Thursday night, HBO celebrated season six kick-off of its misogynistic hit comedy, Entourage.  Not much has changed for Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his band of childhood buddies as they goof off and continue to bang anything that moves in La La Land.  With his career on an upswing, Vincent is about to celebrate the debut of a starring role in Martin Scorsese’s Gatsby — a movie fit with the buzz of great reviews.

Meanwhile, his best friend and manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly), finds himself in a dilemma when his ex-girlfriend presents him with the opportunity of taking over a sublet which threatens to break up the overgrown fraternity house.  Factoring into his decision are unresolved feelings Eric has for his ex.

Even with his agency experiencing a stratospheric high, uber agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) is experiencing growing pains of his own.  Lloyd (Rex Lee), his faithful but ever put-upon assistant finally lays down the gauntlet with his boss.  Either he’s promoted to junior agent or he’s leaving.  Adding to his aggravation is the recent addition to the agency of his old friend and wash-up agent Andrew Klein (Gary Cole), who Ari fought for to get hired.  Now pulling his weight at the agency, Ari’s new hope for their wives to become best friends is threatened when he discovers Andrew is having an affair with a younger woman at his own agency.

On the surface, it’s a wonder how this show has managed to thrive for so many years, given its often self-involved, nihilistic nature, but somehow it all works.  It’s as if writer-creator Doug Ellin infuses just enough humanity — sometimes just barely enough — to make the characters remotely likeable.

The actors themselves aren’t so lucky.  At the after-party, it’s easily apparent that Jeremy Piven and his alter-ego Ari Gold aren’t separated by much.  Ari’s got a nicer suit and a smaller ego. The fact that he has yet to ever appear on Ellen to promote his show, even though he co-starred with Ellen on her sitcom for almost half a decade, seems to speak volumes.  Clearly, he’s found his niche on Entourage, though I doubt, after the show completes its run, you’ll ever find him playing Tom Bradford in a redux of Eight Is Enough.

Rock solid performances by the rest of the supporting cast, including Jerry Ferrara (Turtle), whose character is enjoying a rock solid relationship with Sopranos’ Jaime-Lynn Sigler.  Kevin Dillon’s, Johnny ‘Drama’ continues to entertain as the dim-witted older brother to Vincent.   Talking with them at the after-party, it’s fairly self-evident that, like Piven, both actors share obvious similarities with their counterparts — in charm and obvious likeability.

As most of the cast enters their mid-30s, it becomes more and more obvious their Peter Pan complex is beginning to wear thin.  As Eric’s story-line already reflects, it’s time they grow up.  It’s even obvious to Lloyd, who, pushing 40, can’t be answering Ari’s phone forever.

If Thursday night’s double-episode sneak peek is any indication, Entourage is on its way from adolescence to adulthood.