'' is a critically-praised
American Television Drama that premiered on the
FX Network in
2004 . It is produced by the Cloudland Company, Apostle,
DreamWorks Television and
Sony Pictures Television . ''Rescue Me'' focuses mainly on the professional and personal lives of
New York City Firefighter s after the trauma of the
September 11, 2001 Attacks . The show stars
Denis Leary , who plays the role of New York City firefighter
Tommy Gavin , a character whose life is full of torment and chaos.
Tommy has to struggle with the loss of his cousin, and best friend, Jimmy Keefe, who died on
September 11th, 2001 and frequently visits Tommy in visions. In the pilot episode, Tommy and his wife have already separated and Tommy moved across the street. He is ill-tempered, self destructive, hypocritical, manipulative, and a relapsed
Alcoholic . He has also realized how much he has contributed to the breakup of his family and constantly struggles to reconcile with them. He loves his children very much and desires to get back together with his wife; however, despite slowly making steps toward his redemption, tragedy always seems to be right around the corner.
See Also: List of Rescue Me characters
''Rescue Me'' mainly focuses on the Gavin family and the guys of the firehouse, but many other characters have been introduced over the three seasons that have stayed on as main characters except for the others. The series is also notable for attracting high profile actors and actresses, such as
Artie Lange ,
Tatum O'Neal ,
Susan Sarandon ,
Marisa Tomei ,
Gina Gershon , and
Jennifer Esposito .
See Also: List of Rescue Me episodes (season 1)
The first season of ''Rescue Me'' began on
July 21 ,
2004 . It began by introducing the members of a New York City fire station and exploring their lives, both home and in the firehouse. It focused on main character Tommy Gavin as he dealt with the effects of September 11, 2001 attacks, which, for him, include seeing the ghosts of his cousin Jimmy Keefe as well as various people he failed to save. At the same time he and his wife are separated and, from across the street, he has to watch 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, whom he takes in after the mother's overdose death. Tommy also gets involved with Jimmy's widow Sheila, and "Probie" Mike Silletti begins to date a "fat chick", which he keeps secret. Lt. Kenneth Shea deals with 9/11 by writing poetry, and then starts to have an affair.
After fireman Billy Warren dies in a fire, the city sends Laura Miles to replace him. She clashes with the guys in general, who don't want a woman on their crew, and with Tommy in particular, whom she is watching and believes is growing 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 Tommy's eventual transfer out of the house after the rest of the crew find out he's been seeing Sheila and gotten her pregnant. In the final scene of the final episode he shows up at his wife's house, only to find her and his children missing, along with everything in the house.
See Also: List of Rescue Me episodes (season 2)
The second season premiered on
June 21 ,
2005 . It began with Tommy at a new firehouse on
Staten Island and his replacement at 62 Truck, Sully, becoming everyone's favorite. Sully leaves, and clears the way for Tommy to return, after the crew finds out that he likes to wear women's clothing and freezes him out. 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 loses the baby, but lies about it to keep Tommy near.
Elsewhere on the show Tommy and Johnny Gavin find out that their father had a long going affair during their childhood, which produced two children. Soon they suspect their new-found brother, a priest, is a pedophile. "Probie" stalks his ex-girlfriend. 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, then has to turn to his brother-in-law to help pay for it. Laura and Franco begin dating, but Laura eventually leaves Franco and the firehouse. Lt. Kenneth Shea is conned by a prostitute, resulting in him losing his entire life savings. Jenny Ng dies, which prompts Maggie, Tommy and Johnny's sister, to show up hoping to get a piece of her estate.
Tommy and his family reconcile for a time, but when their only son Connor is killed by a drunk driver it's too much for Janet to handle. It only gets worse when Johnny finds out the driver may not do time, so Tommy's uncle, Teddy, kills him.
See Also: List of Rescue Me episodes (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, and later following an argument, Tommy and Janet have a very physical sex scene. The violence of the act, contrasted with his post-coital attitude and the suggestion that she may have enjoyed it led to much controversy. The show has been accused of glorifying
Rape and demeaning women while others have praised the show for portraying Janet's enjoyment as a refreshingly realistic view of the sexual dynamics of relationships.
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Elsewhere Shea, still smarting from getting conned, is becoming testy with everyone on the crew and slowly spiraling down. Probie begins a sexual relationship with his (male) roommate and Tommy falls back into things with Sheila, Jimmy's widow. Sheila wants to get Tommy back and begins to drug him to have sex. Maggie soon finds her self dating Sean Garrity, among others.
Janet gets pregnant with either Johnny's or Tommy's baby and wants to have it to replace Connor. The crew finds out about Probie's possible homosexuality and Tommy comes to his defense. Franco starts to date Alicia (
Susan Sarandon ), a rich woman who eventually takes his daughter from him. Shea moves in with Tommy and begins seeing Teresa, a soon-to-be ex-nun with whom he plans on moving to Florida to be first mate on his cousin's boat. Chief Riley 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 who cares for his wife.
During a stakeout, Johnny is shot three times through the back and killed by someone who was contracted to kill him to stop his testifying against a powerful drug dealer. During his funeral Sean and Maggie decide to get married at the cemetery. Rosemarie Gavin is also introduced, the long lost sister of Tommy, Johnny, and Maggie (the fourth brother, Timo, has apparently been written out of the show. See
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome ). She is deaf and had been shunned by her parents but reconciles with her father.
With the house seemingly breaking up Tommy decides to retire and move in with Sheila. He changes his mind after talking with Janet about her pregnancy and hearing Mike isn't transferring, Lou has changed his mind about the boat and Franco failed a lieutenant's exam.
While at Sheila's new house he tells her he is not retiring from the FDNY. She drugs him, like before, then accidentally starts a fire. The fire is able to spread while Sheila is overwhelmed by frustration, and the finale closes without making it clear if either Tommy or Sheila made it out of the house.
See Also: List of Rescue Me episodes (season 4)
The fourth season of ''Rescue Me'' premiered on
June 13 ,
2007 .
Tommy and Shelia are apparently rescued by 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 shocks everyone by taking his own life.
Janet is suffering from post partum 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 $400,000.00 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.
A list of the Rescue Me DVD / Blu-Ray Releases can be found on the dedicated home releases page linked below.
See Also: List of Rescue Me Home Releases
See Also: Rescue Me (soundtrack)
The main title theme song for ''Rescue Me'' is "C'mon, C'mon" by the band
The Von Bondies . This song was picked by Denis Leary's son, Jack, who helps pick some of the music used in the show. 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 records.
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 Attacks .
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