Monday, September 03, 2007

Entourage Chums Stink Like Shark Bait

When did Entourage 'jump the shark'?

Was there a specific scene? Or has it just fallen victim to a lightweight premise worn way too thin?


In the Season Four finale, the boys go to Sundance, I mean, Cannes, for the premiere of Vinnie's new film 'Medellin'. Of course it bombs...what else could possibly happen? But like nearly every other episode this year, the show tries to spin the positive at the end...with Ari and crew (and shows writers) clinging to Vinnie's mantra: 'Everything always works out.'

I can't remember a series where for an entire season I felt like I was watching a retread of previous episodes. Every beat felt familiar, every turn expected, every line of dialogue merely a slight variation of something said before...sad. Because Entourage's candle burned bright for a lot of the first three cycles. But I knew I was done when I found myself flipping to the weather channel to check tomorrows forecast in the middle of last night's season finale. I was that indifferent...and bored.

For me, the shark jump came in this season's penultimate episode...the one where the gang was trying to get to Cannes but no flights were available. Their chance to fly with director Sidney Pollack falls through, and then, lo and behold...Kayne West wanders through the airport about to leave for the UK on his own private jet (with plenty of room, of course).

"You boys want a lift?" (cue Kayne's new song to play over the close, just one more big ad for Los Angeles and its entertainment community). This sort of stunt felt fresh once. Now it just felt obvious, and tired.

Say goodbye to Hollywood...say goodbye to my Entourage baby.


EDIT: Course if they were to bring back Sloan (Canadian-born Emmanuelle Chriqui) in a prominent way, I might be convinced to feel otherwise...

5 comments:

Emily Blake said...

I think there have been some terrific episodes this season. But sadly, the finale was not one of them.

I think it's because we need way more
Lloyd. More Lloyd and everything will be fine. That should be Vinne's motto.

Anonymous said...

time to hire on some new spec writers and juice the mother up

Peter said...

Entourage has really gone down hill this season. I quit once they started giving Ari irrelevant fluff (like his kids school). He was great when he stole scenes, not so much when he's already in all of them.

Also doesn't hurt that there are some other new showbiz comedies to turn to (I'm still going through the first season of 30 Rock...Tina Fey's awesome).

Juniper said...

I just got the chum reference, very clever Mr. Dixon....

Tim W. said...

This season definitely hasn't been the best, but there have been some great episodes. The Dream Team episode, I think, easily ranks among the best. The finale wasn't great, but I didn't think it was bad.

Taking a break (which they are) will hopefully re-energize the writers. If not, I'm always available.