Entourage-Complete First Season (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Series creator Doug Ellin and producer Larry Charles Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	207:19 (Case: 206)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Kevin Connolly Adrian Grenier Kevin Dillon Jerry Ferrara Debi Mazar Jeremy Piven
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	David 'Permashine' Aguirre Natasha Perez

    HBO has produced some of the best television over the past decade; Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Deadwood and Sex & the City have all become modern classics. Unfortunately for most Australians, these programs have not been given the respect they deserve by Australian television (to be more specific the Nine Network) with Sex & the City the only show to be given a decent timeslot and time to find its audience.

    The most recent breakthrough for HBO is Entourage and unfortunately for Australian free to air viewers, Channel 9 didn't even bother showing it and passed the rights to Foxtel/Austar. It has been airing on the Arena channel. The show has now arrived on DVD where hopefully it will find the audience it deserves.

    In short, Entourage is about an up and coming Hollywood star whose entourage includes his two best friends from high school and his older has been actor brother. The show is loosely based on Mark Wahlberg's experiences as his star started to rise and he is also a producer on the show. As such, it is very much about the life of a Hollywood insider; the red carpet premieres, exclusive parties, studio wheeling and dealing as well as the insane amounts of money that can suddenly manifest into someone's life.

    The up and comer is Vincent Chase, who is coolly played by Adrian Grenier. He really is believable as a Hollywood A-lister. His best friend and wannabe manager Eric is played by Kevin Connelly. Vincent's older brother Johnny Drama is played brilliantly by Kevin Dillon (brother to Matt.) The final member of the entourage is Turtle (played by Jerry Ferrara.) The chemistry between the four is amazing, from the first scene of the pilot you believe the camaraderie between them and that they are all school friends who grew up together.

    The other key cast member is Vince's agent Ari Gold, played to Emmy winning effect by Jeremy Piven. Piven is incredibly funny and was certainly born to play the role. He tends to get the best lines and laughs (Dillon gets a lot of laughs too.)

    The show is largely shot on location in various LA hotspots like restaurants, hotels and clubs. If the boys are out shopping, it's not in some studio they are actually out on Rodeo Drive or some other Hollywood location. Cameos also add a lot to the credibility of the show; Jessica Alba, Mark Wahlberg, the blonde from Heroes (whatever her name is) and a few others appear throughout the season.

    The show works on a few levels, look at how the other half live, Hollywood insider, mates/camaraderie.

    Unfortunately the first season is only 8 episodes long, but it's definitely a case of quality over quantity. The show is a lot of fun and leaves you wanting more.

    Highly recommended.

    Disc 1

    101 Pilot (29:07): Vince's new movie co-starring with Jessica Alba is premiering as Eric & Ari tussle over the next step in Vince's career.

    102 The Review (25:34): The boys go shopping for a new car and spend too much money. Then they go to a party at Jessica Alba's house.

    103 Talk Show (27:13): Vince gets invited to be on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show so Turtle and Drama try to make the most of it.

    104 Date Night (25:56): Vince's movie is opening and everyone is concerned about its box office numbers.

    Disc 2

    105 The Script and the Sherpa (24:59): There is a weed drought in LA and Turtle is on a mission. The Sherpa is played by Val Kilmer.

    106 Busey and the Beach (24:55): Drama is trying to get a new agent and there is a run in with Gary Busey.

    107 The Scene (25:30): Eric and Vince are working on closing the deal on his new film when the director inserts a new scene in the script.

    108 New York (30:28): The boys are preparing to head east for filming Vince's new movie, Drama gets some offers, Eric wants to become Vince's manager and Turtle finds a way to make a lot of money.

Video

    The shows are presented in their original broadcast ratio of  1.33:1 and is presented in PAL.

    The video quality is generally very good. The show definitely does not have an 'on set' feel to it. There are a lot of restaurant, shopping, outdoor scenes that add a sense of life that is often lacking in many shows.

    For the most part the transfer is clear and sharp, but there is varying quality between episodes with some appearing a little softer than others.

    Colours tended to be vibrant, reflecting the nature of the show and the way it is filmed. Black levels were good, and skin tones were natural.

    There is a little grain in a few scenes but nothing too major. Thankfully there were no other artefact issues.

    Overall, it's a good transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio track is English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).

    There is nothing really stand out or disappointing about the track - it is fairly middle of the road and probably what you would expect for a modern TV show.

    Entourage is a very dialogue driven show and thankfully it comes through sounding clear. There are no sync, click or pop-out issues.

    Music is mixed quite well and adds a lot to the show. It always comes through relatively well (for a 2.0 track.)

    There was no surround use or sub-woofer.

    There is also a French 2.0 (192Kb/s) track.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

    Disc 1

    Audio Commentary: 

    Series creator Doug Ellin and executive producer Larry Charles discuss the pilot. They discuss the time, effort and energy into getting the show made, the casting and share some behind the scenes anecdotes. It's an entertaining track.

    Disc 2

    Audio Commentary: 

    Series creator Doug Ellin and executive producer Larry Charles discuss Busey at the Beach. They continue talking about the show, getting cameos onboard and some specifics on the Busey episode. Interesting to listen to.

    Audio Commentary: 

    Series creator Doug Ellin and executive producer Larry Charles discuss New York. The two aren't quite as chatty on this episode, but it is still quite an entertaining track.

    Featurette (10:19):

    Pretty standard behind the scenes look at the show. Includes interviews with cast and crew. Too brief for anything other than a very superficial look at the show. Too bad it wasn't 15- 20 minutes longer.

    Sets are identical so let's call it a tie.

    Overall, one of the best new shows of the last few years.

    The video is great.

    Audio isn't bad either.

    Special features are a little on the light side. C'mon HBO, it's only an 8 episode season. How about another commentary or two (with cast) and a longer featurette.

    If you missed it on Arena, you should definitely pick this up.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall