Entourage: Inspirational program

Like most of you mildly miserable folks, I enjoy a healthy serving of shadenfreude when watching a show about handsome, successful Hollywood types. I like... scratch that... I feel unbridled glee when one of these beautiful people get hit with a shovelful of trouble and a cannonball in the gut of comeuppance. Sorry to say, you won't experience this nasty little feeling when watching this splendid half-hour of comedy (with just a lightest sprinkling of drama). It is darn near impossible to root against the five main leads as they navigate their way through the sun-soaked, egomaniacal LA mayhem.
The grounded Kevin Connolly plays Vince's best friend and manager who keeps it real and is the only one looking for an honest relationship, a nice contrast to the one-nighters by the others. The characters have their faults, but because they rarely take themselves too seriously and realize just how lucky they are to be living in mansions and hanging with the vapid pretty people, you hope this odd yet functional family unit always comes out on top.
The writing, directing and editing is top-notch - subtle, wacky and always touching - and again, if I didn't make my point before, simply hilarious. One nitpick: the show goes a bit overboard with product placement, but hey, that's Hollywood, and they actually make light of it when Vinnie goes on the Jimmy Kimmel show. So all is forgiven. I just watched all of Season Two in one sitting (Thank you HBO for the free promotional weekend!) and it is as good, if not better, than the first.