuck Liddell, Brett Ratner, Pauly Shore, and Joel Silver to name a few.
Part two of season three of Entourage is nothing but the best from this great television comedy. This ensemble cast is on top of their game here. Everyone has one goal in mind; to help Vince succeed in Hollywood. As Vince’s star rises higher, so does the people around him. Everyone is still along for the ride, but this ride is a much more enjoyable one when everyone is given a chance to shine. Season three leaves you wanting more and may even be reason enough to consider getting HBO to watch the continuing adventures of Vince and his “entourage”.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Less Than 30
With Ari out of the picture, Vince and Eric are working hard with their new agent Amanda on finding him a new project; with Vince’s birthday shortly approaching, Turtle and Drama are hard at work organizing his big birthday bash; Ari begins plotting a way to get Vince back.
Episode 2 – Dog Day Afternoon
After reading an article in a magazine, Turtle and Drama go to Laurel Canyon Dog Park to pick up girls; Eric plans a romantic weekend with Sloan, but can’t seem to tell Vince that they want to go solo; Ari asks Lloyd to take one for the team to help him land a big client; Amanda demands an answer on the Edith Wharton adapted film Glimpses of the Moon.
Episode 3 – Manic Monday
Amanda begins to become annoyed at Vince and Eric for delaying the deal over the Glimpses of the Moon script, and makes Vince an offer he can’t refuse; Ari feels he is falling apart after he is unable to fire an employee.
Episode 4 – Gotcha!
Drama starts to feel everyone is after him after a confrontation with UFC Champion Chuck Lidell in a parking lot; Vince and Amanda continue on with their secret, while Eric tries to figure out what is going on; Ari is jealous of a former fraternity brother who comes to visit him and his wife.
Episode 5 – Return of the King
The infamous project MedellÃn is back on the table for Vince, but he must have the paperwork signed by sundown; several critical problems arise for everyone involved because it is Yom Kippur; Drama buys a race horse to prevent it from going to the glue factory.
Disc Two:
Episode 6 – The Resurrection
Eric and Vince are determined to get MedellÃn off the ground, but the rights to the script stand in their wayl; feeling tense the day of the Five Towns premiere, Drama seeks relief at a massage parlor, but can’t avoid Daily Variety; Turtle meets a girl in the auto-body shop who shares his love of limited-edition sneakers, but her overbearing father hampers his game.
Episode 7 – The Prince’s Bride
After the immediate success of the Five Towns pilot, Johnny “Drama” receives an offer from Brett Ratner for a role in Rush Hour 3; Ari finds an enthusiastic backer for MedellÃn, but the source of his wealth, as well as his wife’s intentions toward Vince, are shady; Turtle has a date with Kelly, however it is under the watchful eye of her father.
Episode 8 – Adios Amigos
Vince and the guys must leave the mansion in order to pay for the MedellÃn script; Eric decides to move in with Sloan, ignoring Turtle and Drama’s wisdom; with his brother leaving the country, Johnny “Drama” must do some house-hunting and sets his eyes on an expensive condo; Billy Walsh is approached to direct MedellÃn, however he is preoccupied with other projects.
The Video:
The video is given in widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. It is enhanced for 16X9 TVs. Transfer is good with minimal distortion. The picture is free of any problems. No complaints with stuttering or stopping.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound, or Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English, French, and Spanish. The dialogue comes out crisp and clear. The soundtrack to this show is pretty great as well, and there is no problem hearing all the wonderful music used on the show.
The Extras:
Cast and Crew Audio Commentaries –
There are three audio commentaries, and all of them Doug Ellin (creator/executive producer) and Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara (actors). They comment on the “Manic Mondy”, “The Resurrection”, and “Adios Amigos” episodes. For the “Adios Amigos” episode, they are also joined by Kevin Connolly (actor). If you’ve heard any of the commentaries before, you can expect more of the same here. They do like to joke around a lot, but they do provide quite a bit of information on each episode as well to make these some entertaining commentaries. They are worth checking out for sure.
“Anatomy of Entourage” Featurette –
This is an eleven-and-a-half minute “behind-the-scenes” featurette for the final episode, dissecting the inspiration for the script and the logistics of shooting many actors in different locations, including the porn house. Pretty interesting actually.
Museum of Television & Radio Panel –
This is a fifty-one minute panel discussion shot at the Museum of Television and Radio just after the conclusion of season two. It features the core of actors, as well as Debi Mazar (who plays Vince’s publicist on the show), Doug Ellin, and director Julian Farino. The program is hosted by critic Elvis Mitchell, who has a guest starring role in season four of the show. The discussion is decent. A lot of people are talking, so it’s not as in-depth as you might like. Still it’s fairly informative.
Part two of season three gets things rolling again for this show. Much more focus is given to the main characters and the relationships between them. Entourage is an excellent blend of a sex comedy, an insider’s look at Hollywood, and a drama about young actors in trying to make it in comedy. If you don’t have HBO and have never seen the show before, this is a an okay way to jump right in. You won’t be disappointed and like every fan of Entourage already, you will want to run out and buy this DVD set as well as all the previous ones.
