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Rescue Me (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Rescue Me is an American
television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City
firefighter
s in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.
The show mainly follows veteran firefighter Tommy Gavin
(Denis Leary
) and his ever troublesome family as they deal with real life issues, either with post 9/11 trauma or domestic problems. Tommy has to struggle with the loss of his cousin and best friend Jimmy Keefe, who died on September 11, 2001, and frequently visits Tommy in visions. In the pilot episode, Tommy and his wife have already separated and Tommy has moved across the street. He is ill-tempered, self-destructive, hypocritical, manipulative
, and a relapsed alcoholic
. Despite his devotion and care for others, he is viewed by various family members and his fellow firefighters as self-centered.
Rescue Me was created by Denis Leary
and Peter Tolan
, who also serve as executive producers and head writers, and is produced by Cloudland Company, Apostle
, DreamWorks Television
and Sony Pictures Television
.
, Artie Lange
, Susan Sarandon
, Desmond Harrington
, Marisa Tomei
, Gina Gershon
, Peter Gallagher
, Michael J. Fox
and Jennifer Esposito
.
's Ladder Company 62—aka "62 Truck"— which is located in the Harlem
section of Manhattan
, and exploring their lives, both at home and inside the firehouse. It also features the well-known comedian Denis Leary, who carries his humorous nature over into the show. It focused on main character Tommy Gavin
as he dealt with the effects of the September 11, 2001, attacks, which, for him, include seeing the ghost of his cousin, Lt. Jimmy Keefe, as well as the ghosts of various people he failed to save over the years. Gavin and his wife are separated and, from across the street, he sees her begin to date again and concocts a "secret evil plan" to get her back and prevent her from taking his children and leaving the state.
In other stories, Chief Jerry Reilly attacks a gay former firefighter in a bar after the guy speaks to the press and claims that at least 20 of the 343 men who died during the 9/11 attacks were gay. Sean Garrity begins to date one of Franco Rivera's (many) ex-girlfriends, which leads to Franco finding out that he has a daughter with the woman; Rivera later takes the daughter in after the mother's overdose death. Tommy also gets involved with Jimmy's widow Sheila (an absolute no-no among firefighters), and "probie" Mike Silletti begins to date a "fat chick" named Theresa (Ashlie Atkinson
), in a relationship he keeps secret. Lt. Kenny Shea deals with 9/11 by writing poetry, and then starts to have an affair after learning his wife is preparing to leave him anyway.
After fireman Billy Warren dies in a fire, the city sends Laura Miles to replace him. She clashes with the guys in general (as they do not want a woman on their crew) and with Tommy in particular. She is watching him, and believes he is becoming dangerous as he takes more and more seemingly unnecessary risks on the job. The season comes to a close with Tommy's mistake at a fire causing Franco to get hurt, and with Tommy's eventual transfer out of the house after the rest of the crew finds out he has been seeing Sheila and gotten her pregnant. In the final scene of the season finale, Tommy shows up at his wife's house to find her and his children missing, along with everything in the house. While consuming a bottle of vodka he finds in a cupboard, he uses a baseball bat to destroy anything that's left in the house.
and his replacement at 62 Truck, Sully, becoming everyone's favorite. While responding to a fire at an underground sex club, they discover that the "woman" they rescued is really Sully in a black leather skirt and bustier. The next day, Sully requests a transfer because he knows that the crew will never let him live that down. This clears the way for Tommy to return. Back in the old house Tommy shifts his focus to finding his family and dealing with his father, who took an unannounced vacation and came home with a new (rich) wife, Jenny Ng. Sheila has a miscarriage, but lies about it to keep Tommy near.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Johnny Gavin find out that their father had a long, on-going affair during their childhood, which produced two children. Soon they suspect their new-found brother, a priest, is a pedophile. Silletti stalks his ex-girlfriend after she dumps him. Chief Jerry's wife gradually deteriorates from Alzheimer’s, and he is forced to seek help from his estranged son before placing her in a long-term care facility. Laura and Franco begin dating, but Laura eventually leaves Franco and the firehouse. Lt. Shea is conned by a prostitute named Candy, resulting in him losing his entire life savings. Jenny Ng dies, but the expected financial windfall for Tommy's father never happens. Tommy's estranged sister Maggie shows up in town.
Tommy and his family reconcile for a time, but when their only son Connor is killed by a drunk driver, it is too much for Janet to handle and she blames Tommy. It only gets worse when Johnny finds out the driver is well-connected and may not do time, so Tommy's uncle Teddy murders the man in public.
Meanwhile Lt. Shea, still smarting from getting conned, is becoming testy with everyone on the crew and slowly spiraling down. Mike Silletti (now no longer referred to as "Probie") begins a sexual relationship with his male roommate, and Tommy falls back into things with Sheila. Sheila wants to get Tommy away from Janet completely, and begins to drug him with rohypnol and Viagra to have sex. Maggie soon finds herself dating Sean Garrity, among others.
Janet gets pregnant with either Johnny's or Tommy's baby and announces she wants to keep it to replace Connor. The crew finds out about Mike's possible homosexuality, and Tommy comes to his defense. Tommy defends Mike mainly because of fears that he has over the fire crew breaking up, and says he considers Mike part of his extended family at the fire house. Franco starts to date Alicia (Susan Sarandon
), a rich older woman who eventually takes his daughter from him. (He is unable to do anything about it, because he had taken her from foster care without permission and therefore is not the girl's legal guardian.) Lt. Shea moves in with Tommy and begins seeing Theresa, a soon-to-be ex-nun with whom he plans on moving to Florida to be first mate on his cousin's boat. Chief Reilly tries to meet his wife's increasing health care costs by taking a second job at a bar. Later, he suffers a heart attack after having sex with Karlene, an illegal immigrant whom he hired to care for his wife.
During a stakeout, Johnny is shot three times through the back and killed by someone who was contracted to stop him from testifying against a powerful drug dealer Johnny had arrested months beforehand. During his funeral, Sean and Maggie decide to get married at the cemetery. Rosemary Gavin is also introduced, the long lost sister of Tommy, Johnny, and Maggie. She is deaf and had been shunned by her parents, but reconciles with her father.
Uncle Teddy, still in prison, receives numerous letters from a woman named Ellie, who is proud of the action he took upon Connor's killer. The two begin a relationship and get married, which allows Ellie to join him physically for conjugal visits.
With the 62 Ladder crew seemingly breaking up, Tommy decides to retire and move in with Sheila in her new home on Long Island. He changes his mind after talking with Janet about her pregnancy and discovering that his crew will remain together after all. (Mike isn't transferring, Lou has changed his mind about the boat after discovering he lacked "sea legs," and Franco has failed a lieutenant's exam.)
While at Sheila's new house, he tells her he is not retiring from the FDNY. Distraught, she drugs him again and accidentally starts a fire. The fire spreads while a frantic Sheila is overwhelmed by frustration, and the finale closes without making it clear if Tommy or Sheila made it out of the house.
