TVSquad

I've been waiting for Crash the TV series to materialize ever since I heard about it shortly after the movie premiered in May, 2005. The Starz/Lionsgate series will feature 13 episodes with a different cast of characters from the film.

Now I have even more reason to be excited, because Tom Sizemore has joined the series in a recurring role. He'll play Detective Adrian Cooper, whose unorthodox methods cause havoc when he investigates a police-involved shooting. Sizemore joins Dennis Hopper in the series, with Paul Haggis serving as executive producer.

I've had a major crush on Sizemore since he played Sgt. Vinnie Ventresca on China Beach during the 1989-1990 season. Sure, he's had some challenging times. According to his IMDB.com page, in February, 2005, he failed a court-ordered drug test after he was caught trying to use a prosthetic penis to fake the results. And that was the second time he was caught trying that.

He was once engaged to Heidi Fleiss, and arrested in 1997 after his wife called the cops claiming she'd been physically injured by him during an argument. Sizemore claims to have spent $11 million -- $11 million! -- on lawyers and legal fees fighting drug and domestic violence charges.

But then there's this: In a 2001 interview with The Calgary Sun, Sizemore credits Robert De Niro with turning his life around. During the filming of Witness to the Mob, De Niro apparently showed up on his doorstep with Tom's mom and told him they were there to drive him to jail or rehab. He chose rehab. Good choice.