When “Sex and the City” left the air in 2004, many people wondered how HBO could possibly replace one of its biggest hits. But as it turns out, they already had something cooking, and only a few months later, “Entourage” premiered. Though it wasn’t exactly the replacement that most female viewers were hoping for, the new series finally gave guys their own show about a quartet of friends who enjoy the finer things in life. No, not Cosmopolitans and fashion, but the rock n’ roll lifestyle of a Hollywood movie star. Vincent Chase might be the only true celebrity of the group, but that didn’t stop his friends from reaping the benefits, or the audience from tagging along.
The series started out a bit superficially – the first season was more about booze, bud and banging hot women than the relationships between Vince and his friends – but over the years, “Entourage” has become a more complete package with rewarding storylines to balance out all the cool toys, exotic locations and celebrity cameos. Not that we still don’t like all of that, because we’ve been big fans from the start. Check out all of our “Entourage”-related coverage below, including actor profiles and DVD reviews of the first six seasons.
Features
HBO Bids Adieu to “Entourage” After Eight Seasons
Will Vincent Chase and Co. come out on top? Jason Zingale previews the eighth and final season of the HBO comedy series.
Interviews
Jamie-Lynn Sigler Interview
Jamie-Lynn had a fun set if guest appearances on “Entourgae” as Turtle’s unlikely love interest. We interviewed her about an upcoming movie and she shared this about her “Entourage” experience:
BE: Obviously, you’d done a bit of comedy before, what with having played a version of yourself on “Entourage.” How did that role come about? Did they just approach you and ask, “Hey, are you up for poking a bit of fun at yourself,” or what?
JLS: It was actually just supposed to be a one-off cameo. I had actually spoken to Doug Ellin a couple of years prior about doing a cameo, because I was such a fan of the show, but while I was doing “The Sopranos,” it just wasn’t…it didn’t really work to do a crossover at the time. But once we finished filming, Doug had said, “You know, I’d love to bring you on, I have this idea.” And I said, “Great,” because on “Entourage,” whenever anyone plays themselves, it’s always going to poke fun at an idea of you. You’re never really going to be playing your true self. So when I did that one episode, he said, “Hey, I have an idea where maybe we could do a couple more episodes, if you’d be interested!” And I said, “Sure,” ‘cause I’d had such a great time, so I did even more…and then he had the idea to bring me back for the full season, and he had this idea of Turtle finally getting a girlfriend and sort of being the only one out of the guys who doesn’t have lady trouble. And I thought it was really funny and a good idea, and, again, I had such a good time. Plus, I’d just moved to L.A., so it was a perfect opportunity for me to be living here and getting to know here and working on a show that’s all about Hollywood. It felt like the perfect way to kind of break me in as well, and I had a blast on the show.
Cast Profile Pages
Jeremy Piven
His portrayal of super-agent (and, quite often, super-asshole) Ari Gold has earned Jeremy Piven three Emmys.
Emmanuelle Chriqui
In part because of her work as Eric Murphy’s on-again, off-again love interest, Sloan McQuewick, Chriqui’s star has been on the rise for years.
Blog
We follow along with each episode in our “Entiurage” blog.
Resources
Interview with creator Doug Ellin
Love this interview as Doug gets into the background behind the show.