Tommy and Sheila are apparently rescued by volunteer firefighters, but are then accused of arson and insurance fraud. Janet has given birth to the baby and Tommy has come to accept it as his own. Unfortunately, the baby's hair finally comes in and it is "jet black" in color, leaving them to now believe that it is Johnny's son instead.
Teddy is released from prison and immediately abandons his new wife in a coffee shop. Colleen runs away from home and moves in with her boyfriend, leaving her parents enraged.
Depressed after being told that he can no longer serve in active duty due to his poor heart, Jerry takes a desk job. After using his position behind a computer to tamper with evidence, effectively clearing Tommy of the arson charges, Jerry commits suicide.
Janet is suffering from postpartum depression and is also deeply affected by her inability to bond with her new son. The baby cries constantly and his crying seems to worsen when Janet holds him. Getting wind of this, Sheila has approached Tommy about them giving her the baby; she has offered Tommy $850,000 in payment. She continues to hound Tommy about this and Tommy has not told Janet of Sheila's offer. Seeing how his wife is suffering and how the baby is being neglected and seemingly rejected by everyone in the family but himself, Tommy is reluctantly beginning to re-consider Sheila's offer.
Tommy soon decides to give the baby to Sheila after contemplating throwing him off into the Hudson River at the request of his brother's ghost. After Janet learns of what Tommy has done, she runs him down with her car. After she realizes that he is OK, she sends the youngest daughter, Katy, up to Sheila's apartment to steal the baby back. Meanwhile, in the apartment, Tommy has a breakdown in which all of his ghostly friends, including Jimmy, tell him they are tired of his selfishness and are done with him.
Tommy then shares custody with Sheila by bribing his daughter Colleen with a no limit credit card. Colleen gives the baby to him whenever she has him, so he can in turn give him to Sheila. Colleen's boyfriend uses the credit card to buy a wedding ring. After Tommy learns this, he goes to the recording studio to sort out Colleen's boyfriend and destroys his guitar. The boyfriend tells Tommy the ring wasn't for Colleen, but for another girl. Relieved of this he apologizes to the boyfriend and wishes him and his new girlfriend the best of luck. When the boyfriend explains this to Colleen, he says its because Tommy scares him and that is why he left Colleen, so now of course Colleen hates Tommy even more.
Maggie Gavin and Sean Garrity are on-again and off-again throughout the season, with Garrity pretending to be an alcoholic (like Maggie) to spend more time with her. But the two eventually split.
The Gavin family starts their own AA meetings due to the high number of alcoholics in the family. Michael Gavin, Tommy's father, refuses to attend meetings, but contacts Tommy and tells him that he's going to be sober (ironically at a bar) to "keep his friends close and his enemies closer." Tommy struggles to maintain his sobriety the entire season.
Tommy also begins seeing a woman named Valerie (Gina Gershon
), who can't be touched after she orgasms during sex. She and Tommy are on and off due to Tommy's periodic desire for his ex-wife Janet. Janet has also taken a job, where she begins dating her much-younger boss.
A new firefighter named Bart joins the house, after Lou and Franco negotiated to get him for their basketball team. Bart says he goes by his nickname, Shawn, so the crew decides to call him "Black Shawn" to distinguish him from Sean Garrity. Black Shawn is not happy with this. Using the basketball team as leverage, Shawn says he doesn't want to be referred to as "Probie" and he expects to be absolved of any probie work. This initially angers Garrity, Mike, and most of all, Tommy. However, after Black Shawn shows himself worthy in the face of a raging fire, the entire crew accepts him and even Tommy pays him begrudging respect.
The season ends with Tommy, Lou, Sean, Michael Gavin (Tommy's Dad), and Uncle Teddy attending a Newark Bears
minor league baseball game at the request of Tommy's dad. Tommy and his father take the close up seats while the rest of the crew take seats higher up in the same section. Lou explains to Garrity how Baseball is like life, waiting for something to come and not being awake for it to happen, but having enough time for a beer, a hot dog, and maybe a blowjob here and there. Also, Colleen is seen attending a picnic with Black Shawn. The last shot is of Tommy showing his father a hit, and his dad not responding or waking up. Tommy realizes that his father has died and puts his arm around him and continues to watch the game.
s seasons began airing on crackle.com
and between shows on FX. Ten episodes aired. Viewers can also find complete episodes of the first four seasons on Crackle
. The first five seasons may also be seen via Netflix
"Watch Instantly".
Save for one (which told the story of what happened in the fire station in the moments before the fire crew left the station to respond to the attack on the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001) the webisodes were largely stand-alone pieces, often showing the group in action rescuing people in fires, dream-like scenarios (such as Tommy imagining a night out with his various romantic interests) or general slice of life scenes set inside the station house.
joined the cast, playing Janet's (Andrea Roth
) new love interest. According to the L.A. Weekly, on December 1, 2008 during an appearance at Book Soup in West Hollywood, Leary revealed plot details for Season 5, specifically a retrospective look into the events leading up to and surrounding 9/11 by each of the characters. Subsequently, Tommy and Lou vie for the affections of the woman who is writing a 9/11 story, which is the plot line in the first 10 episodes of Season 5, which premiered on April 7, 2009.
Silletti gets insurance money and an inheritance following his mother's death in Season 4, and is convinced by Franco and Garrity to invest it in a bar. The bar becomes a popular after-hours place for the fire crew.
Later in Season 5, Garrity suffers renal carcinoma and requires surgery, forcing him to reunite with his estranged mother and brother. Damien (Michael Zegen
), Sheila and Jimmy's son, finishes Probie school, and joins the firehouse as a Probie. A woman named Kelly (Maura Tierney
) rushes into a fire that the crew is fighting, and retrieves a mysterious metal suitcase. Tommy appears to shun both Janet and Sheila to spend time with Kelly. While there are some romantic undertones, Tommy is more interested in why the suitcase was so important to Kelly. Candy (Milena Govich
), the prostitute who conned Lou in Season 2, reappears after getting out of jail, claiming that she has turned her life around. After Lou's vehement dismissals, he lets her move in with him. After Candy claims to have inherited a large sum of money, they marry, combining their assets. A short time later, Lou discovers that Candy's real name is Barbara and she is wanted in Florida for fraud. He empties their joint bank account, taking back the money she stole from him (plus interest), then confronts her. When she denies the allegations, Lou tells her that he's called the police, and if she's truly innocent, she'll wait for them to arrive. He tells her that if she's guilty, she'll run. After continuing to tell him he's wrong, she ends up fleeing.
Much of Season 5 also follows Tommy's extended family — Cousin Mickey (Robert John Burke), Cousin Eddie (Terry Serpico
), Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke
) and Teddy's wife Ellie (Patti D'Arbanville
) — as they all return to drinking after spending several months in AA
. In the penultimate episode, the four are drinking with Tommy when an obviously drunk Ellie leaves to pick up a dog she and Teddy had adopted. Shortly after leaving, Ellie is shown running a red light and being hit by an 18-wheeler. In the final episode, it is revealed that the crash was fatal. Teddy confronts his nephews and Tommy in the gang's bar, clearly pointing the finger of blame at Tommy. The cliffhanger for the next season is set after Teddy shoots Tommy twice in the shoulder during an after-hours party, apparently leaving Tommy to bleed to death. Teddy threatens to kill anyone who tries to leave and go for help.
website confirmed Rescue Me would return in 2010 for a ten-episode sixth season due to increased ratings. Season 6 premiered Tuesday, June 29 at 10 p.m. A Season 6 trailer was shown Tuesday, May 11, during FX's airing of Justified
.
