Denis Leary Comes to the Rescue

Only one week left until Rescue Me returns to fX, Tuesday nights at 10pm. We all could use a savior these days, and this Denis Leary gem offers the best formula for escape from lives beset by lay-offs, buy-outs, and stimulus plans that have yet to stimulate.
The Rescue Me recipe for success should continue into Season Five, with noir humor, exasperating family drama and harrowing action scenes where someone usually falls head first into the smoking maw of a building engulfed in flames. Most of the popular ensemble group will return this season and plot lines will include a new hangout bar for the firefighters and Tommy Gavin's continuing battle for sobriety. Music will also continue to have a special role, with songs from hot NYC based band Apache Stone featured throughout the new season.

The Rescue Me website is worth a visit with plenty of wallpaper and screen saver downloads as well as some very iconic pictures of the cast taking over Manhattan, Godzilla style (see above). Leary is very committed to supporting real life firefighters; for more on that, the website has a special gallery.

I noticed this towering billboard for Rescue Me in Times Square last week and thought it looked right at home on the streets of New York as the dawn broke. It's hard to believe that Rescue Me, one of the first television programs to reference 9-11 as a serious part of its character's development, is now entering a fifth season. Although this series has had some frustrating plot lines (Tatum O'Neal as the endlessly inebriated sister saying "No No No" to rehab comes to mind) it's still
generally compelling and should be great escape programming in the coming weeks.