IS “Entourage” too sensitive for its own good? Hyped as a behind-the-scenes look at the wild, debauched life of a young, newly minted Hollywood star and his posse of hangers-on, HBO’s “Entourage” (based on the early showbiz experiences of executive producer Mark Wahlberg) has more than a few things in common with the network’s departed female raunch-fest “Sex and the City” -except, as it turns out, actual sex.
Like “Sex and the City,” “Entourage” is about four friends (Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Connolly and Adrian Gre-nier) who meet for brunch to discuss their dating dilemmas, buy things they can’t afford (in this case, cars instead of shoes) and capitulate to the whims of their ditzy ringleader (movie star Vince instead of columnist Carrie).
Yet “Entourage” is, surprisingly, way more tame than “Sex and the City” ever was -so far, all the sex has taken place off-camera, and the guys’ biggest vices seem to be beer and bong hits. “It’s HBO -you expect to see topless girls running around and people doing coke off tables,” says Jeremy Campbell, 27. “The show seems like it’s geared toward 16-year-old girls.”
In fact, “Entourage” may turn out to be HBO’s stealth weapon in holding on to female viewers who are either turned off by the “The Sopranos” or who don’t find the gloomy “Six Feet Under” or the out-there “Ali G Show” all that appealing.
Right before “Entourage” debuted, HBO chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht predicted that it would “be the next big comedy” on the network. (It was, despite picked up for a second season before the first episode aired.)
Still, it’s been marketed as voyueristic ride for young male viewers -the show’s promos featured Vince and his crew hopping out of limos and cannon-balling into pools followed by the tagline, “Imagine you’re a Hollywood movie star living in a mansion, making millions of dollars, and your best friends are along for the ride.”
But one viewer -who admits to being underwhelmed -says that “Entourage” is secretly seeking to appeal to women more than men.
“‘Sex and the City’ was different, because it was empowering -the girls were making the decisions about sex,” says 29-year-old musician Chris Mills. “If ‘Entourage’ was just about a bunch of guys banging girls in a big house, it would be offensive and degrading. They have to play that down -otherwise it’s just a show about a bunch of rich shallow guys acting like pricks.”
Even exec producer Wahlberg admits that his own entourage was much more wild and unrestrained. He was recently quoted as saying that in the early days, “there was a lot of physical violence between us -you’d punch somebody out and make up afterward.”
So far, fights on “Entourage” have been limited to teasing one sad-sack character about his lingering heartbreak.
The action has been toned down to such a degree that, incredibly, in last week’s episode, the otherwise inarticulate Vince gently and politely turned down the overtures of a Britney-Spears-like pop tart, saying he couldn’t handle “the responsibility.”
Mills says that scene made him laugh.
“He’s playing her,” he says, chuckling. “It’s his ‘in.'”
Another fan holds out hope that as the series progresses, the faux-sensitivity on display will give way to the sex, drugs and debauchery that is aching to burst forth.
“They’re only two episodes in,” says 37-year-old Gary Schwartz. “I think once it gets going, it’ll get raunchier -raunchier than anything Kim Cattrall ever did on ‘Sex and the City.'”
Wanna bet?