Season 6 deals with the aftermath of Tommy's near-death experience and the tangled web of bed-hopping between him and Janet and Sheila. Janet alerts him of Colleen (Tommy's older daughter, now 21 years old) becoming a drunk like her father, leading Tommy to take drastic measures in attempting to save her from becoming an alcoholic like the rest of her family. Janet also seeks to force Tommy to permanently sever ties with Sheila, as Sheila uses her son Damien and his joining Tommy's fire crew as leverage to continue their affair, even as she begins to date Tommy's ex-priest cousin Mickey. Tommy and Janet reconnect though at a terrible price, as their daughter Katy threatens to disown them after she is accepted into a private boarding school away from the city.
At the firehouse, the main storyline involves the house being targeted for closing due to city-wide budget cuts, which would leave the community it serves without any fire/emergency rescue services. This causes a major power struggle to break out between Battalion Chief "Needles" Nelson and his superior, Deputy Chief Feinberg. Feinberg is accused by Needles of betraying the firefighters under him, as it appears Feinberg has made a corrupt bargain where he will be given command over another existing house in exchange for allowing his station to be shut down (and his men laid off). Taking matters into his own hands, Needles video-records Tommy and the crew rushing to the aid of deaf children when a fire breaks out at the community school. The next-nearest fire department (who would be in charge of answering 9-1-1 calls for the community) arrives late, long after Needles' crew has saved the children from the burning school. Needles promptly uses the video to blackmail his and Feinberg's superiors into saving the house from any budget shutdowns, earning Needles the praise of his underlings and exposing Feinberg's disdain and hatred for Tommy and the rest of the rank and file firefighters. He is clearly more concerned with Needles' actions endangering his standing in the eyes of his superiors.
Near the end of the season, Damien (who had begun to have doubts about being a firefighter, only to be talked into continuing by Tommy) suffers a traumatic head injury while fighting a fire, which leaves him severely brain-damaged and unable to walk or communicate. The strain of dealing with her son's incurable condition breaks up Sheila and Mickey's relationship. While Tommy tries to juggle both Sheila and Janet in the wake of this, Janet as usual throws it in Tommy's face, giving him an ultimatum. She reminds him that Damien is not his responsibility, and that he should be more concerned with his own children.
After hearing about other firefighters writing letters to their family members in case they died in the line of duty, Tommy writes letters to his family and the guys and gives them to Lou to hand them out when he dies. Lou reads his immediately and is busted by Tommy, having set him up to steal a box of cupcakes under his bunk he had put aside for Janet. Due to increasing pressure from the guys (who had to fake Lou's physical for him), Lou starts a weight-loss regiment and Tommy promises that if Lou loses weight he will make him the godfather of their new child. Lou struggles with his diet, and eventually lashes out at Tommy that food is how he copes with the hole that 9/11 created in him and that Tommy simply filled his with booze instead. Tommy writes Lou another, legitimate, letter and gives it to him. Lou reads it again, and is moved to tears by his friend. Lou gives Sheila and Janet their letters, as they were angry with Tommy at the time, and both start being much kinder to Tommy. However the letter Janet received was written by Lou, who accidentally burned the real one, and in it promised that Tommy would quit the FDNY.
On the second to last episode, Colleen and Black Shawn are married. During the wedding reception, a drunken Sheila suggests Tommy and Janet renew their vows which Collen and Katy second. Tommy is blindsided when Janet adds a new vow of him promising to retire. Tommy hesitates but (after Katy threatens to drink and become a prostitute) agrees to Janet's vow.
Later that night the guys respond to a fire that quickly grows out of control. The guys see hanging latex gloves and the smell of diesel fuel and realize they are in the middle of an arson attempt. After reaching a window to escape, they hear voices of kids still inside. They locate the kids but are unable to get back to the ladder, and try to make for the roof. However the door to the roof has been bricked over, trapping them inside. After firefighter Niels Jorgensen reports that "62 Truck has no point of egress", Needles gives the call to abandon the building. Tommy is about to leave and look for another route after Lou tells him to go obviously reminded about his vow to Janet. Tommy asks if Lou is sure and he says "we'll be fine, trust me". Seconds later, an explosion guts the building.
The series finale begins with Lou eulogizing Tommy, Franco, Sean, Black Shawn, and Mike during a joint funeral with family, friends and many other firefighters. This all turns out to be Tommy’s dream. When Tommy (now acting Lieutenant, assuming command after Lou's death) is told by Needles to type a report on that final incident, it is revealed, from flashbacks while Tommy is filling out a department report, that it was in fact only Lou that died after having his face burned off in the fire. The recovering crew all contemplate their futures in the 62 house and firefighting in general. Tommy files for retirement, Franco, Mike, and Sean consider transferring, and Black Shawn considers quitting for Colleen.
Later, Tommy finds that Lou has left him a letter in the event of his death, to be read at the scattering of his ashes. After a mishap on the way, Tommy reads Lou’s letter which tells the guys to stay together, then spreads Lou's remains. Immediately after the service, Janet goes into labor at home and Tommy delivers his son. After some debate over a name and Tommy passing out, Janet decided to name him Shea Gavin in honor of Lou, after Tommy rejected all the names she picked, and because Tommy said Lou after the baby was born; Tommy agreed with the name because it honored his best friend and he thought it would make a great name for a Quarterback. After an earlier scolding from Sheila and an incident with Wyatt at a playground, Janet realizes that Tommy, regardless of everything, is not yet ready to retire.
The show's final moments recall the very first episode, with Tommy speaking to the new Academy class, but this time with a little more clarity and a warning not to drown your sorrows with sex, violence, and alcohol. With new Lieutenant Franco taking over, Tommy returns to his truck, this time conversing not with Jimmy's ghost but with Lou's who amongst other things, comments on the mishap with his ashes. The episode ends with The Pogues
' "Dirty Old Town
" playing as the camera pans over to the skyline of Manhattan, where 1 World Trade Center's construction progress can be seen.
. The song, along with several others, was picked by Leary's son. The underscore and end title theme for the show is scored by composer Christopher Tyng
, who also scored Leary's previous show The Job
. Rescue Me often ends with a musical montage. The official soundtrack
was released on May 30, 2006 on Nettwerk
.
Mike Lombardi's band, Apache Stone
, performed several times on the show, although they do not appear on the soundtrack.
.
The debut episode was seen by almost 4.1 million viewers, ranking #8 all-time for series premieres in basic cable. Season one and two averaged 2.7 and 2.8 million viewers, respectively.
