Crash is an American television drama series set in Los Angeles, California. It is the first original series produced by the Starz network. The network has ordered a 13 episode season which premiered on October 17, 2008. The series is based on the 2004 film of the same name. It was developed for television by Glen Mazzara. In Canada, Crash can be seen on Super Channel. Starz recently ordered a second season that started in September 2009 with the same cast plus new ones.
[edit] Production
[edit] Conception
Starz began looking to develop original television series after the success of series developed by its rivals Showtime and HBO and advertised funding and creative freedom for original programming projects. Crash is the network's first foray into original scripted drama and is based on the Academy Award winning 2004 film of the same name. The writers of the film, Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco, were interested in developing a series based on the property. Lionsgate and Starz collaborated on developing the series for television.
Television writer and producer Glen Mazzara was brought in as an executive producer for the series. Mazzara has worked extensively as a writer on producer on The Shield and had developed new projects for the other networks including Life and Standoff.[1]
Glen Mazzara serves as the series executive producer and showrunner.[1] The film's writers Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco and producer Bob Yari join Mazzara as executive producers.[2] Thomas Becker, Mark R. Harris, Tom Nunan, and Jorg Westerkamp all worked as producers or production executives on the original film project and are credited as co-executive producers on the series.[2] Movie actor Don Cheadle, who was a star and producer of the 2004 film, is also on board as a co-executive producer.[1]
Mazzara hired a writing staff that he felt was used to coping with edgier material. Co-executive producer and writer Frank Renzulli had previously worked on HBO drama The Sopranos. Co-executive producer and writer Ted Mann worked on HBO drama Deadwood. Producer and writer Stacy Rukeyser worked with Mazzara on Standoff. Executive story editor Chris Collins came from the recently completed HBO drama The Wire. Executive story editor Randy Huggins had previously worked with Mazzara on The Shield.[1]
The pilot episode was directed by Sanford Bookstaver.[2]
The series stars Dennis Hopper as record producer Ben Cendars; Ross McCall as police officer Kenny Battaglia; Arlene Tur as actress-turned-police officer partner Bebe Arcel; Clare Carey as Brentwood mother Christine Emory; D. B. Sweeney as Peter Emory her real-estate developer husband; Brian Tee as former gang member-turned-EMT Eddie Choi; Jocko Sims as street-smart driver Anthony Adams; Luis Chavez as undocumented Guatemalan immigrant Cesar Uman; Moran Atias as Inez; and Nick Tarabay as a detective Axel Finet, and Tom Sizemore as Detective Adrian Cooper.[2] In season 2 new cast members will be Eric Roberts as billionare Seth Blanchard, Dana Ashbrook as LA crook Jimmy, Linda Park as Blanchard's wife and children's author Maggie, and Jake McLaughlin a former high school pitching ace now working for his diabetic mom (Tess Harper) in a hobby store. Battaglia is a security guard and then begins working for Blanchard and some of the cast members from season 1, Tur, Carey, Sweeney, Tee, Chavez, Tarabay and Sizemore do not return for season 2. Jenny Mollen plays Tess, The new girlfriend to Kenny Battaglia. There is also no one playing a current cop in this season.
[edit] Reception
Reviews of the series have been mixed: "Crash has a noirish appeal, and ambitions to tell a big story" —The New York Times, Ginia Bellafante; Detroit Free Press, "Crash debut is masterful, intense" by Mike Hughes; "Politically and socially ambitious" —Los Angeles Times; "Gritty, jarring, profane, and smartly produced" —Newsday by Verne Gay; Variety's Brian Lowry says, "There's not a whit of originality to it," and "The show possesses less substance than a brisk Santa Ana wind."[2] According to Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe, "None of the stories or characters is remotely interesting."[3]
[edit] Episodes
| Episode # | Title | Writer(s) | Director | Original airdate |
| 1 | "Crash" | Glen Mazzara | Sanford Bookstaver | October 17, 2008 (2008-10-17)[4] |
| Ben Cendars (Dennis Hopper) is an erratic record producer whose female limo driver quits her job after Cendars exposes himself to her following a conversation he had with his own penis. He then hires Anthony Adams (Jocko Sims) to be his new limo driver. Anthony is a hoping that working for Ben will help him break into the music business. Ben and Anthony bond while getting high on marijuana when Anthony reveals that his uncle sells very strong and potent marijuana. Ben becomes upset afterwards when Anthony refuses to introduce him to his uncle. Later on, Anthony is driving Ben and another music executive. They are negotiating a deal when the executive implies that Ben isn't as powerful as he once was and might not be able to hold up his end of the deal. Believing his was just humiliated in front of Anthony, whom Ben claims is his protege, Ben attacks the executive with a knife and has to be restrained by Anthony. Afterwards, Ben surprises Anthony at his Uncle's barbershop and buys drugs from Anthony's uncle. Anthony later finds another man living