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Hollywood hubris blows up in Entourage finale, some thoughts

By April MacIntyre Sep 13, 2010, 18:05 GMT

Will you miss Drama? - Kevin Dillon - SAG Foundation Inaugural Golf Classic at Lakeside Golf Club in Burbank - Lakeside Golf Club - Burbank, CA, USA © Amanda Meredith / PR Photos

All excess corrects itself, why would "Entourage" be any different?

For years, we have watched Vince and his merry band of Queens' brothers live the high life in the big house, frat-style, and the fellas make their own fortunes off of Vince's fame and position in the town. 

Perks galore are ripe for the taking by the famous; those with the big paychecks are given most luxury items for free, just for the product placement, and people comp them left and right in Tinseltown.

Gifting suite, anyone?

So don't cry for Vinny Chase (Adrian Grenier), reality comes crashing down and the old lesson of never believing your own press comes back around like a boomerang.

Even Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven, always spot on) has his ballooning hubris checked.

From the season that "Entourage" began, based on Executive Producer Mark Wahlberg's actual life, it was imbued with bros and hos, effervescent male bonding flush with cash and easy opportunities.

Well, the high life and easy street do not make for super interesting telly, but drug problems, bad choices in lifestyles and girlfriends (wooden actress and porn star Sasha Grey) do.  Add to that the cockamamie business ventures that blow up (Turtle, anything he proposes) combined with lots of schadenfreude and good old fashioned Hollywood jealousies which make the smallscreen action much more watchable.

Great guest stars that are cast in believable situational cameos for Vince & Co., combined with life's natural gravity of pulling down the clueless, ego-laden and downright unlikable have all made 'Entourage" a nice snapshot of the industry town that truly operates on its own otherworldly coda from any other types of business.

E (Kevin Connolly) for me has been the most watchable and interesting character with regards to growth, and as someone who once worked in a talent agency and around managers like E, he feels the most realistic.  E is nuts and bolts, sober and has an ego but manages to keep it in perspective, whereas Vince has lost his compass. 

Also enjoyable is seeing Lloyd's (Rex Lee) character break through the assistant on desk Hell, he is now Drama's (Kevin Dillon) RA (responsible agent) and the two are paired well for energy in scene after scene.

Just when "Entourage" is getting good for me, they go and end its run.

It was announced at the last TCA's (Television critics association press junket) that the eighth season of the hit HBO series will be its last, ending in 2011. The season will also be cut short, only including six episodes.