PASADENA, Calif.-L.A. is a town in which fact and fiction are pretty much interchangeable.

For example, the "Ron Burgundy" moment this past summer when CNBC anchor Joe Kernan reported that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest had beaten the opening weekend box-office record of Aquaman - a movie that does not actually exist, except as a plot device on the HBO show Entourage.

Which is, incidentally, now Citytv’s Entourage, as the Canadian broadcaster starts its uncut syndicated run of the cult-hit cable comedy tonight at 10.

The life-in-the-fast-lane Hollywood adventures of rising heartthrob Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his freeloading Queens posse start over from the beginning tonight, with the opening of Vince’s hot new movie, Head On, followed by the first of many clashes between his well-intentioned best pal, Eric (Kevin Connolly), and his obnoxious agent, Ari Gold (Emmy winner Jeremy Piven).

The current run of the series, seen here on The Movie Network, has just wrapped up its extended 20-episode third season, which followed the ficticious blockbuster release of James Cameron’s Aquaman with Vince blowing off the sequel and missing the chance to star in a Paul Haggis feature and, ultimately, firing Ari (though surely not for long). A fourth season has been ordered by HBO.

Interestingly, the whole Aquaman scenario may now be playing out in the real world. Based largely on the popularity of an unsold WB Aqua-pilot as an iTunes download, actual talks have started about an actual Aquaman feature film.

But the kicker is in who is at the centre of these talks: agent Ari Emmanuel, the acknowledged model for Piven’s Ari Gold.

This melding of the real and invented has become the Entourage trademark and the key to its Hollywood verisimilitude, with Emmanuel himself, along with series producer Mark Wahlberg - upon whose early experiences the series is ostensibly based - appearing as themselves in tonight’s pilot.

Ensuing episodes will see directors Cameron, Haggis, Penny Marshall and Ed Burns, and actors like Jessica Alba, Luke Wilson, Larry David, Bob Saget, Mandy Moore, James Woods, Brooke Shields and Seth Green. Also Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, Hugh Hefner and his bunnies, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, Bono and U2.

Not everyone is happy to be represented on the show. Has-been producer Robert Evans was approached to play himself this season and declined, though he did give permission for them to shoot in his famous Beverly Hills home.

The character was renamed Bob Ryan and portrayed by Martin Landau. Evans is now making hurt noises about being misrepresented and maligned, so far stopping short of an actual lawsuit.

But for the five guys at the centre of the show, life has become a most welcome imitation of art.

"It’s changed all of our lives," says Kevin Dillon, perhaps the closest to his Entourage alter-ego, Johnny "Drama" Chase, as the less famous brother of actor Matt.

"We’re getting recognized a lot more. It’s hard to walk down the street without Entourage comments ... and that’s all nice."

And then he adds, sounding particularly Drama-like: "The offers are coming in."

"I just bought a house that I can’t afford," offers Connolly, very much in the vein of Eric "E" Murphy. "For me it’s changed everything ... just every day and you know, our lifestyles. I don’t want to speak for everybody, but it’s been the greatest experience of my life so far. We’re still in the early stages of it, so hopefully it continues for a few more years."

By which point, Jerry Ferrara hopes his kicks-and-capped character, Turtle, will have earned an actual name.

Then again, it is early. "This is probably my first real job," he admits. "You know, I bounced around from little jobs here and there. This is the first time I’ve had to, like, sink my teeth into something and just work with really, really great people. So I’m just very humble and almost can’t believe that it happened."

Lead actor Grenier should only be so lucky to have a career trajectory like Vince’s. "I’ve been having such a good time on the show," he says. "I have a really great character to look up to and I get to play him every day. So I’m lucky.

"I’m a little nervous after the season’s over how I’m going to continue that amount of fun without a script every week."

But some of his character’s characteristics are rubbing off. "I find myself getting more and more ballsy as things go on, just as Vince does."

An Emmy Award is just the latest change Ari Gold has brought to Piven’s life. A year ago, he went out and hired himself an agent - two, actually.

"I need to be wrangled like a large bear," the actor jests. "One of them is an incredible lovely woman who is very intelligent and soft-spoken, and another guy who’s very ... their energies I’ll say are so completely different than the Ari character. There’s unfortunately nothing that I can take from my present team for the show."

Except perhaps his contract negotiations for next season.