Entourage starts its seventh season on HBO Sunday June 27 and this season feels less like Entourage than previous years.

The story picks up where we left off: Turtle has launched a driving business, E is working at the management agency and getting married, Drama is unemployed and Vince is making a new movie. Ari is now the head of the biggest agency in the world because of the merger and Lloyd is one of his employees.

Despite all that, though, this seventh season of Entourage doesn’t feel like previous years. It’s not as much about the glitz and the glam. It’s about finding your niche and improving your life. Finally, the characters aren’t living in the moment. They’re living for the future.

Mostly. Entourage wouldn’t be Entourage if there wasn’t some reckless behavior.

That’s not to say the awesome Hollywood vibe isn’t there. It is. In the first few episodes, there are seemingly more cameos than in previous year. John Stamos, Bob Saget, Aaron Sorkin, Jessica Simpson, Mike Tyson, Jerry Jones and more are just the tip of the iceberg. Even porn star Sasha Grey becomes a series regular a few episodes in.

But even with that, all of the characters are way more mature than we are used too. For example, the season begins with Vince being bored. He is looking for something new. A change. A thrill. All the money, success and chicks aren’t doing it for him. But what he finds is a new friend (friends, actually) and that takes the edge off. Turtle has a seemingly thriving business, but when that doesn’t quite work out, he doesn’t go running to Vince. E learns that sometimes you have to choose your girl over your boys and Drama finally has to work for himself to get some real work. Then there’s Ari, who finds out that being the King of Hollywood doesn’t mean the work stops.

All of these things make for a refreshing spin on the old Entourage formula. To be honest, the season does take a little while to get going though. The first two episodes, “Stunted” and “Buzzed” are kind of underwhelming. But each one is better than the last after that and about six episodes in, we are almost watching a whole new show. Some of the show titles, as a tease, are “Dramedy,” “Tequilla Sunrise,” “Bottom’s Up” and “Hair.” Hollywood is still a part of the show but Entourage, finally, is a smaller show than in the past. And that’s a good thing.

(Image via goodlifetime.com)