Rescue Me-Complete 1st Season (2004)

"...thrilling[ly] raw...scathingly funny...Rescue Me is bound to haunt you.  New York Daily News
"...absolutely brilliant...the best show on television...  David Kronke, L.A. Daily News
"...the best actor [Leary] playig the best character in the best show...  USA Today
"This series is officially on fire now.  Ken Aucker, Entertainment Weekly
"Rescue Me races out of the gate as confidently brilliant as ever before, wildly mixing emotions along the way.  Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle
"One of TV's bleakest shows is also one of TV's best comedies. What a marvel.  Verne Gay, Newsday

Editor's Note Dennis Leary (JESUS' SON, ICE AGE) stars in the FX channel's dramedy RESCUE ME, playing Tommy Gavin, a New York firefighter under pressure from all sides. Still suffering from the events of 9/11, he is haunted by the past while adjusting to the present, which includes a separation from his wife Janet (Andrea Roth). He now resides across the street from her so that he can stay close to his children, whom he bribes to supply him with information as to mom's comings and goings. Tommy's quirky fellow firefighters on Ladder 62 include the compulsive gambler Chief Jerry Reilly (Jack McGee), the handsome but rather light Sean Garrity (Steven Pasquale), cocky, Puerto Rican ladies man Franco Rivera (Daniel Sunjata), and newbie Mike Silletti (Mike Lombardi), who is the brunt of many an initiatory prank. Tommy finds relief from his woes by talking them out with his cousin Jimmy (James McCaffrey, SHE HATE ME)--only Jimmy died in the World Trade Center attacks.

	Andrea Roth
	Denis Leary
	James McCaffrey
	Mike Lombardi
	Lenny Clarke
	Christopher Tyng - Original Music By
	Denis Leary - Created By
	Denis Leary - Executive Producer
	Kerry Orent - Producer
	Andrew Bernard - Production Designer
	Clay Brown, et. al. - Art Director
	Denis Leary, et. al. - Writer
	Jace Alexander, et. al. - Director
	Jonathan Freeman - Cinematographer
	Simon B. Veredon, et. al. - Editor
	Tom Houghton - Cinematographer
	Tony Palermo - Producer

Entertainment Weekly
"[A] provocative firehouse drama..." 06/17/2005 p.64

Sight and Sound
"Formally, it has much to recommend it, from split-screen scenes that are subtitled to explain non-verbalised feelings, to surreal touches in the manner of SIX FEET UNDER..." 04/01/2006 p.90

DVD Verdict 8 of 10
Crafted as a homage to the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11, Rescue Me quickly proves that it's more than mere hero worship. It offers an entertaining (if skewed) look at this dangerous profession...Few will deny that firefighters have a particularly heroic job...At the same time, they are ordinary guys. They have issues and problems, make mistakes in their personal lives, and aren't usually noted for being an especially civilized group. In fact, if Rescue Me is at all accurate, they are a big bunch of jerks...The series does a great job of playing with this dichotomy. It's impossible not to respect these men as they place themselves in danger...Rescue Me flip-flops between claiming that we shouldn't approach firefighters as heroes and reminding us how heroic these men were at this critical event...Rescue Me is gutsy and unique, and if it had only had more variety and subtlety, it wouldn't have worn out its welcome the way that it did. - Joel Pearce