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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 13, 2011 18:44:44 GMT 10
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/arts/television/rescue-me-denis-learys-911-tribute-on-fx.html?_r=1The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is near, summoning not only horrible memories of that cataclysm but also the anxiety of measuring up. Ten years on, there still aren’t enough words, gestures, ceremonies or moments of silence to match the wound. Not paying attention is unthinkable, but it’s even harder to think of an adequate tribute. “Rescue Me,” the FX show about firefighters who survived the attack on the World Trade Center, isn’t a bad place to start. On Monday the drama begins its seventh and final season; it had its premiere in 2004, just as many Americans were moving on and getting over 9/11. And the series has stayed focused — saltily, irreverently, but always passionately — on a band of firehouse brothers and their loved ones. A lot has happened in that small world, though time hasn’t healed much of anything. “We’re way beyond goddamn normal at this point,” Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) tells his wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), after she asks that he be a more normal father to their as-yet-unborn new baby. “O.K. I got news for you. There’s no getting over it. Normal is dead and buried underneath ground zero. I’m just trying to make sense of what’s left above ground.” To her credit, Janet orders him out of the car. “Rescue Me” is a labor of love that isn’t blind to the romance of suffering, and Tommy is as traumatized by his ordeal and addicted to his righteousness as any combat veteran returning from overseas. Mr. Leary created the show with the executive producer Peter Tolan, and it was personal. Mr. Leary has a particular stake in the subject, having lost a childhood friend and a cousin who were fighting a fire in Worcester, Mass., in 1999. That tragedy drove him to set up the Leary Firefighters Foundation, which was one of the first private charities to come to the aid of Sept. 11 victims. The series, accordingly, has a proprietary tone, an insider’s perspective that doesn’t merely portray firefighters, warts and all, but revels, often comically, in their weaknesses: the alcoholism, the brawling, the womanizing, the profanity, the sexism and the homophobia. Humor, throughout, has been the show’s saving grace: “Rescue Me” is a homage to men in uniform that is not nearly as sanctimonious as “Blue Bloods,” a CBS drama about a family of Irish-American cops in New York City. The FX show is a well-made, enjoyable series that was created with the best of intentions but somehow never quite rose to greatness. That could be because, for all the show’s earthy candor and scathing wit, it’s a soap opera at heart. And not just because of all the melodrama — and there has been a staggering piling on of violent deaths and torrid affairs. Every bit of dialogue, even a light one, has a heavy linear purpose, whether it’s an eloquent, uninterrupted soliloquy from a reproachful wife (or mistress) or a one-liner tossed around the firehouse. Tommy, who begins the season back on the wagon, has endured more than even his unfair share of losses, including a son killed by a drunken driver. But he is still nursing his grief over losing his cousin and best friend, Jimmy, on Sept. 11, so much so that he turns enraged and violent when others decide to cooperate with a local news documentary about Jimmy. Tommy is still visited by Jimmy’s ghost, though other phantoms now crowd his unconscious — in a daydream he fantasizes that Jimmy’s son, Damien (Michael Zegen), who is Tommy’s godson and was left brain-damaged and paralyzed in a firefighting accident, rises from his wheelchair to kill him. Tommy blames himself for not dissuading the boy from firefighting. And he should. Sheila (Callie Thorne), Jimmy’s widow and Damien’s mother, is consumed with grief and guilt about her son. Her affair with Tommy is over, so over, in fact, that this season she and Janet have bonded and made common cause, making Tommy feel like a polygamist appeasing multiple nagging wives. The women collude with Tommy’s daughters to bring him to heel and cooperate with the 9/11 documentary, which they know will be respectful, even if he doesn’t. They even force him to go to the pharmacy to pick up a long list of feminine hygiene products, which he does, with the kind of embarrassment that is played for broad laughs but also seems a bit atavistic — not that many men his age these days are still mortified to be seen in what he calls the “vagina aisle.” It is there that he runs into an old flame, Kelly (Maura Tierney), who has a scarf over her head and informs him, quite casually, that she has cancer.
“Is it serious?” Tommy says, flummoxed.