Controversy surrounded Rescue Me after an episode in season 3 ("Sparks") showed Tommy raping his ex-wife, Janet. A few minutes later, Tommy leaves the home and Janet is on the couch reading a magazine. Two episodes later ("Zombies"), Janet forces herself on Tommy to make them "even". A later episode dealt with Sheila, the wife of Tommy's deceased cousin, drugging him with rohypnol and Viagra and then proceeding to rape
him.
season 1 2.7 million
season 2 2.8 million
season 3 2.5 million
season 4 2.1 million
season 5 1.50 million
season 6 1.34 million
season 7 1.49 million
has released Rescue Me on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. All 7 seasons have been released in Region 1, seasons 1-3 in Regions 2 & 4. Season 3 was the only season to be released for the Blu-ray Disc.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
firefighter
New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
s in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.
The show mainly follows veteran firefighter Tommy Gavin
Tommy Gavin
Thomas Michael "Tommy" Gavin is the main character of the FX television series Rescue Me. He is portrayed by Denis Leary. Leary was nominated for a Golden Globe and for two Emmys for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Tommy...
(Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
) and his ever troublesome family as they deal with real life issues, either with post 9/11 trauma or domestic problems. Tommy has to struggle with the loss of his cousin and best friend Jimmy Keefe, who died on September 11, 2001, and frequently visits Tommy in visions. In the pilot episode, Tommy and his wife have already separated and Tommy has moved across the street. He is ill-tempered, self-destructive, hypocritical, manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
, and a relapsed alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. Despite his devotion and care for others, he is viewed by various family members and his fellow firefighters as self-centered.
Rescue Me was created by Denis Leary
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
and Peter Tolan
Peter Tolan
Peter James Tolan III is an American television producer, director, and screenwriter.-Early life and career:Tolan was born in Scituate, Massachusetts where he was a perrenial favorite in the high school's dramatic productions. Before leaving to pursue a career in Hollywood, Tolan founded a theater...
, who also serve as executive producers and head writers, and is produced by Cloudland Company, Apostle
Apostle (production company)
Apostle is a New York-based production company specializing in television production created by stand-up comedian and actor Denis Leary and his business partner Jim Serpico...
, DreamWorks Television
DreamWorks Television
DreamWorks Television is a television distribution and production company that is a division of DreamWorks SKG, a former subsidiary of Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures. The syndication rights to DreamWorks' live-action TV series were held by CBS Television Distribution until fall 2008, the successor...
and Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
.
Characters
Rescue Me mainly focuses on the Gavin family and the men of the firehouse, but many other characters have been introduced over the six seasons that have stayed on as main characters. Recurring guests include Maura TierneyMaura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
, Artie Lange
Artie Lange
Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
, Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
, Desmond Harrington
Desmond Harrington
Desmond Harrington is an American actor. He is known for movies such as The Hole, Wrong Turn and Ghost Ship. He joined the cast of the Showtime series Dexter in its third season as Det. Joseph Quinn.-Life and career:...
, Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei
Marisa Tomei is an American stage, film and television actress. Following her work on As The World Turns, Tomei came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987...
, Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
, Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher
Peter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
, Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
and Jennifer Esposito
Jennifer Esposito
Jennifer Esposito is an American actress, dancer and model, known for her appearances in films such as I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Summer of Sam and Crash and in television series such as Spin City, The Looney Tunes Show and Samantha Who?.-Early life:Esposito, an Italian-American, was...
.
Main cast
- Denis LearyDenis LearyDenis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
as Senior Firefighter Tommy GavinTommy GavinThomas Michael "Tommy" Gavin is the main character of the FX television series Rescue Me. He is portrayed by Denis Leary. Leary was nominated for a Golden Globe and for two Emmys for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Tommy... - John ScurtiJohn ScurtiJohn Martin Scurti is an American actor.Scurti attended Fordham University, where he received a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. One of his early major film roles was The Ref in 1993, alongside Denis Leary...
as Lieutenant Kenneth “Lou” SheaKenny SheaLieutenant Kenneth Shea aka Lou or Kenny is a fictional firefighter on the FX drama Rescue Me. The character is played by John Scurti. Shea is a lieutenant in 62 Truck... - Daniel SunjataDaniel SunjataDaniel Sunjata is an American actor who performs in film, television and in the theater.-Career:...
as Firefighter/Lieutenant Franco Rivera - Steven PasqualeSteven PasqualeSteven Pasquale is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Sean Garrity in the critically acclaimed series Rescue Me. He made his debut on the HBO series Six Feet Under, playing a love interest for David. He also starred in the film Aliens vs...
as Firefighter Sean Garrity - Mike Lombardi as Firefighter Mike Silletti
- Andrea RothAndrea RothAndrea Roth is a Canadian actress. She is perhaps best known for her role on the FX television series Rescue Me , as Janet Gavin, the wife of main character Tommy Gavin.-Biography:...
as Janet Gavin - Callie ThorneCallie ThorneCalliope "Callie" Thorne is an American actress known for her current role as Dr. Dani Santino on the USA Network series Necessary Roughness...
as Sheila Keefe - Jack McGee as Battalion Chief Jerry Reilly (Season 1–3)
- Diane FarrDiane FarrDiane Farr is an American actress. She is known for her roles as FBI agent Megan Reeves in the CBS television series Numb3rs and Laura Miles on Rescue Me.-Life and career:...
as Firefighter Laura Miles (Recurring Season 1, Main Cast Season 2) - Tatum O’Neal as Maggie Gavin Garrity (Recurring Season 2, Main Cast Season 3–5, Recurring Season 6-7)
- Dean WintersDean WintersDean Winters is an American actor, who has portrayed Ryan O'Reily on HBO's Oz, Johnny Gavin on FX Network's Rescue Me, and Dennis Duffy on NBC's 30 Rock...
as Johnny Gavin (Recurring Season 1–2, Main Cast Season 3, Recurring Season 4–5) - Adam FerraraAdam FerraraAdam Ferrara is an American actor and comedian who is currently playing the role of Chief "Needles" Nelson on the critically acclaimed FX series Rescue Me and is also a co-host on the U.S. version of Top Gear...
as Battalion Chief William “Needles” Nelson (Recurring Season 3, Main Cast Season 4–7) - Larenz TateLarenz TateLarenz Tate is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Peggy and Larry Tate. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old...
as Firefighter Bart “Black Shawn” Johnston (Season 4–7) - Michael ZegenMichael ZegenMichael Zegen is an American actor, best known for his role as probie firefighter "Damien Keefe" on the FX Network television drama Rescue Me, as well as his recurring role as "Dwight the Troubled Teen" on over 50 episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman...
as Firefighter Damien Keefe (Recurring Season 1–3, Main Cast Season 5–7)
Major recurring cast
- Natalie Distler as Colleen Gavin
- Olivia Crocicchia as Katy Gavin
- James McCaffreyJames McCaffreyJames G. McCaffrey is an American actor.-Biography:McCaffrey was born in Northern Ireland and raised in New York. His first role was for sills models, as a mentally challenged teen, in Bill II: on His Own, the Bill Sackter story. He also played the lead in the first and last seasons of the series...
