Facing Entourage this week without first living through the grounding humanity of Six Feet Under felt like being served an unearned and sickingly sweet dessert. I needed — no, wanted — the veggies.

Getting over the loss of one of the most gripping and imaginative shows on television is rough. And much as I like Entourage — and have explained why before — I think Dana Stevens’ suggestions for improvement could really raise the bar. From “Let’s Script-Doctor It Out, Bitch,” — a send-up of a phrase familiar to Entourage viewers — here’s an excerpt:

1. Get a real female character. This is not merely a feminist plea for equal representation (although it would be nice to see my half of the human race shown as something besides Uggs-wearing ditzes). I think balancing the yang with a little yin would improve the show. She doesn’t have to be a brilliant or even likeable woman: My tip would be to explore the after-hours life of Shauna (Debi Mazar), Vince’s bitchy, hard-boiled publicist. What does Shauna do in her time off? Is she single? Divorced? A mother? A dyke? And how did she get from the New Jersey roots her accent suggests to the world of high-end talent representation? As Television Without Pity noted in the first season (before the site stopped covering Entourage out of sheer boredom), Mazar has always given off a distinct Cosa Nostra vibe, the impression that “she’s got a guy that’ll replace your blood with cherry 7-Up and make it look like an accident.” The show’s writers should give Shauna chance to show her fangs, and maybe even her soft underbelly.

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Good as they are, I wouldn’t want to see Entourage become too meaty — fortunately we’ve still got The Wire to look forward to for true sustenance.