It's a put on...

I recently rewatched the HBO series "Entourage" over again. I remember liking the show when it originally aired. So the thought of rewatching it was exciting to me. I remember it as being a fun show about fame and "making it". A little peek under the skirt of Hollywood stardom. Showing all sides, the talent (Vincent Chase), the "hangers on" (Turtle), management (Eric), the business side (Ari Gold), and the almost was/family (Johnny Drama). And then they'd sprinkle in the ancillary guest stars/regulars to fill in the holes to tell the whole story or make one long gay joke (Lloyd!).

If you liked the show, stop reading now. If you're curious, read on...

I'm not gonna bury the headline here, I fucking hate this show after rewatching it. Don't say I didn't warn you. If you're thinking about rewatching it: my recommendation is don't. Why? It's the same story season after season. And the first season was fun; it was a new story and hooked you along the way. Vinny needs a role, will he get one? He spends a lot of money on shit (cars, houses, other stupid shit) and smokes a lot of weed. Eric and Ari try to steer him in the direction they want him to go. Turtle tries to do better and step out of Vinny's large shadow while being Vinny's errand boy and smoking a lot of weed. As does Drama, but Drama's gonna Drama and fuck it all up. He gets the role he wants and proves everyone wrong. He makes lots of money, no one learns anything, lather, rinse, repeat.

And maybe because there was so much time in between episodes and seasons, we accepted this as being good television. But binge-watching it left me confused and annoyed. Didn't I watch this episode already? I hadn't, but it was the same story arc from last season with a few new characters. Like, let's have Turtle date Rhonda Rousey or Meadow Soprano, as if either of them would date his character. They might date him in real life (like Jerry Ferrara and Jamie-Lynn Sigler did) but as their characters, I just don't buy it.

I also had to suffer through the movie after finishing the television series, because how could I not? I can sum it up in two words: The first is "Dumpster". And the second is "Fire". Again it was basically the same arc as the TV show only they had to cram everything in 90 minutes instead of 12 to 20 episodes. I know what happened to them afterward because I've seen seasons 1-8.

The only cool thing to come out of the whole thing was that it introduced to me an obscure song by The Who called "Eminence Front". They used it at the end of the movie and it just worked so damn perfectly. The opening keyboard lick is just amazing. And in the movie, it helps show this sort of chaos of a movie premier perfectly. I had to Shazam it on my phone when I heard it. I'm a fan of The Who and especially Pete Townsend. (Check out his Psychoderelict concept album. So good.) But I hadn't heard this song before.

I've been listening to the song on repeat some days while I work in my office. I especially love the live versions I can find on YouTube. I'll never be able to actually see The Who live but it's kind of like I already have. So crank it up and enjoi!