as Senior Firefighter Jimmy Keefe (in flashbacks and as ghostly apparitions) - Robert John Burke as Mickey Gavin (formerly Father Mickey Gavin)
- Lenny ClarkeLenny ClarkeLenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
as Teddy Gavin - Michael MulherenMichael Mulheren- Theatre :Mulheren's Broadway debut was in 1995 in On the Waterfront, after previously appearing in The Fantastickss off-Broadway run in the 1960s. He also appeared in the 1997 production of Broadway's The Titanic. Other Broadway credits include The Boy from Oz and La Cage aux Folles; his...
as Battalion Commander Ron Perolli - Jerry AdlerJerry AdlerJerry Adler is an American theatre director, production supervisor and a television and film actor.Adler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Pauline and Philip Adler, who was a general manager of the Group Theatre...
as Deputy Chief Sidney Feinberg - Charles DurningCharles DurningCharles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...
as Michael James Gavin - Trevor Heins as Connor Gavin
- Terry SerpicoTerry SerpicoTerry Serpico is a film and television supporting actor.Serpico studied acting in college, graduating from SUNY-Purchase in 1989. He began his career as a stunt performer...
as Eddie Gavin - Patti D'ArbanvillePatti D'ArbanvillePatricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
as Ellie - Maura TierneyMaura TierneyMaura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
as Kelly McPhee
Season 1
The first season of Rescue Me debuted on July 21, 2004, and began by introducing the members of New York City Fire DepartmentNew York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
's Ladder Company 62—aka "62 Truck"— which is located in the Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
section of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and exploring their lives, both at home and inside the firehouse. It also features the well-known comedian Denis Leary, who carries his humorous nature over into the show. It focused on main character Tommy Gavin
Tommy Gavin
Thomas Michael "Tommy" Gavin is the main character of the FX television series Rescue Me. He is portrayed by Denis Leary. Leary was nominated for a Golden Globe and for two Emmys for Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Tommy...
as he dealt with the effects of the September 11, 2001, attacks, which, for him, include seeing the ghost of his cousin, Lt. Jimmy Keefe, as well as the ghosts of various people he failed to save over the years. Gavin and his wife are separated and, from across the street, he sees her begin to date again and concocts a "secret evil plan" to get her back and prevent her from taking his children and leaving the state.
In other stories, Chief Jerry Reilly attacks a gay former firefighter in a bar after the guy speaks to the press and claims that at least 20 of the 343 men who died during the 9/11 attacks were gay. Sean Garrity begins to date one of Franco Rivera's (many) ex-girlfriends, which leads to Franco finding out that he has a daughter with the woman; Rivera later takes the daughter in after the mother's overdose death. Tommy also gets involved with Jimmy's widow Sheila (an absolute no-no among firefighters), and "probie" Mike Silletti begins to date a "fat chick" named Theresa (Ashlie Atkinson
Ashlie Atkinson
Ashlie Atkinson is an American stage, film, and television actress.-Background:Atkinson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas. She moved to New York at age 17 and attended Barnard College...
), in a relationship he keeps secret. Lt. Kenny Shea deals with 9/11 by writing poetry, and then starts to have an affair after learning his wife is preparing to leave him anyway.
After fireman Billy Warren dies in a fire, the city sends Laura Miles to replace him. She clashes with the guys in general (as they do not want a woman on their crew) and with Tommy in particular. She is watching him, and believes he is becoming dangerous as he takes more and more seemingly unnecessary risks on the job. The season comes to a close with Tommy's mistake at a fire causing Franco to get hurt, and with Tommy's eventual transfer out of the house after the rest of the crew finds out he has been seeing Sheila and gotten her pregnant. In the final scene of the season finale, Tommy shows up at his wife's house to find her and his children missing, along with everything in the house. While consuming a bottle of vodka he finds in a cupboard, he uses a baseball bat to destroy anything that's left in the house.
Season 2
The second season premiered on June 21, 2005. It began with Tommy at a new firehouse on Staten IslandStaten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
and his replacement at 62 Truck, Sully, becoming everyone's favorite. While responding to a fire at an underground sex club, they discover that the "woman" they rescued is really Sully in a black leather skirt and bustier. The next day, Sully requests a transfer because he knows that the crew will never let him live that down. This clears the way for Tommy to return. Back in the old house Tommy shifts his focus to finding his family and dealing with his father, who took an unannounced vacation and came home with a new (rich) wife, Jenny Ng. Sheila has a miscarriage, but lies about it to keep Tommy near.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Johnny Gavin find out that their father had a long, on-going affair during their childhood, which produced two children. Soon they suspect their new-found brother, a priest, is a pedophile. Silletti stalks his ex-girlfriend after she dumps him. Chief Jerry's wife gradually deteriorates from Alzheimer’s, and he is forced to seek help from his estranged son before placing her in a long-term care facility. Laura and Franco begin dating, but Laura eventually leaves Franco and the firehouse. Lt. Shea is conned by a prostitute named Candy, resulting in him losing his entire life savings. Jenny Ng dies, but the expected financial windfall for Tommy's father never happens. Tommy's estranged sister Maggie shows up in town.
Tommy and his family reconcile for a time, but when their only son Connor is killed by a drunk driver, it is too much for Janet to handle and she blames Tommy. It only gets worse when Johnny finds out the driver is well-connected and may not do time, so Tommy's uncle Teddy murders the man in public.
Season 3
The third season began on May 30, 2006. Tommy and Janet are now re-separated and Teddy is in jail for murder. Janet begins sleeping with Johnny, Tommy's brother. Tommy and Johnny fight it out in the street. Later, following an argument, Tommy rapes Janet. The violence of the act is contrasted with his post-coital attitude and the suggestion that she may have enjoyed it.Meanwhile Lt. Shea, still smarting from getting conned, is becoming testy with everyone on the crew and slowly spiraling down. Mike Silletti (now no longer referred to as "Probie") begins a sexual relationship with his male roommate, and Tommy falls back into things with Sheila. Sheila wants to get Tommy away from Janet completely, and begins to drug him with rohypnol and Viagra to have sex. Maggie soon finds herself dating Sean Garrity, among others.
Janet gets pregnant with either Johnny's or Tommy's baby and announces she wants to keep it to replace Connor. The crew finds out about Mike's possible homosexuality, and Tommy comes to his defense. Tommy defends Mike mainly because of fears that he has over the fire crew breaking up, and says he considers Mike part of his extended family at the fire house. Franco starts to date Alicia (Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
), a rich older woman who eventually takes his daughter from him. (He is unable to do anything about it, because he had taken her from foster care without permission and therefore is not the girl's legal guardian.) Lt. Shea moves in with Tommy and begins seeing Theresa, a soon-to-be ex-nun with whom he plans on moving to Florida to be first mate on his cousin's boat. Chief Reilly tries to meet his wife's increasing health care costs by taking a second job at a bar. Later, he suffers a heart attack after having sex with Karlene, an illegal immigrant whom he hired to care for his wife.
During a stakeout, Johnny is shot three times through the back and killed by someone who was contracted to stop him from testifying against a powerful drug dealer Johnny had arrested months beforehand. During his funeral, Sean and Maggie decide to get married at the cemetery. Rosemary Gavin is also introduced, the long lost sister of Tommy, Johnny, and Maggie. She is deaf and had been shunned by her parents, but reconciles with her father.
