Am I the only person who is disappointed with the new episodes of Entourage? I saw my first episode a few years ago, and I've been hooked by the unique series ever since I first saw it. Doug Ellin is one of the premier producers in the movie industry today, and Stephen Levinson is getting his attention too. Add Mark Wahlberg to the mix and you get an all-star crew. The actors are impressive too, Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, and my favorite Jerry Ferrara (of course, I missed a few). That's why this was one of the best series HBO ever aired (and judging by HBO's catalog, that's quite an achievement). There was a huge build-up for "Entourage" coming back after the infamous TV writer strike. And I, like countless others was anticipating another brilliant season.

But the show has come back very differently. Maybe I need to become acclimated more to the series, and maybe I'm speaking too early, but this is not the "Entourage" I have grown to love. Why you ask? It went from a slow-moving yet realistically paced series to a soap opera. Before when something happened, it was played out through multiple episodes and it actually seemed realistic. Example: The boys couldn't muster up the money for Medellin, so most of Season 3 depended on getting the money to make the movie. Counterexample: A label head who hated Vince dropped dead on an golf course and Ari stands to inherit the whole company. And that happened throughout one or two episodes. The reason I loved Entourage in the first place was because they strayed away from all this superficial, reality TV-esque drama.

The characters do remain intact. E, Drama, Vince, Turtle, Ari, Lloyd, and Ahnold are back. But other than Ari's typical gay jokes, and the crew clowning on each other, it was a totally different show. You'd expect HBO to know how to milk a series like "Entrouage", especially considering their previous brilliance with series like:Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, Sopranos, and the list goes on. I know I'll feel stupid when the rest of the series turns out to be brilliant, but for now I'll risk looking ignorant.