Roommate BB has watched Entourage extensively. I'd heard of the show here and there, Michael from the Office is a big fan of the show. It was talked about mostly in context of ridiculous things happening in hollywood and how it was on an episode of the show, or discussing 'bro culture' etcetera.
Full disclosure: I'm only in season 2 of the series, the part where [and spoilers spoilers spoilers ahead] the protagonist finally gets a role in the superhero movie and is figuring out the logistics of it. So my critique will be limited, I've only seen the good parts of the show and I write these words with benefit of hindsight, I have the knowledge of the commentary on the following seasons and the movie, and the cultural zeitgeist surrounding it.
It's actually pretty good the first few seasons at least. It's formulaic, that much is quite obvious for anyone who's watched a season or two. So much so that it was a favourite of the online video channels then to be made fun of. The plot can be summarized as: the gang is having fun, the guy needs to do a movie for one reason or another, he gets a movie, the movie tanks he cannot do it for one reason or another, everyone really really freaks out, things are fine, he can do the movie now, and set that on loop. Over and over and over. And while one could see that as a criticism I consider it a strength: that they could take a simple template and just keep escalating conflict week after week, and defuse it right after and keep the charade going on for nine years was quite an achievement. It's specially interesting for me at this point when I'm trying to create suspense and mystery and lead into following chapters, the series is a lesson in how to keep the audience attached.
The one thing I definitely don't like about the show: its treatment of women. There are very few women that are treated like real people, but otherwise in the show's universe women exist only as playthings to the protagonists. And sure you might say hey they have lives too they're empowered this is just the story of five dudes. In that case, fuck those dudes, do they really have no strong relationships with women, no persons of the other gender who enrich their lives and are supports for them etcetera? That was disappointing, just add a few women friends in the show geez directors you don't even need to show them all the time!
The other critique: the show takes place in LA and there's very few to none major black characters. Funny how all the major tv shows happen in cities with a majority black population, and they play minor side characters at best. It was disappointing, though considering the 'era' it was produced in, it was in par with everything else [see: HIMYM, etc etc].
One thing I did uhh like, it's HBO so full-frontal. It's refreshing that sex scenes can show naked people, naked women actually because they were still shy about male full-frontal in those years. Still it's kinda' fresh to see nudity treated normally and not hidden my strategically placed and shaped blankets and pillows.
I am not a big fan, I will not go around telling people to watch it. If they are really curious on what I'm upto I'll let them know it's an okay show and if they have HBO they might want to check it out, it's mildly entertaining. That's it.
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