>when was this ever an 'amazing' show with brilliant
>storylines, character development, etc?

Season 1 and 2 were well-crafted fun TV. There were the dramatic elements of E trying to find his way, Ari vs. E and haggling over everything from Emily to Queens Blvd. There also was a goal: promoting Head On and finding the next project in season 1, Aquaman in season 2. And most time, all the stories came together. Even something as random as Val Kilmer and the Sherpa eventually helped Vince get Scott Wick to OK him for Queen's Blvd. It was well made comedy with good characters and developing relationships.

Also, the filler stories like Gary Busey were classic.

Season 3 started focusing more on the actual business which is the show's problem IMO. The show became disjointed because Drama and Turtle were completely disconnected from most of Vince and E's stories. Still, I thought it was OK and the characters kept driving the story.

By season 4, the characters began serving the story and there were more arcs like Dom which really did nothing but fill time so they could get a full episode. Ana Faris's story really added nothing. Billy Walsh became a caricature. Watching E trying to become a "real" manager just wasn't interesting. They wrote an entire episode about a desk and an office basically so they could get Busey back.

Things completely fell off the rails this season. None of the stories made sense. People would act completely out of character or just illogically so they could move the story forward. Nobody had a purpose. Turtle was useless, Drama was all over the place (and they basically dropped the Five Towns storyline), E didn't really do much of anything.

I thought Episode 3 was the best. You saw E struggling with his new job and his old friend; Vince was dealing with life on the outs and having to sing at the party, Drama has his issues (which a little over the top) came back to haunt everyone at the end. THAT was more like the old Entourage.