By FRAZIER MOORE

Associated Press

Humans may not be exactly kissing cousins with fruit flies. But we have more in common than we might expect.

We, and fruit flies, too, have eight "master" genes that call the shots for what the tens of thousands of other genes should do in building a body.

"All animals, including humans, have a very similar set of basic genes, and yet we're so different," says geneticist Michael Levine in the documentary How to Build a Better Being.

This surprisingly cozy relationship has profound implications for how creatures -- and their body parts -- have evolved. The fin of a certain fish from nearly 400 million years ago evolved into a handlike appendage that humans have subsequently found, well, very handy as part of their own physical inventory.

In short, there's always something new in evolution. And video games. For example, the new game Spore. It enables players to design a creature that will face the same life-or-death evolutionary challenges that animals in the real world must confront.

In How to Build a Better Being, Spore mastermind Will Wright meets with scientists researching some of the creature-making principles Wright has used in the gaming arena.

After time on the scientists' turf, Wright invites them to take a break and apply their knowledge of evolutionary creature-making in a round of Spore. How to Build a Better Being premieres on National Geographic Channel at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Other shows to look out for:

* When last spotted, the happy-go-lucky lads of Entourage weren't feeling quite so happy or lucky.

At the Cannes Film Festival, Vince's new film, Medellin (his supposed dream project), had a disastrous screening. Now the dismal reviews continue to pile up.

Vince hides out with his chum Turtle and wonders if his career as a hot young marquee idol is over.

Meanwhile, Vince's best friend and manager, Eric, is struggling to hatch a plan to get Vince back on top. Vince's half brother, Drama, who in the past has lurked in Vince's shadow as a would-be star, is doing well on TV -- but turned into a prima donna.

Season 5 of the Boyz-in-Hollywood comedy Entourage premieres on HBO at 9 p.m. Sunday. Adrian Grenier stars as Vince, with Kevin Connolly as Eric, Kevin Dillon as Drama, Jerry Ferrara as Turtle and Jeremy Piven as Vince's excitable agent, Ari.

* You can observe the seventh anniversary of 9/11 with Objects and Memory, a meditation on how ordinary objects can serve as a link to past events and absent loved ones after catastrophic events. The documentary hears from survivors of some of those who lost their lives Sept. 11, 2001.

Following the cleanup at ground zero in Manhattan, everyday objects left behind by victims -- an ID card, a $2 bill -- were returned to their survivors, who found a connection and a measure of comfort.

Filmmakers also go to the memorial for the Oklahoma City bombing and to the the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington to elaborate on the power of objects -- from teddy bears to work boots -- left at those sites.

The film concludes that without such objects, the stories they represent would lack vibrancy, and that without the stories, the objects lack significance. Objects and Memory is a moving exploration of how the two conjoin. It airs at 9 p.m. Monday on PBS.

* Shirley MacLaine brings high style to the title role of Coco Chanel, a three-hour portrait of the haute couture goddess, whose name remains synonymous with fashion a generation after her death.

Beginning in 1954, the film finds Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel failing in her important comeback collection. In flashbacks, the film recounts how she developed sewing skills as an orphan in a French convent school. Then it moves forward as Coco, in adulthood, makes a splash with menswearlike suits, the iconic "little black dress" and her signature perfume, Chanel No. 5 -- and even bounces back from her slump.

Malcolm McDowell plays Marc Bouchier, her confidant and business associate. Coco Chanel premieres Saturday at 7 p.m. on Lifetime.

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