in Ben's house and tries to befriend him. The man, whose room is littered with prescription drugs, only tells Anthony that he will never take his place. Office Kenny Battaglia (Ross McCall) picks up his partner, Bebe Arcel (Arlene Tur), at her home. There it is shown that Arcel is having an affair with their boss, Lieutenant Axel Finet (Nick Tarabay). Kenny and Bebe have a court appointment to make so Kenny uses the siren as an excuse to run red lights. Kenny crashes into a woman named Inez (Moran Atias ). When Kenny tries to pin the blame on Inez, she becomes upset and Kenny arrests her. Kenny then feels her up before putting her in the back of their police car. Kenny later gets Bebe to agree to fabricate the police report so that it appears that Inez was the one responsible for the accident. Kenny later goes to Inez's house to apologize anyway. After she refuses to drop charges against him, he forcibly kisses her. Inez shows up at the police station the next day, implying she enjoys Kenny's harassment, and agrees to meet him in at a bar. Kenny shows up late though and she angrily leaves. He continues to harass her in the parking lot before she drives off. Peter Emory (D. B. Sweeney) is a struggling real estate developer who is having difficulties finding financial partners to complete his latest real estate project. While having dinner, his father in law chokes on some food forcing Peter to give him the Heimlich maneuver and accidentally breaking his ribs in the process. While in the ambulance with her father, Christine (Clare Carey) suspects EMT Eddie Choi (Brian Tee) of stealing her father's watch. At the hospital, it is revealed that Christine's father needs open heart surgery and that he needs to be taken care of. Christine immediately suggests her father live with her despite the protests of both Peter and her father. Christine also wants renovations done on the house that Peter says they can't afford. When he refuses, due to the mounting debts, she gets spray paint and starts to spray different areas of the house that she wants changed anyway. Finet investigates the murder of a Korean money launderer named Kyun. Kyun was working for the Korean mafia. Finet has a meeting with a head mobster where it is revealed that he has been taking bribes from the Koreans in the past by planting evidence for them to hurt their enemies. The mobster offers Finet another job; find out who killed Kyun and kill them. Finet takes accepts the job for double his usual price. EMT Eddie Choi arrives at an address where his sister has asked for him to come by. There he finds his sister, her partner and a wounded man named J.J. Wan. Wan is injured from a gun shot wound and Eddie reluctantly helps him with his breathing by installing a breathing straw for him. Eddie then tells them to get the man to the hospital otherwise he will die. Finet is called to another murder scene and finds the body of Wan; Eddie's sister and her partner allowed him to die and dumped him at a garage. Finet recognizes the breathing tube, which had been left in the man's body, as a EMT technique and brings in Eddie for questioning due to his gang background. The dead man, Wan, had a bullet in his body matching the gun that Kyun had on him when he died. Wan, Eddie's sister and their partner are the ones who robbed and killed Kyun. Finet is looking for Wan's accomplices so he can kill them. Eddie refuses to give up sister so Finet releases him. Eddie goes to the motel where his sister and her partner are hiding out at. He confronts them about robbing and murdering Kyun when his sister reveals it was her idea. Finet busts into the room right afterwards and reveals he was following Eddie all along. He then executes Eddie's sister and her partner. Eddie manages to escape but is shot in the arm. |
| 2 | "The Doctor Is In" | | Terrence O'Hara | October 17, 2008 (2008-10-17) |
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| 3 | "Panic" | Stacy Rukeyser and Glen Mazzara | Seith Mann | October 24, 2008 (2008-10-24) |
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| 4 | "Railroaded" | Sang Kyu Kim | Allison Liddi Brown | October 31, 2008 (2008-10-31) |
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| 5 | "Your Ass Belongs to the Gypsies" | Ted Mann | Sanford Bookstaver | November 7, 2008 (2008-11-07) |
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| 6 | "Clusterfuck" | Randy Huggins | Guy Ferland | November 14, 2008 (2008-11-14) |
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| 7 | "Los Muertos" | | Robert Moresco | November 21, 2008 (2008-11-21) |
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| 8 | "Three Men and a Bebe" | Glen Mazzara | Stefan Schwartz | November 28, 2008 (2008-11-28) |
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| 9 | "Pissing in the Sandbox" | | | December 5, 2008 (2008-12-05) |
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| 10 | "The Future Is Free" | | | December 19, 2008 (2008-12-19) |
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| 11 | "F-36, Sprint Left, T-4" | | | December 26, 2008 (2008-12-26) |
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| 12 | "Ring Dings" | | | January 2, 2009 (2009-01-02) |
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| 13 | "The Pain Won't Stop" | | | January 9, 2009 (2009-01-09) |
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[edit] References
[edit] External links
