The Same ENTOURAGE: HBO Kicks Off Season 6 of the Hit Series

Less a television series than a highly addictive drug, HBO's deliriously entertaining "Entourage" kicks off its sixth season on Sunday, July 12 (10:30 PM).  With its energy, flash, humor and fast-paced storytelling, "Entourage" is entertainment even the most challenged members of the short-attention span generation should find satisfying.  Each 30-minute episode always seems to fly by in half the time, and season six is shaping up the same way.

Season five saw young movie star Vincent Chase's (Adrian Grenier) career on life support after one horrific decision left him far on the outside looking in.  Unable to find work and plagued by self-doubt, it appeared Vince's ride at the top would be short-lived...until he landed the starring role in Martin Scorsese's next film, "Gatsby."

In the new season's first episode, "Drive," written by series creator Doug Ellin, Vince is in the midst of promoting "Gastby," culminating with an appearance on Leno, and is also getting ready for his driver's license test in preparation for his upcoming role as Enzo Ferrari.  The native New Yorker shares a huge Hollywood home with his lifelong friends Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Eric aka "E" (Kevin Connolly), who is also Vince's manager.  A frequent visitor at the home is Vince's older brother, Johnny "Drama" (Kevin Dillon), a B-list actor enjoying something of a career resurgence with a successful run on a TV series.  And of course Vince's agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), is up to his usual comically abusive tricks as a partner at the elite Miller Gold Agency.

Following season five's myriad ups and downs, the four friends are all now doing well.  Perhaps most unexpectedly, perpetual hanger-on Turtle is in the beginning stages of a relationship with actress Jami-Lynn Sigler (playing herself).  Everyone is doing so well, in fact, it seems they may be ready to stop depending on Vince as much, a change the insecure star could have difficulty adjusting to.  Eric contemplates moving into his own place, an idea his ex-girlfriend Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui), who sporadically reappears in his life, suggests.  Ari continues to groom his former mentor and new Miller Gold agent, Andrew Klein (Gary Cole), into a massive success.  At the same time, his assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) demands a promotion after three long years on his desk. 

Episode two, "Amongst Friends" (perhaps a reference to the film executive producer Rob Weiss wrote and directed in the early '90s?), takes place on the day of the "Gatsby" premiere.  The guys help Eric move into his new house, and he makes the suspect decision to invite Sloan as his "friend" to the premiere.  Obviously still hung up on the woman, he wrestles with the idea of confronting her with his feelings.  The situation gets more awkward when Eric runs into a woman (Alexis Dziena) he has been dating at the premiere's afterparty. Meanwhile, Ari and his wife (Perrey Reeves) attempt to become friends with the Kleins (the wives had never met), but Andrew's affair with a young co-worker undermine their efforts.

Ellin and his writers have an inside perspective on the entertainment industry, but they translate it in very broad terms.  What makes the series so accessible is how the characters, even movie star Vince, are so relatable.  And what helps keep them likeable is that it's so easy to tell how much they care about each other. They're all flawed, sympathetic to a degree, but the creative team acutely understands the series' limits.  No problems are ever too complex, and the interpersonal relationships never get too deep. The show rarely tries to grasp beyond its reach -- the few times it has, the results have been disappointing -- and that works greatly to its advantage.

Usually by the time a television series is lucky enough to reach its sixth season, the proverbial shark had been jumped long ago, but most fans are too invested in the characters to break ties with the program.  On the other hand, "Entourage," without reinventing itself at all (any change in the characters is nominal), continues to find ways to make the same formula feel fresh.  There's a breezy, effortless quality to the series that lends itself to easy consumption.  Detractors may argue that it's all sugar with no nourishing aspect, but I think of it as a piece of gum that, regardless of how long you've chewed it, refuses to lose flavor.

HBO, which will air "Entourage after "True Blood" and its promising new comedy "Hung," is offering its subscribers a compelling case to stay home on Sunday nights this summer.