Uncle Teddy, still in prison, receives numerous letters from a woman named Ellie, who is proud of the action he took upon Connor's killer. The two begin a relationship and get married, which allows Ellie to join him physically for conjugal visits.
With the 62 Ladder crew seemingly breaking up, Tommy decides to retire and move in with Sheila in her new home on Long Island. He changes his mind after talking with Janet about her pregnancy and discovering that his crew will remain together after all. (Mike isn't transferring, Lou has changed his mind about the boat after discovering he lacked "sea legs," and Franco has failed a lieutenant's exam.)
While at Sheila's new house, he tells her he is not retiring from the FDNY. Distraught, she drugs him again and accidentally starts a fire. The fire spreads while a frantic Sheila is overwhelmed by frustration, and the finale closes without making it clear if Tommy or Sheila made it out of the house.
Season 4
The fourth season of Rescue Me premiered on June 13, 2007.Tommy and Sheila are apparently rescued by volunteer firefighters, but are then accused of arson and insurance fraud. Janet has given birth to the baby and Tommy has come to accept it as his own. Unfortunately, the baby's hair finally comes in and it is "jet black" in color, leaving them to now believe that it is Johnny's son instead.
Teddy is released from prison and immediately abandons his new wife in a coffee shop. Colleen runs away from home and moves in with her boyfriend, leaving her parents enraged.
Depressed after being told that he can no longer serve in active duty due to his poor heart, Jerry takes a desk job. After using his position behind a computer to tamper with evidence, effectively clearing Tommy of the arson charges, Jerry commits suicide.
Janet is suffering from postpartum depression and is also deeply affected by her inability to bond with her new son. The baby cries constantly and his crying seems to worsen when Janet holds him. Getting wind of this, Sheila has approached Tommy about them giving her the baby; she has offered Tommy $850,000 in payment. She continues to hound Tommy about this and Tommy has not told Janet of Sheila's offer. Seeing how his wife is suffering and how the baby is being neglected and seemingly rejected by everyone in the family but himself, Tommy is reluctantly beginning to re-consider Sheila's offer.
Tommy soon decides to give the baby to Sheila after contemplating throwing him off into the Hudson River at the request of his brother's ghost. After Janet learns of what Tommy has done, she runs him down with her car. After she realizes that he is OK, she sends the youngest daughter, Katy, up to Sheila's apartment to steal the baby back. Meanwhile, in the apartment, Tommy has a breakdown in which all of his ghostly friends, including Jimmy, tell him they are tired of his selfishness and are done with him.
Tommy then shares custody with Sheila by bribing his daughter Colleen with a no limit credit card. Colleen gives the baby to him whenever she has him, so he can in turn give him to Sheila. Colleen's boyfriend uses the credit card to buy a wedding ring. After Tommy learns this, he goes to the recording studio to sort out Colleen's boyfriend and destroys his guitar. The boyfriend tells Tommy the ring wasn't for Colleen, but for another girl. Relieved of this he apologizes to the boyfriend and wishes him and his new girlfriend the best of luck. When the boyfriend explains this to Colleen, he says its because Tommy scares him and that is why he left Colleen, so now of course Colleen hates Tommy even more.
Maggie Gavin and Sean Garrity are on-again and off-again throughout the season, with Garrity pretending to be an alcoholic (like Maggie) to spend more time with her. But the two eventually split.
The Gavin family starts their own AA meetings due to the high number of alcoholics in the family. Michael Gavin, Tommy's father, refuses to attend meetings, but contacts Tommy and tells him that he's going to be sober (ironically at a bar) to "keep his friends close and his enemies closer." Tommy struggles to maintain his sobriety the entire season.
Tommy also begins seeing a woman named Valerie (Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
), who can't be touched after she orgasms during sex. She and Tommy are on and off due to Tommy's periodic desire for his ex-wife Janet. Janet has also taken a job, where she begins dating her much-younger boss.
A new firefighter named Bart joins the house, after Lou and Franco negotiated to get him for their basketball team. Bart says he goes by his nickname, Shawn, so the crew decides to call him "Black Shawn" to distinguish him from Sean Garrity. Black Shawn is not happy with this. Using the basketball team as leverage, Shawn says he doesn't want to be referred to as "Probie" and he expects to be absolved of any probie work. This initially angers Garrity, Mike, and most of all, Tommy. However, after Black Shawn shows himself worthy in the face of a raging fire, the entire crew accepts him and even Tommy pays him begrudging respect.
The season ends with Tommy, Lou, Sean, Michael Gavin (Tommy's Dad), and Uncle Teddy attending a Newark Bears
Newark Bears
The Newark Bears are an American professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are a member of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since the 1999 season, the Bears have played their home games at Bears &...
minor league baseball game at the request of Tommy's dad. Tommy and his father take the close up seats while the rest of the crew take seats higher up in the same section. Lou explains to Garrity how Baseball is like life, waiting for something to come and not being awake for it to happen, but having enough time for a beer, a hot dog, and maybe a blowjob here and there. Also, Colleen is seen attending a picnic with Black Shawn. The last shot is of Tommy showing his father a hit, and his dad not responding or waking up. Tommy realizes that his father has died and puts his arm around him and continues to watch the game.
Minisodes
On June 23, 2008, webisodeWebisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s seasons began airing on crackle.com
Crackle
Crackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
and between shows on FX. Ten episodes aired. Viewers can also find complete episodes of the first four seasons on Crackle
Crackle
Crackle is a digital network and studio, featuring commercially supported streaming video content in Flash Video format. It is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, and its content consists primarily of Sony's library of films and television shows...
. The first five seasons may also be seen via Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
"Watch Instantly".
Save for one (which told the story of what happened in the fire station in the moments before the fire crew left the station to respond to the attack on the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001) the webisodes were largely stand-alone pieces, often showing the group in action rescuing people in fires, dream-like scenarios (such as Tommy imagining a night out with his various romantic interests) or general slice of life scenes set inside the station house.
Season 5
The show was renewed for a fifth season of 22 episodes. In an interview with on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Thursday, May 15, 2008, Leary revealed Season 5 had been delayed until March 2009 because of the writer's strike, but that all 22 episodes would air on consecutive weeks. Michael J. FoxMichael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
joined the cast, playing Janet's (Andrea Roth
Andrea Roth
Andrea Roth is a Canadian actress. She is perhaps best known for her role on the FX television series Rescue Me , as Janet Gavin, the wife of main character Tommy Gavin.-Biography:...
) new love interest. According to the L.A. Weekly, on December 1, 2008 during an appearance at Book Soup in West Hollywood, Leary revealed plot details for Season 5, specifically a retrospective look into the events leading up to and surrounding 9/11 by each of the characters. Subsequently, Tommy and Lou vie for the affections of the woman who is writing a 9/11 story, which is the plot line in the first 10 episodes of Season 5, which premiered on April 7, 2009.
Silletti gets insurance money and an inheritance following his mother's death in Season 4, and is convinced by Franco and Garrity to invest it in a bar. The bar becomes a popular after-hours place for the fire crew.
