Not everything ages well. The 2004 HBO satirical drama Entourage is the perfect embodiment of this, as cast and crew members have come out over the years to speak about their experiences on the testosterone-driven series. Entourage seemed to have disappeared from the general consciousness, but it’s seeing renewed interest twenty-one years after the pilot episode aired. According to FlixPatrol, the series is the most-watched on Apple TV worldwide at the time of writing, climbing to number one in Canada and the United States.
Created by Doug Ellin, Entourage focuses on a group of young men trying to make it in Hollywood. At the center is Vincent “Vinnie” Chase (Adrian Grenier), a young, attractive, up-and-coming actor who takes his childhood friends on his journey to stardom. In his inner circle are his older brother Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), an actor who never got his big break and relies on his younger brother’s success, Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), Vinnie’s best friend and later manager, and Salvatore “Turtle” Assante (Jerry Ferrara) Vinnie’s assistant and driver who later turns to business. And there lies one of the show’s biggest criticisms: a lack of gender balance. In trying to satirize Hollywood, Entourage became the very thing it criticized.
The Many Criticisms of ‘Entourage’
Any social issue that comes to mind, Entourage stands accused of — misogyny, homophobia, sexual assault, and toxic masculinity. The show, even when on air, was panned for its portrayal of women. It objectified, ridiculed, and abused women for entertainment’s sake. Storylines like Ari Gold’s (Jeremy Piven) treatment of female acquaintances or his gay assistant spilled over into the real world, with Debi Mazar and Rex Lee calling out the Entourage set for being misogynistic and homophobic. Ellin thinks that the show was being judged harshly through a modern lens, as he said in a 2021 interview with Yahoo Entertainment.
The creator called out HBO for “burying” the series on HBO Max, saying that he “resents [that decision] tremendously.” He criticized the network for caving to a “wave of righteous PC culture” that has risen in the years the show has not been on the air. “Nobody says that aboutThe Sopranos, where they murder people, that maybe we should readdress whether murdering people on TV is OK,” Ellin said. “I don’t want to sound obnoxious or that I’m looking at Entourageas high art, but it was a pretty accurate portrayal of how people [acted] at that time in Hollywood.” However, if given another opportunity, the visionary would make some changes. He explained:
“I don’t think Entourage was this vulgar boyfest that people like to paint it as now. When we came out, the New York Times said we were the smartest show on television! If we did reboot the show, it’s not that I would make it any more PC, but I would write it to the best of my abilities to reflect the reality of the world right now.”
HBO has not expressed interest in rebooting Entourage yet. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
