ari gold

I've talked at length in the past about how much I've loved all the creative taglines Entourage has featured over it's previous five seasons. They're short and witty, yet the brevity always gets across the point of the season too. The latest promotional campaign for Entourage's upcoming sixth season is no exception:

"Life changes. Friends don't."

When we last left Vinny and the boys, they were gearing up for Marty Scorsese's Great Gatsby re-imagining and it began with moving home to Queens. Speculation seems to be leaning towards Vince finally getting his due and being recognized for what's sure to be a stand-out performance in a Scorsese classic.

E!'s Watch With Kristen is reporting that Zac Efron will be joining the Entourage gang for season six. Well, maybe not exactly joining the gang, but at least making a cameo on the HBO show.

Ok, so the question is, will he be playing himself? One of Ari Gold's newest It-Guys? An excitable young actor who tussles with Johnny Drama? My guess is that Efron will be playing himself, because he's becoming the Next Big Thing in Hollywood -- if he isn't already there.

And it just makes sense, because so many other stars have appeared as themselves on the show; notably, James Woods, though I've always wondered if he's as hot-headed as they make him out to be on the show. If so, he has quite the sense of humor about himself.

As one of the few hits that's currently keeping HBO afloat, Entourage is still only a modest success - it's recent fifth season premiere hit a three-year low. Despite the lackluster ratings, HBO still gave the greenlight to a sixth season much earlier than expected... because, well, they don't have much else going on right now.

That being said, I'm a huge fan of the show and have been since it began. Yes, I'm one of the few that actually tuned in for the mostly ignored eight episode freshman season. I honestly don't see HBO pulling the plug without a true series finale at this stage in the series, but weirder things have happened and I want season six to roar back. So if you watch the show, great - glad to know you weren't part of that "three-year low" I mentioned. But if you used to watch Entourage, or never have, then this will be good for ya - the only six episodes you need to watch to know just what the heck is going on in the world of Vincent Chase.

(S05E12) "She's treating me like she usually treats Johnny." - Vince

Things certainly weren't looking good for Vince. But in true Entourage style, something always works out. Despite the fact that this was one of the strongest episodes of the season, I really wish it had ended differently.

Here's an appointment to the President-elect Barack Obama's new administration that should really make Hardball's Chris Matthews happy. He's hired Ari Gold's brother -- sort of. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, has accepted the job as White House Chief of Staff, and the Congressman's brother Ari Emanuel is the inspiration for Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on Entourage.

Just like Ari on HBO, Ari Emanuel is Hollywood's toughest agent and Endeavor Talent Agency is the tops in the business. Ari's brother Rahm has a reputation for being just as ambitious, aggressive and forceful. He likes to play hardball and has been known to twist arms and bust heads, metaphorically, to get things done.

(S05E02) "No indies E! Think of it like the Holocaust - never again!" - Ari

Ever since the beginning of Entourage, I've been waiting for this episode. As much as I love Vince, it's been a long time coming for his "I'll do whatever the hell I want" mentality to finally come full circle and bite him in the ass. His career is in the toilet, Ari even admitted that his worth as an actor "remains to be seen," and E is officially taking his own career more seriously. If Vince wants a comeback, then it's going to be up to him and I love that it's been set up that way. Up until now, his failures have been a direct result partly because of his reliance on Eric and partly because of his own laissez-faire, "what will be will be" attitude. If he screws it all up now, it's his own fault.

(S05E01) "Our next film is Medellin - the ultra-violent story of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar starring Vincent Chase in a fat-suit in bad make-up that makes him look like the love child of Jiminy Glick and a case of Twinkies." - Richard Roeper

Ouch. It's been six months since Cannes, Medellin is getting a straight-to-DVD release, and people are still talking about it. One of the worst films of the year. I can't say that I'm surprised. Considering how last season ended and what we've come to expect from Entourage, this felt less like a season premiere and more like just another episode. Vincent Chase can only stay down and out hidden in Mexico for so long before the allure of his almost dead career came calling.

Last season on Entourage, when Vincent Chase decided to put his own money into Medellin it was a major risk and he knew it. He was rolling the dice on his career, taking a leap of faith by choosing to do a controversial biography of a vicious Colombian drug lord. In Spanish. Directed by a hot-headed genius/madman named Billy Walsh.

Vinney was playing with dynamite. It wasn't good for Vincent's career, but it was great for Entourage. Failure is always funnier than success, isn't it?

