Dennis Leary and "Rescue Me" end their 10 year run just prior to 911

[hlthe2b]

Will anyone watch? (and I would be the first to say the show jumped the shark some time back). I knew that Leary was working hard to ensure the show made it full circle to the 911 anniversary, so I started to tune in again last season--after pretty much turning my back on it after the first couple of years. This last week's episode left quite a cliff hanger that makes one wonder if the show is going to end as it began--with another mass fatality tragedy...



The final call for 'Rescue Me's' 62 Truck
The FX series about New York City firefighters dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 will go out the way it came in: loud and unforgiving. And it'll do so near the 10th anniversary of the attacks.


By Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-rescue-me-20110902,0,2486958.story

September 2, 2011
For many, the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will be a time for sober and solemn reflection. But for FX's "Rescue Me," those words have never been part of the equation.

The drama, which centers on a crew of battle-scarred New York City firefighters who try to get past the tragedy with a mix of black humor and bad choices, ends its seven-season run Wednesday the same way it arrived: loud and unforgiving.

For Denis Leary, who co-created the show along with his longtime collaborator Peter Tolan, "Rescue Me" was as much about how New York's bravest grieved as it was about his own struggles with the untimely deaths of his firefighter cousin and a childhood friend — both of whom perished in the infamous Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse Fire.

"It's amazing how it doesn't leave you," Leary said of the 1999 Massachusetts fire. "It's right below the surface."

Below the surface is a bit of an understatement. In "Rescue Me," the aftermath of the terrorist attacks cuts through each episode like a giant fault line threatening to bring everything crashing down at any second. The men of 62 Truck are overwhelmed by survivor's guilt — most stagger toward healing, but Leary's Tommy Gavin seems to relish picking at his scabs and scars.

[digitaln3rd]

1. The show turned into a ball of suck after the third season, anyway.

n/t

[xxqqqzme]

2. It lost me along time ago.

I'd tune in from time to time (to see if there was any recovery) but I was gone before the next commercial break.

[digitaln3rd]

3. Honestly, after the first few seasons.. the storyline just went way to weird for me

It started turning into all these ghosts and spirits and stuff and who knows where they were coming from.

I honestly forgot it was still on - I think the last time I watched was 2004.

[hedgehog]

4. I'm Irish American - my father's great-great grandfather came over during th

the Civil War and each succeeding generation married other Irish immigrants. I have never seen any show so faithfully depict my culture. My dad's a lot nicer than Tommy's, but the gestures and intonations are spot on. My uncles weren't so nice, and they could have done a walk-on in any episode and fit right in.

You think the story line is over the top? I have a second cousin who ended up marrying another cousin's wife. The kicker? One cousin had been raised in Mayo, the other in New Zealand, and things went to hell when they got together in London.

[hlthe2b]

5. The wedding scene last week really underscored that...

When the entire Gavin clan comes together to determine if they would get a one day time out from their alcohol abstinence and then to discuss their need to be on best behavior--e.g., PC on an entire litany of issues, including indiscriminate sex. Of course, they failed on all accounts, with the exception, perhaps, of the alcohol. That segment of the episode was pretty amusing.

My grandmother was second generation Irish American, but of that era when many determined themselves to be "AMERICAN" and never spoke of Irish heritage, due to rampant anti-Irish bigotry and discrimination. Nonetheless, I suspect my own Father and four uncles may have absorbed the culture in their DNA, as I too saw some of the same mannerisms. :)

[hedgehog]

6. My adult children met some of my extended family last Spring at

my mother's funeral. The pain of losing their grandmother was somewhat offset by their fascination at full immersion into the family culture. I think they understand now why I am so skittish around alcohol!


My mother's comment on my daughter's wedding was that it had almost been as fun as a funeral. My children recalled that comment and said that now they understood it!

[aikoaiko]

7. Still a better show than most. I'm still holding my breath from the last episode.

Remembering the scene where Tommy holds his father as he dies at the ballgame brings a tear to my eye every time.

[aikoaiko]

8. Just watched the series finale -- it was good. No spoilers.

They wrapped it up nicely.

[hlthe2b]

9. I just watched my recorded version... I agree.. nicely done...

The series was surely uneven over the years, but it had its place and I am very glad that they got to the 10th anniversary to wrap the series.

I won't add any specifics either except to say the humor, where present was appreciated, and the tragedy, while present, was not gratuitous.