Television series

Entourage

Name: Entourage
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: 2004
Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon

Other titles called Entourage: the 2015 film.

Comedy

Entourage follows Vince Chase, a newly minted movie star, and the childhood friends who ride along through Hollywood's endless buffet of premieres, deals, and bad decisions. It's a hangout show wearing an industry satire's clothes — breezy, propulsive, more interested in vibes and one-liners than consequences. Best enjoyed for Ari Gold's tirades and the fantasy of fame with your oldest friends still in the room, unbothered by the real cost.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy hanging out with a close-knit crew of friends who bicker and bond, and you like your Hollywood satire gleefully unserious and affectionate about its own vanity.

Skip it if you want sharp, consequential storytelling or a show that treats its women as more than scenery, since the glamour and bravado are the point and can wear thin.

What it asks of you: Half-hour episodes easy to dip into and rarely demand you track a plot or sit with heavy feeling, but eight seasons means settling in for the long haul.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Ballers2015

Same producer DNA, same rhythm — swap movie stardom for the NFL and Vince for Dwayne Johnson's ex-player-turned-agent, surrounded by a crew chasing money, women, and relevance.

But It's basically Entourage with shoulder pads — if the original's shallowness bothered you, this won't fix it.

Curb Your Enthusiasm2000

Same real Hollywood, told through Larry David's misery instead of Vince's charm — cameo-packed, sharper-written, and genuinely funnier about how the industry actually works.

But No ensemble bromance warmth here — it's cringe comedy built around one man's neuroses, not friend-group wish fulfillment.

Californication2007

Another charismatic LA lead chasing sex, success, and self-destruction, with the same breezy wish-fulfillment engine but actual heartbreak underneath the fantasy.

But Hank Moody is far more selfish and self-sabotaging than Vince's crew — darker, more explicit, less easy to just hang out with.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Entourage

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Kid Stays in the Picture2002

This is the real history underneath the fantasy — the actual Hollywood producer whose life Entourage's wish-fulfillment world is a softened, funnier echo of.

Robert Evans narrates his own real rise, fall, and rise at Paramount in his own gravelly voice — the actual excess, ego, and studio power games Entourage turns into a sitcom fantasy.

But No plot, no friend group, no jokes written for you — just one man's memory and old photographs, a totally different rhythm.

Vinyl2016

Trade movie stardom for 1970s record-label chaos — same HBO gloss, same crew-around-a-rising-empire structure, dialed up with cocaine and CBGB's.

But Canceled after one season and tonally messier — less fun, more genuinely chaotic than Entourage's easy charm.

Swingers1996

The actual ancestor — Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau as broke actors hustling LA nightlife, funnier and scrappier decades before HBO gave the idea money.

But 90s indie pacing and no gloss whatsoever — might feel slow and dated if you're used to slicker rhythms.

Silicon Valley2014

Same industry-satire machinery, completely different costume — tech bros instead of actors, with a monstrous mogul (Gavin Belson) worthy of Ari Gold.

But Nerdier subject, way less glamour and sex appeal — the comedy is smart rather than aspirational.

House of Lies2012

Don Cheadle runs a fast-talking crew through the corporate consulting world with the same money-fantasy swagger and loyalty dynamics as Vince's team.

But Colder and more cynical — these characters are much harder to actually root for than Entourage's crew.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty2022

Same sun-drenched, ego-fueled LA excess with a huge ensemble, just swapping movie sets for the Forum in the glittering, coked-up 1980s.

But Heavier on basketball history and prestige-drama pacing — less breezy comedy, more sprawling ensemble drama.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty poster

Empire2015

The fame-and-family fantasy relocated to a hip-hop empire, with the same rise-of-a-star energy but soapier, bigger, and far more melodramatic.

But This trades bromance and jokes for family power struggles and operatic plot twists — a much soapier, darker register.

The Comeback2005

Same Hollywood machine, same obsession with staying famous, but it flips the gender, the tone, and the ending — wish fulfillment turned into gutting honesty.

Lisa Kudrow plays a washed-up sitcom actress clawing back toward relevance through her own reality show — the industry satire Entourage never dares to be, and it's devastating.

But It's built entirely on cringe and humiliation — nothing here is aspirational, and it's genuinely uncomfortable to watch at times.

The Bad and the Beautiful1952

Same subject — fame, loyalty, and what Hollywood does to everyone orbiting a star — but from before television made the whole thing a punchline, played dead straight.

A classic studio-era drama about a ruthless producer and the loyal circle he builds, uses, and eventually burns — the same industry, the same loyalty questions, six decades earlier.

But Black-and-white melodrama pacing with no jokes at all — a genuinely tragic take on the machine Entourage plays entirely for laughs.