Later in Season 5, Garrity suffers renal carcinoma and requires surgery, forcing him to reunite with his estranged mother and brother. Damien (Michael Zegen
Michael Zegen
Michael Zegen is an American actor, best known for his role as probie firefighter "Damien Keefe" on the FX Network television drama Rescue Me, as well as his recurring role as "Dwight the Troubled Teen" on over 50 episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman...
), Sheila and Jimmy's son, finishes Probie school, and joins the firehouse as a Probie. A woman named Kelly (Maura Tierney
Maura Tierney
Maura Therese Tierney is an American film and television actress, who is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on NewsRadio and Abby Lockhart on the television medical drama ER.-Early life:...
) rushes into a fire that the crew is fighting, and retrieves a mysterious metal suitcase. Tommy appears to shun both Janet and Sheila to spend time with Kelly. While there are some romantic undertones, Tommy is more interested in why the suitcase was so important to Kelly. Candy (Milena Govich
Milena Govich
-Biography:She was born in Norman, Cleveland County, Oklahoma. Both of her parents, Dr. Bruce Michael Govich and Dr. Marilyn Green Govich, are professors of music: Bruce worked at University of Oklahoma and Marilyn currently works at the University of Central Oklahoma...
), the prostitute who conned Lou in Season 2, reappears after getting out of jail, claiming that she has turned her life around. After Lou's vehement dismissals, he lets her move in with him. After Candy claims to have inherited a large sum of money, they marry, combining their assets. A short time later, Lou discovers that Candy's real name is Barbara and she is wanted in Florida for fraud. He empties their joint bank account, taking back the money she stole from him (plus interest), then confronts her. When she denies the allegations, Lou tells her that he's called the police, and if she's truly innocent, she'll wait for them to arrive. He tells her that if she's guilty, she'll run. After continuing to tell him he's wrong, she ends up fleeing.
Much of Season 5 also follows Tommy's extended family — Cousin Mickey (Robert John Burke), Cousin Eddie (Terry Serpico
Terry Serpico
Terry Serpico is a film and television supporting actor.Serpico studied acting in college, graduating from SUNY-Purchase in 1989. He began his career as a stunt performer...
), Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke
Lenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor, famous for his thick Boston accent and role as Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me. During the 1970s, as related in the Comedy Central roast of Clarke's friend Denis Leary, Clarke ran for mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. When asked by Leary what...
) and Teddy's wife Ellie (Patti D'Arbanville
Patti D'Arbanville
Patricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
) — as they all return to drinking after spending several months in AA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
. In the penultimate episode, the four are drinking with Tommy when an obviously drunk Ellie leaves to pick up a dog she and Teddy had adopted. Shortly after leaving, Ellie is shown running a red light and being hit by an 18-wheeler. In the final episode, it is revealed that the crash was fatal. Teddy confronts his nephews and Tommy in the gang's bar, clearly pointing the finger of blame at Tommy. The cliffhanger for the next season is set after Teddy shoots Tommy twice in the shoulder during an after-hours party, apparently leaving Tommy to bleed to death. Teddy threatens to kill anyone who tries to leave and go for help.
Season 6
On June 16, 2009, the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
website confirmed Rescue Me would return in 2010 for a ten-episode sixth season due to increased ratings. Season 6 premiered Tuesday, June 29 at 10 p.m. A Season 6 trailer was shown Tuesday, May 11, during FX's airing of Justified
Justified (TV series)
Justified is an American television drama series created by Graham Yost. It is based on Elmore Leonard's novels Pronto and Riding the Rap and his short story "Fire in the Hole". Its central character is Raylan Givens, a deputy U.S. Marshal. The series is set in the city of Lexington, Kentucky...
.
Season 6 deals with the aftermath of Tommy's near-death experience and the tangled web of bed-hopping between him and Janet and Sheila. Janet alerts him of Colleen (Tommy's older daughter, now 21 years old) becoming a drunk like her father, leading Tommy to take drastic measures in attempting to save her from becoming an alcoholic like the rest of her family. Janet also seeks to force Tommy to permanently sever ties with Sheila, as Sheila uses her son Damien and his joining Tommy's fire crew as leverage to continue their affair, even as she begins to date Tommy's ex-priest cousin Mickey. Tommy and Janet reconnect though at a terrible price, as their daughter Katy threatens to disown them after she is accepted into a private boarding school away from the city.
At the firehouse, the main storyline involves the house being targeted for closing due to city-wide budget cuts, which would leave the community it serves without any fire/emergency rescue services. This causes a major power struggle to break out between Battalion Chief "Needles" Nelson and his superior, Deputy Chief Feinberg. Feinberg is accused by Needles of betraying the firefighters under him, as it appears Feinberg has made a corrupt bargain where he will be given command over another existing house in exchange for allowing his station to be shut down (and his men laid off). Taking matters into his own hands, Needles video-records Tommy and the crew rushing to the aid of deaf children when a fire breaks out at the community school. The next-nearest fire department (who would be in charge of answering 9-1-1 calls for the community) arrives late, long after Needles' crew has saved the children from the burning school. Needles promptly uses the video to blackmail his and Feinberg's superiors into saving the house from any budget shutdowns, earning Needles the praise of his underlings and exposing Feinberg's disdain and hatred for Tommy and the rest of the rank and file firefighters. He is clearly more concerned with Needles' actions endangering his standing in the eyes of his superiors.
Near the end of the season, Damien (who had begun to have doubts about being a firefighter, only to be talked into continuing by Tommy) suffers a traumatic head injury while fighting a fire, which leaves him severely brain-damaged and unable to walk or communicate. The strain of dealing with her son's incurable condition breaks up Sheila and Mickey's relationship. While Tommy tries to juggle both Sheila and Janet in the wake of this, Janet as usual throws it in Tommy's face, giving him an ultimatum. She reminds him that Damien is not his responsibility, and that he should be more concerned with his own children.
Season 7
The seventh and final season premiered on Wednesday, July 13, 2011. Tommy confronts Janet about her pregnancy, and is told that the only way she will have the child is if Tommy retires from the FDNY and takes a safer job. Janet is supported by Sheila, the two of which have bonded together over their shared grief of losing a son (despite Damien not being dead). Tommy's stress about his job is exacerbated when Black Shawn proposes to Colleen, who says yes. Tommy's frustrations get the better of him during an interview about 9/11 and Jimmy, who is the subject of a hero piece. The reporter begins hanging around the building and digging through the past of the guys on 62 Truck for more stories. The guys decide this needs to be stopped due to the sheer volume of bad press this would generate (namely, that Franco is essentially being a deadbeat dad, Needles is marrying a mail-order bride, Mike is a bisexual and Tommy is continuing to sleep with his dead cousin's wife). Tommy reaches out to some of Johnny's old contacts at the police department and manage to get a video of the reporter performing oral sex on another officer after being busted with cocaine, which Sheila uses to scare her off.After hearing about other firefighters writing letters to their family members in case they died in the line of duty, Tommy writes letters to his family and the guys and gives them to Lou to hand them out when he dies. Lou reads his immediately and is busted by Tommy, having set him up to steal a box of cupcakes under his bunk he had put aside for Janet. Due to increasing pressure from the guys (who had to fake Lou's physical for him), Lou starts a weight-loss regiment and Tommy promises that if Lou loses weight he will make him the godfather of their new child. Lou struggles with his diet, and eventually lashes out at Tommy that food is how he copes with the hole that 9/11 created in him and that Tommy simply filled his with booze instead. Tommy writes Lou another, legitimate, letter and gives it to him. Lou reads it again, and is moved to tears by his friend. Lou gives Sheila and Janet their letters, as they were angry with Tommy at the time, and both start being much kinder to Tommy. However the letter Janet received was written by Lou, who accidentally burned the real one, and in it promised that Tommy would quit the FDNY.
