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ENTOURAGE: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON (HBO)

There continues to be no reason why Entourage should be as much fun as it is. Another fancy-looking show about what it’s 'really like' working in Hollywood, with all the glitz, glamour, drugs, push-up bras, and dueling egos one can imagine.

Haven’t we been here before?

But Entourage’s greatest asset is that it convinces you to fall in love with it even though you moan and groan about its recycled plot lines and half-cooked narrative constructions. I suppose Entourage fits into that hate-to-love-it category of television where one knows the stuff is mundane and dumb as dirt but you watch six episodes in a row regardless.

The show follows picture-perfect Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a hot-as-the-sun up-and-coming star who doesn’t go anywhere without his… can you guess? Can you guess? Anyway, his entourage consists of his manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), his brother Drama (Kevin Dillon), and his all-around guy Turtle (Jerry Ferrara); each play a part in Vincent’s seemingly meteoric rise to the top of the Hollywood peaks. But the guy really pulling the strings is Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), the kind of agent who could probably order a vegetarian pizza and organize a mob takeover of Las Vegas in the same phone call.

And where the show's fourth season showcased more than a little hamster-wheel redundancy, I found The Complete Fifth Season to a veritable hoot, with new adventures and intriguing character developments. The ridiculous start to the season - with Ari hunting Vincent down on a remote beach - quickly burns off, and we're left with different questions posed to the narrative status quo of the show. Will Vincent be able to shed his newly-unbankable sheen and return to the kind of performance that both earns him a lot of money and offers him artistic integrity? Will Turtle really be able to keep things going with his new girlfriend? Could Drama be more of a prissy whiner than he is on his new television show?

The moral of the story is that Entourage is not genre-defining television, but the series manifests a charm that is inescapably enjoyable. I can't necessarily defend it, but I do love watching.

Video/Audio: These 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers are perfectly fine, just as they were on earlier seasons of the show on DVD. The show has a great, crisp feel to it, thanks to an excellent handling of finely grained detail and a lovely color scheme (both skin tones and more saturated hues come through brilliantly). Black levels are consistent and firm, and the transfers are clean and without blemish. Entourage also continues to sport a bold set of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes that accentuates the show’s narrative with panache. Dialogue is crisp and clean, sound effects come through with pristine fidelity and heft (and are also not tethered to the center channel, which is nice), atmospherics are ever-present (what a great, subliminal way to involve your audience in your show), and even the show’s music tracks don’t drown out everything else in the soundscape.

French 5.1 and Spanish 2.0 tracks are included, as are English, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: We get three screen-specific audio commentaries featuring Kevin Connolly, Doug Ellin, Jerry Ferrara, Adrian Grenier and Ally Musika, as well as a featurette entitled Celebrity Factor (10:00). These are enjoyable bonuses to a degree, but they manifest a thinness that makes them seem like one-offs. Fans will be left hoping for more here

Final Thoughts: Perhaps not worth a run-out-and-buy-it-right-now recommendation, Entourage: The Complete Fifth Series is nevertheless a helluva good time. The show continues to look and sound great on DVD, to boot. If you're looking for a new series to dive into during the summer rerun season, Entourage is a good place to start.

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