The boys are back in town with all their crude jokes, sophomoric behavior and questionable taste – and young male viewers are rejoicing.
The posse on “Entourage” are back from the abyss, rebounding from the depression suffered at the end of last season at the thought that their Hollywood gravy train might jump the tracks.
Once again the sexy young actor and his hangers-on are partying through life on and off the red carpet. They’ve never spent more on toys, never been in a better position to take advantage of girls, never sauntered more brazenly to a blaring backbeat.
And, of course, they’ve never been more inept or infantile.
HBO’s “Entourage” returns Sunday for a third season. The satirical half-hour take on Hollywood stardom and the homeboys along for the ride continues to appeal mainly to a certain demographic – maybe you have to be male and born after the Reagan administration.
After all the manipulations by his agent, posturing by his posse and screaming of his loyal fans, Vince (Adrian Grenier) is about to be tested at the box office.
Will “Aquaman,” his movie, “open” – that is, score enough millions of dollars on the first weekend in release? Could it rank near or even ahead of “Spiderman”?
Or will Vince’s celebrity evaporate and with it the free cars, free babes, and free bling that constitute the good life for the young actor and his crew?
Even though they deny it, Vince and his peeps are at home partying with high schoolers. Even though he would deny it, their relentless agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) is more comfortable hanging with the boys than home with his wife, Mrs. Ari, who competes for his attention with the ever-ringing cellphone.
The conscience of the group, Eric, played by Kevin Connolly (“Antwone Fisher”), tries to steer his best friend Vince toward something resembling an adult future. But it’s tough going.
Kevin Dillon, younger brother of Oscar-nominee Matt, continues to parody his own situation as Johnny, the half-brother of the big star. Johnny constantly reminds everyone that he is an actor, too. Dillon consistently overacts the loser tone.
As the season opens, Johnny and Turtle (Jerry Ferrarra) are giving away movie premiere tickets to babes on the street whom they find physically worthy. Naturally they have discriminating tastes in this regard.
“She’s top-tall,” Johnny says of one passerby.
Piven is the reason to watch for those not smitten with Grenier and his fetching long hair. Ari, the shark of an agent, has plans for “Aquaman: The Ride” and beyond. Between screaming at his devoted assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee), and doing push-ups on his office floor, Ari ruins his daughter’s flirtation with a young actor.
Ari’s evolved theory of parenting: “In this town, as long as I keep her off an ‘E! True Hollywood Story’ I’ve done my job.”
His daughter and the actor are only 13. But Ari calculates that, “13 in celebrity years, that’s like 30.”
Insufferable industry jargon pours from the 13-year-old boy’s mouth. The twisted values and ridiculous excesses are dramatized to sick comic effect. And just when you think the level of self-indulgence has nowhere to go, the writers amp up the decadence and mindless materialism.
So far this season, the very pregnant Debi Mazar (“Goodfellas”) is underused as Shawna, Vince’s publicist.
Loyal fans of the show get a kick out of the fact that executive producer “Marky” Mark Wahlberg (the rapper and Calvin Klein underpants model turned actor) borrowed heavily from his life and that of other young Hollywood arrivals to construct the series.
Skeptics agree a little goes a long way. The joke threatened to grow stale some time ago. Watching the first three episodes of the third season made me miss “Action,” the failed 1999 Fox sitcom starring Jay Mohr, all over again. That comedy was a sharper satire of showbiz culture.
But if you overlook the sexist, one-note tone, there’s Grenier for eye candy and Piven for amusement.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
