Ari (Jeremy Piven) and Lloyd (Rex Lee)Courtesy of HBO

Oh, Entourage — is there any show on TV that offers guiltier pleasures or more pleasurable guilt? On the one hand, you’ve got a sun-kissed half-hour of virtuosic tirades, nose-against-the-glass L.A. voyeurism, and endless juvenile wish fulfillment. On the other hand, you’ve got stubbornly simplistic story arcs, lazily underwritten jokes, and endless juvenile wish fulfillment. No wonder it's the one show we can’t stop watching-slash-can’t stop hating ourselves for watching!

Episode: “Manic Monday”

Pleasure: It figures that, after last week’s limp offering — in which Vince and E squabbled about a couples’ weekend in wine country and Turtle and Drama scoped out a dog park — the show should return to our scrutiny with a near-classic installment. This episode was almost all pleasure, no guilt: Jeremy Piven was at his volcanic best, the Turtle & Drama Traveling Comedy Sideshow was thankfully reigned in, and the show’s Random Chick Ogling was kept to a minimum. Of particular note this week: Piven’s encore-worthy meltdown at his marriage counselor’s office (if you have the episode TiVo-ed, watch it again just for the way he uses his hands), ending with a bizarre, Popeye-style salute. We always expect Piven’s gyrations to degrade into late-period Pacino hamminess, yet he manages to keep Ari’s outbursts entertaining but never absurd. Plus: Speaking of gyrations, how great was it to watch Vince squirm under interrogation from his new agent Amanda (Carla Gugino)? The show hands Vince too much too easily, especially now that he’s a star. It’s refreshing for once to see Adrian Grenier do something other than smile and bat those feathery lashes.