Entourage: Let's Blog It Out

By Mark La Monica

Just about every entertainment and/or trendy hipster magazine the past two weeks has had the boys from "Entourage" on the cover. Newsday and The Daily News put the cast on their front covers this Sunday, typically the biggest circulated papers of the week.

Stories about the HBO show, which began its third season a few hours ago, were everywhere this week as the slow-building buzz from the past two seasons has grown into the boulder chasing down Indiana Jones at the beginning of "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

All the hype creates an opportunity for disappointment. Sort of like the Super Bowl. Roughly 411 hours of pre-game coverage rarely produces an exciting game for fans who don't root for either of the teams playing.

The first episode was no Super Bowl. It had just the right amount of its core ingredients as creator Doug Ellin brings viewers into a third season. It was exactly as good as it is supposed to be.

Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) is still Johnny Drama, always coming up with some ridiculous theory about something and providing the show's more amusing moments.

We get to see the beginnings of a new side of Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), from his new office at his new agency to more personal scenes at home with Mrs. Ari. Although, I get the feeling there's going to be more tension between Ari and E in the coming episodes and that Ari might come close to getting fired by Vince again.

The show's first episode took a softer approach, what with the introduction of the crew's moms. But what wasn't lacking was the show's brilliant writing. Shows as terrific as "Entourage" get by on their scripts. Eventually, the hot chicks and the sex and the hot cars and the sex with the hot chicks in the hot cars gets old. Don't believe me? Ask yourself this question: Is Maxim still a worthwhile magazine to read? Not so much.

If Ellin and the rest of the show's writers stay true to the nature of the show's concept, we'll have plenty more enjoyable Sunday nights.