Well, as bad as viewers thought Medellin seemed to be based on the brief scenes we saw last season, in the September 7th premiere on HBO, the media weighs in. At the Movies' critics Michael Phillips and Richard Roeper filmed a fictional review of Medellin to be shown in season premiere of Entourage, and it's not good. In fact, if they were stilling using the thumb-o-meter, Medellin would get two big thumbs-down.

Have you been jonesing for the entourage from Entourage? Do you need a little Ari Gold to get your blood flowing? Well, new shows aren't coming back until September (thanks to the writers' strike), but HBO is giving fans a chance to enjoy the most recent shows starting tomorrow, July 4th. Every Friday at 10 p.m. (ET) on, HBO will replay season 3: part 2, and season 4.

That's good to know -- especially in these dog days of summer TV -- but if you want to know what's going to happen next, read on. Both Jerry Ferarra and Kevin Connolly, Turtle and E, got a little chatty with OK! magazine's Oliver Coleman.

If you don't want to know how things are going to unfold in season five, don't read after the jump.

As we told you last week, RedEye is in the middle of their annual Best Character on Television tournament, and now we're into the second round. It looks like some strong favorites have emerged, while some fan favorites have been voted off the island.

That wouldn't include Don Draper from Mad Men (who lost to Jermaine and Bret from from Flight of the Conchords), Morgan Grimes from Chuck (who lost to Michael Scott from The Office), or Captain Jack Harkness from Torchwood. He actually lost to Herbert from Family Guy. That has to be embarrassing.

(S04E12) "In France, I'm a Viking god." - Drama

Medellin. We've been talking about it all season. We've seen clips, a ridiculously good trailer for the film, and even a "making of" documentary. Despite all the positive hype, we've only had one question: what if it sucks? Well guess what? It sucks... a lot. Amidst a frantic and hyper crowd at Cannes, Medellin's screening worked like a sedative. Only Billy and Vince seemed to be enjoying the film as if they were in on some joke. It even garnered a few "boos." To be honest, it felt anti-climactic to me if only because this was exactly what I've been expecting. This was the only logical outcome. Everything always comes up roses for this crew. They needed a reality check and this proved to be the perfect vehicle for it.

(S04E11) "Ninety-seven minutes, E." - Drama

It just keeps getting better. Like everyone else, I've complained here and there about some of the mediocre episodes that have aired this summer. However, it's hard to stay angry when we get one like this. It was perfect really. Hands down, one of the best written episodes of Entourage -- spanning all four seasons. Think about it. When was the last episode that flawlessly integrated every character into the action as well as guest spots from Kanye West, Sydney Pollack, and Anna Faris?

(S04E10) "I like being E." - Turtle

Back to the season. This episode did what we like to call "advance the plot." Remember the plot? This show had one at one point, and as much as I've enjoyed the past few episodes exploring E's choices, I'm glad we finally got back to what the show is all about: Vince's career. Another cool factor? Eric had nothing to do with it this time around. As many folks predicted in last week's poll, right out of the gate E seemed to be focusing his energy on Anna and putting Vince on the back-burner. Doubt very much that'll last too long.

(S04E09) "Looks like someone found some fresh meat at the market." - Drama

Once again, another episode that didn't really have anything major going on. It was good though. It had some funny story lines and kept up with this trend of character development. We got tons this time around from Eric, Mrs. Ari, Vince, and Drama. Overall, the show is really establishing itself as more than just the story of Vince. It's broadening out in all directions, and even though I'm looking forward to the culmination of the season at Cannes, I'm looking forward to where everyone else ends up too.

I swear I tried to come up with a creative title for this post, but sometimes simplicity is best. We had to wait almost a year for the concluding half of Entourage's third season. It kept getting put off again and again, and I think it was because HBO wanted to keep it in line with the return of The Sopranos. Whatever. My point is that you'd think with all the re-scheduling, that the DVD set would hit the shelves quicker. No dice.

The set for season three, part two won't be in stores until October 2. Besides having to wait that long, you'd at least expect it to cost a little less, right? After all, it was only 8 episodes just like the first season. Wrong again. Expect to pay the same price that the longer seasons go for. Around thirty bucks. I wish I could say something exciting about some great special feature to make it seem like a worthwhile deal, but as with the other sets, I'm sure there will only be a few audio commentaries. I'm complaining, but of course I'm going to buy it. Part of me just wishes they had released the whole third season as one giant set and added a few featurettes or cast interviews. Something extra would have been nice.

[Thanks to reader Cam for the tip!]