What to Watch Friday, Oct. 17

'Crash'
(10PM, Starz) series premiere
'Crash' opens with Dennis Hopper berating his penis, and from there gets a little less weird, though more intense.

The drama, based on the surprise Best Picture Oscar winner, doesn't rely on the racial themes that drove the 2004 movie, but, like the flick, does show how a disparate group of Los Angeles residents meet and mingle.

Hopper's aging record producer Ben, who seems to be based on Phil Spector, is the most over-the-top character in the bunch, which also includes corrupt cops, a gang member-turned-paramedic, marrieds warring over the wife's father and a musician who gets more than he bargained for when he becomes Ben's driver.


'Crash'
(10PM, Starz) series premiere
'Crash' opens with Dennis Hopper berating his penis, and from there gets a little less weird, though more intense.

The drama, based on the surprise Best Picture Oscar winner, doesn't rely on the racial themes that drove the 2004 movie, but, like the flick, does show how a disparate group of Los Angeles residents meet and mingle.

Hopper's aging record producer Ben, who seems to be based on Phil Spector, is the most over-the-top character in the bunch, which also includes corrupt cops, a gang member-turned-paramedic, marrieds warring over the wife's father and a musician who gets more than he bargained for when he becomes Ben's driver.

'Crusoe'
(8PM, NBC) series premiere
Gilligan and Hurley have nothing on the deserted island dweller from Daniel Defoe's classic novel. In the opener, Robinson Crusoe (Philip Winchester) leaves his family behind to set sail for the new world, narrowly avoids death and makes a new BFF in his guy Friday.

'Real Simple. Real Life.'
(8PM, TLC) series premiere
This is no mere wardrobe makeover series; instead, the 'Real' staff gives a harried mom of three a new wardrobe, make-up tips and a home revamp that leaves the whole house organized.

'The E! True Hollywood Story: Oprah'
(9PM, E!)
The Big O gets the 'THS' treatment, including interviews with her BFF Gayle, a look at her many philanthropic efforts and her own thoughts on that infamous wagon load of fat that represented her dramatic 1988 weight loss ("I was that size for about two hours, and by the time I went home and ate, I had gained two pounds," she says).

'Ghost Adventures'
(10PM, Travel) series premiere
Here's hoping the afterlife is more interesting than the ever-growing number of TV shows that suggest ghosts spend all their time haunting the living would have us believe.

'The Starter Wife'
(10PM, USA)
Now that a blogger has outed Molly as the author of those salacious diaries, she does what any self-preserving celeb would do in the face of scandal: She checks into rehab.


What's on this weekend: 'Living Proof,' 'Desperate Housewives' and more

Check out our TV calendar for a look at the month ahead