A "Crash" course in TV for Starz

LOS ANGELES — In "Crash," the 2004 film that won the Oscar for best picture, the city of Los Angeles was more than a character. It was an allegory for isolation. The rich, the powerful, the poor and the disaffected. Black, white, Hispanic, Korean and Iranian came into contact only by accident, suggesting that nearly everyone was blinded by racism.

"Crash," the 2008 television series that premieres today on the cable channel Starz, is a bit different. Although the setting is L.A., the car crashes are fewer, the people tend to mix more naturally and the city is presented as an oppressive force. (Ironically, the show was shot not in Los Angeles, but in the tax-incentive-offering state of New Mexico.)

As Starz's first foray into an hourlong scripted drama, the 13-episode series hopes to snag viewers with as much surprise, conflict and political incorrectness as the original film. In fact, the feature film, directed by Paul Haggis, was originally conceived as a television series.

A highlight from the upcoming TV series: actor Dennis Hopper as aging wild man Ben Cendars, a once-successful hip-hop music producer struggling to retrieve his status. Since this is pay cable at 10 p.m., viewers will be treated to his dark and self-destructive habits, including drug abuse and sexual dysfunction.

Angelenos inspired most of the disparate characters, according to writer and executive producer Glen Mazzara ("The Shield"), including Cendars and his street-wise limo driver (Jocko Sims); a former gang member trying to make it as an emergency medical technician (Brian Tee); a frustrated Brentwood mom (Clare Carey) and her developer husband (D.B. Sweeney); and a variety of misbehaving cops (Ross McCall, Arlene Tur and Nick Tarabay).

On TV, L.A. becomes less an allegory and more a simple elucidation of the raw power it exerts over residents — for better or worse.

It's all very L.A., says the show's creative team, which includes Haggis, Bob Yari and Don Cheadle. Except that some of it is actually shot in Albuquerque. "Those tax incentives allow us another day of shooting per episode, or to hire a star you might not otherwise be able to afford," said Kevin Beggs, president of TV programming at production partner Lionsgate.

Mazzara said he was initially concerned about the location but decided to use it to his advantage. He introduced a new character, a Guatemalan boy (Luis Chavez) who heads by himself through Mexico to Los Angeles.

"That's a part of the Los Angeles story I don't see told anywhere," he said.