HBO’s Entourage Premieres Sunday

By Amanda Pendolino on July 9th, 2009

Now that Michael Jackson memorial mania is winding down (it is, right? please?), it’s time to pretend you have a personal connection to another celebrity: Vinnie Chase! Everyone’s favorite fake star is back for the sixth season of Entourage, which premieres this Sunday at 10:30 on HBO.

Fans are cautiously optimistic this time around; while the reruns of 30 Rock and The Office have us craving new comedy, last season left a bit of a question mark hovering above the show. Vince’s career went spiraling downhill when he butted heads with a snobby European director on Smoke Jumpers and ultimately got fired. He went home to Queens, defeated, and ended up firing his manager and best friend, E. Some of the episodes turned downright serious, especially with Vinnie and E’s personal and professional relationship leaving them at odds. One ended with Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” playing over a majestic shot of a landing plane. I love me some melancholy Thom Yorke, but come on…not in Entourage! Jeremy Piven’s congratulatory mantra, “Hug it out, bitch!” describes the appropriate amount of emotional depth we expect.

There’s reason to be excited, though; at the end of last season, Vinnie landed a Martin Scorcese movie, rehired E and is now back at the top of his game. In the romantic world, there’s still hope for E and Sloan – and, let’s admit it, if Turtle can bang Jamie-Lynn Sigler both on screen and in real life, there’s hope for us all. This season, Entourage promises the usual Hollywood glitz, Jeremy Piven’s crazy Emmy-winning outbursts, and maybe even a promotion for Lloyd (assistants rejoice!). Let’s just hope it doesn’t feel like we’re pacing back and forth on the same old red carpet.