President Obama obviously doesn’t have enough time to watch TV regularly. Well, episodic TV, anyway. But when he does, he’s said in several recent interviews, he tries to catch HBO’s Entourage.
A smart, hip choice, as you’d expect from a sophisticated guy like Obama. I suspect the main reason Obama watches is to catch the latest Hollywood adventures of Rahm Emanuel’s brother, Ari, as played brilliantly (and only possibly fictitiously) by Jeremy Piven.
Rahm’s TV sibling is Hollywood superagent Ari Gold. One wonders if the real-life Ari Emanuel is half as funny or as entertaining as Piven’s caustic, Type-A Ari, who’ s prone to such outrageous outbursts as yelling, “I’ll bet you don’t drive like that in Tiananmen Square, bitch!” from his Porsche on Sunset Boulevard. (Piven’s Ari is an acquired taste, but one Tinseltown apparently relishes.)
Sunday’s much-awaited sixth-season premiere of Entourage (HBO, 10:30 p.m.) has no great shockers. Glamourpuss rising star Vince (Adrian Grenier) has had his career revived by being offered a role in a Scorcese film, Gatsby, and his New York posse is in high spirits.
Kevin Connelly’s “E” is thinking of getting a place of his own, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) is still hanging out with Meadow Soprano (or rather, Jamie-Lynn Siegler), and Drama (Kevin Dillon), Vince’s half-brother, is still a braggart and halfwit.
As usual, Entourage bristles with Hollywood-insider stuff and good comedy writing (something no doubt appreciated by POTUS); starlets wanting a piece of Vince; and, of course, the volcanic Ari. If Piven’s agent character isn’t the most entertaining character on any TV series, I don’t know who is.
Without giving anything away, one major new development this season (I’ve seen the first two epis) is Ari’s gay assistant/punching bag Lloyd’s determination to get a promotion at the Hollywood talent agency after years of taking Ari’s homophobic/racist-like abuse. Rex Lee’s Lloyd has never been assertive, but Lloyd’s had a pep talk with his Dad and he’s putting his foot down.
You go, Lloyd!
By the way, Vince does a guest shot Sunday on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They have to shoot these things a few months ahead of time, of course, and this is your last chance to see Ol’ Lantern Jaw behind his old desk.
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