On the second to last episode, Colleen and Black Shawn are married. During the wedding reception, a drunken Sheila suggests Tommy and Janet renew their vows which Collen and Katy second. Tommy is blindsided when Janet adds a new vow of him promising to retire. Tommy hesitates but (after Katy threatens to drink and become a prostitute) agrees to Janet's vow.
Later that night the guys respond to a fire that quickly grows out of control. The guys see hanging latex gloves and the smell of diesel fuel and realize they are in the middle of an arson attempt. After reaching a window to escape, they hear voices of kids still inside. They locate the kids but are unable to get back to the ladder, and try to make for the roof. However the door to the roof has been bricked over, trapping them inside. After firefighter Niels Jorgensen reports that "62 Truck has no point of egress", Needles gives the call to abandon the building. Tommy is about to leave and look for another route after Lou tells him to go obviously reminded about his vow to Janet. Tommy asks if Lou is sure and he says "we'll be fine, trust me". Seconds later, an explosion guts the building.
The series finale begins with Lou eulogizing Tommy, Franco, Sean, Black Shawn, and Mike during a joint funeral with family, friends and many other firefighters. This all turns out to be Tommy’s dream. When Tommy (now acting Lieutenant, assuming command after Lou's death) is told by Needles to type a report on that final incident, it is revealed, from flashbacks while Tommy is filling out a department report, that it was in fact only Lou that died after having his face burned off in the fire. The recovering crew all contemplate their futures in the 62 house and firefighting in general. Tommy files for retirement, Franco, Mike, and Sean consider transferring, and Black Shawn considers quitting for Colleen.
Later, Tommy finds that Lou has left him a letter in the event of his death, to be read at the scattering of his ashes. After a mishap on the way, Tommy reads Lou’s letter which tells the guys to stay together, then spreads Lou's remains. Immediately after the service, Janet goes into labor at home and Tommy delivers his son. After some debate over a name and Tommy passing out, Janet decided to name him Shea Gavin in honor of Lou, after Tommy rejected all the names she picked, and because Tommy said Lou after the baby was born; Tommy agreed with the name because it honored his best friend and he thought it would make a great name for a Quarterback. After an earlier scolding from Sheila and an incident with Wyatt at a playground, Janet realizes that Tommy, regardless of everything, is not yet ready to retire.
The show's final moments recall the very first episode, with Tommy speaking to the new Academy class, but this time with a little more clarity and a warning not to drown your sorrows with sex, violence, and alcohol. With new Lieutenant Franco taking over, Tommy returns to his truck, this time conversing not with Jimmy's ghost but with Lou's who amongst other things, comments on the mishap with his ashes. The episode ends with The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
' "Dirty Old Town
Dirty Old Town
"Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 that was made popular by The Dubliners and has been recorded by many others since.-History:...
" playing as the camera pans over to the skyline of Manhattan, where 1 World Trade Center's construction progress can be seen.
Music
The main title theme song for Rescue Me is a shortened version of "C'mon C'mon" by The Von BondiesThe Von Bondies
The Von Bondies were an American alternative rock band. The group disbanded in July 2011. Its most recent members were Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar...
. The song, along with several others, was picked by Leary's son. The underscore and end title theme for the show is scored by composer Christopher Tyng
Christopher Tyng
Christopher Tyng is an American composer. He composed the music for several television series including Futurama, The O.C., The Job, The Baby-Sitters Club, Knight Rider, High Incident, and Rescue Me....
, who also scored Leary's previous show The Job
The Job (TV series)
The Job was a single-camera television comedy drama about a New York City police officer named Mike McNeil -- who indulges in adultery, alcohol, cigarettes and prescription drug abuse—and his fellow 'bumbling detective' pals...
. Rescue Me often ends with a musical montage. The official soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
was released on May 30, 2006 on Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
.
Mike Lombardi's band, Apache Stone
Apache Stone
-History:Apache Stone formed when Mike Lombardi and Hank Woods began playing together. Lombardi sang and wrote songs, with Woods playing guitar. Woods recruited three additional members to band - first the drummer Mark Greenberg, followed by David Leatherwood on bass and then Nick Bacon on guitar...
, performed several times on the show, although they do not appear on the soundtrack.
Reception
The show was well received when it premiered. The series premiere garnered Denis Leary and Peter Tolan an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. Tolan also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series. Leary received another Emmy nomination the next year, this time for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Critics praised the show's willingness to take risks and talk about family, depression, alcoholism, homophobia, and the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
.
The debut episode was seen by almost 4.1 million viewers, ranking #8 all-time for series premieres in basic cable. Season one and two averaged 2.7 and 2.8 million viewers, respectively.
Controversy surrounded Rescue Me after an episode in season 3 ("Sparks") showed Tommy raping his ex-wife, Janet. A few minutes later, Tommy leaves the home and Janet is on the couch reading a magazine. Two episodes later ("Zombies"), Janet forces herself on Tommy to make them "even". A later episode dealt with Sheila, the wife of Tommy's deceased cousin, drugging him with rohypnol and Viagra and then proceeding to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
him.
season 1 2.7 million
season 2 2.8 million
season 3 2.5 million
season 4 2.1 million
season 5 1.50 million
season 6 1.34 million
season 7 1.49 million
Media releases
Sony Pictures Home EntertainmentSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
has released Rescue Me on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. All 7 seasons have been released in Region 1, seasons 1-3 in Regions 2 & 4. Season 3 was the only season to be released for the Blu-ray Disc.
| Title | Originally aired | Episodes | DVD DVD A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions.... release dates by region DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Blu-ray Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs... release date |
||
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | ||||
| The Complete First Season | 2004 | 13 | June 7, 2005 | February 20, 2006 | February 8, 2006 | Discontinued |
| The Complete Second Season | 2005 | 13 | May 9, 2006 | January 29, 2007 | September 27, 2006 | Discontinued |
| The Complete Third Season | 2006 | 13 | June 5, 2007 | June 8, 2009 | March 11, 2009 | June 5, 2007 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 2007 | 13 | June 3, 2008 | TBA | August, 2010 | TBA |
| Season 5, Volume 1 | 2009 | 11 | September 1, 2009 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| Season 5, Volume 2 | 2009 | 11 | December 8, 2009 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 2009 | 22 | June 1, 2010 | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| The Complete Sixth and Final Seasons | 2010/2011 | 19 | September 13, 2011 | TBA | TBA | |
External links
- Rescue Me on TV Squad