With the Entourage movie only a year away, I am giddy with excitement.

The Y chromosome in me cannot wait for the blatantly obvious ploy to scrape money out of a franchise that ended three years ago. Having said that, I’d like to share some reflections on how this show embodies more than just celebrity indulgence. 

When I was born on December 6, 1994, my older sister had already predetermined my childhood entertainment fate. The first five years of my life, my viewing experiences included Thumbelina, every Disney princess movie, Passport To Paris, Our Lips Are Sealed and ending this holy trinity of Mary-Kate and Ashley movies with Island In The Sun.  My only real attempt at seeing a film that had any masculine appeal was 1999’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It turned out Darth Maul was too scary and I left the theater in tears. The best male movie influence I had up to this point was The Lion King’s Mufasa and he died about 20 minutes into the movie.  

I am very close to my sister. Thanks to her, I can pretty much quote the girliest movies of the late 90s and early 2000s. I missed out on Jurassic Park, Men In Black and multiple Batman reboots.  I think I must have believed movies were inherently feminine.  

So I turned my attention to video games for the majority of my childhood, rarely watching television or movies until I had my fateful meeting with the HBO classic, Entourage.  After a solid binge watch of Entourage DVDs when I was 16, I instantly loved and related to this group of guys on the show. 

Just like women have done with Sex And The City, guys have all watched Entourage and assigned characters to their counterparts in their own friend group. Debates about who is Vince and who is Drama can go on for hours. All dudes can really relate to this show and, although it’s a stretch to say that I learned about friendship from a pretty mindless television show, there are some great lessons to learn and live by.    

“Most powerful man in Hollywood – Ari Gold.  Most powerful person – Mrs. Gold. ” Ari Gold.  Ari Gold may be the most powerful man in Hollywood but he would be nothing without his everything, Mrs. Gold. Lesson learned: the women in your life help you lead your life. Someone once said to me, “you either have a conscience, or you marry one.”  Mr. Gold would agree, so treat your women right.    

“I came from nothing, and as much as I like the toys, I don’t need them.” Vincent Chase.  This reminder of humility is something everyone can use. The classic misconception of Entourage is that the show is just about the cars, women and parties, but Vince breaks it down to what really makes a person happy.  Always remember that in life you’re playing with house money.       

“Nobody talk s**t about you except me.” Eric Murphy. This pretty much says it all.  You may have to set your boys straight. Sometimes you have to tell your friends something they don’t want to hear. This may be for their own good, but when someone outside your “entourage” does it, that is unacceptable.        

“You want to hug it out? Lets hug it out.” Ari Gold. Sometimes words won’t do.  Whether it's goodbye, welcome home or making up from a fight, you can never go wrong with a good old fashion bro hug.       

I know Entourage has some principles that, subconsciously, my friends and other guys have adopted, and we can learn a lot about loyalty and friendship from these characters. This show is truly the male version of Sex And The City or Gossip Girl. In both shows, friends are first.