She gives him a long look. “It’s cancer.”Women, like drink, are a constant temptation, but Tommy’s ruling passion is fighting fires, and his biggest demon is the fire that changed his life forever. In one scene Tommy is walking through a hip neighborhood and passes a gallery where a sign dedicated to “The Fallen” asks passers-by, “Where were you that day?” A sexy young woman is stacking coffee-table books about 9/11. Tommy falls into a reverie. Naïve viewers might think he is fantasizing about the woman. Instead, he imagines himself smashing his car full speed through the store window, then lighting a match and setting the place on fire. As the country struggles for a way to commemorate the 10th anniversary, “Rescue Me” is delivering its message one last time, for one final season: “There is no getting over it.”
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Post by larue on Jul 13, 2011 21:43:37 GMT 10
Wow. Can't wait. Is this a spoiler for tonight's episode, I wonder??? Could they possibly be beginning the season with our girl?
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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 13, 2011 21:48:54 GMT 10
Wow. Can't wait. Is this a spoiler for tonight's episode, I wonder??? Could they possibly be beginning the season with our girl? she appears in epi 2 and 3, not in the first! and some more after that, but i dont know yet!
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Post by sissa on Jul 13, 2011 22:56:05 GMT 10
Wow. Can't wait. Is this a spoiler for tonight's episode, I wonder??? Could they possibly be beginning the season with our girl? she appears in epi 2 and 3, not in the first! and some more after that, but i dont know yet! I´m soooo happy. And they got to give her a good prognosis. Yeahhhhh TV BLEND Rescue Me Season 7 Review: Preparing To Say Farewell To FX's Explosive Drama Series FX’s emotional roller coaster of a drama series Rescue Me returns for its seventh and final season this week. Rescue Me is a series of laughter, tears, tragedies, triumphs, disasters and emotional outbursts. Season 7 offers all of these things to its devoted fans in this final chapter. Rescue Me is a drama series that follows firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary), a 9/11 first responder who lives with the loss and the scars from the day that rocked New York City to its core. Tommy Gavin is both a hero and a villain to his own life and the story told in this gritty drama series. A sometimes-recovering/sometimes-practicing alcoholic, Tommy’s life is often in disarray to varying degrees as he attempts to find some balance with the people he loves, many of whom are as much catalysts to his issues as they are victims. Understanding Gavin as a man is a big part of what the series is about and Season 7 is no exception there. When Season 6 ended, Tommy was trying to balance being present for his family, including sponsoring his daughter Colleen (Natalie Distler) at Alcoholics Anonymous and repairing the damage to his marriage with Janet (Andrea Roth), with being there for his deceased cousin’s widow Sheila (Callie Thorne), whose son Damian is now confined to a wheelchair, having suffered injuries and brain damage while fighting fire at Tommy’s side. In Season 7, the dynamic of the situation has changed drastically for Tommy. Sheila, who shared a romantic/sexual relationship with Tommy for years, has now formed an unlikely friendship with Janet, who is pregnant and preparing herself for motherhood once again. On one hand, their friendship condenses Tommy’s responsibilities somewhat, but on the other hand, these two women joining forces is almost like two storms merging into one big, complicated tornado in Tommy’s life. Sheila and Janet have both endured their fair share of heartache and loss, and both of their relationships with Tommy are unique, complex and explosive in their own way. This new arrangement brings that to light in a way that’s both amusing and intriguing. Andrea Roth and Callie Thorne continue to deliver excellent performances in their respective emotional, often unpredictable roles. While Tommy continues to address his domestic issues at home, at work there are just as many issues, including health problems for Lou (John Scurti) and some major tension between Tommy and Franco (Daniel Sunjata). Things aren’t all serious though. While Lou’s heart problems are definitely a serious matter, there’s a great episode that follows how the guys manage to get him through his health physical. And fans of Sean (Steven Pasquale) and more specifically, his love life, will appreciate the story arc that involves him and a woman who could be the one. Of course, there’s a catch and it could be a deal breaker. Maura Tierney returns to her role as Kelly in more than one episode. Just as Tierney was battling cancer in real life, her character Kelly is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer when she runs into Tommy. Kelly’s outlook on life and the things she’s been through continues to offer fresh perspective on Tommy’s life, just as it did back when she was first introduced in the show. I’ve always thought of Tierney as one of the more fearless female actresses out there and that fearlessness comes through beautifully once again, particularly in an outstanding performance in one of the most emotional scenes of the season. On the subject of outstanding performances, I need to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever fully appreciated what John Scurti has brought to this show in his role as Lou. Often used for comic relief and the occasional fat-joke, Lou’s love of food and willingness to be sort of a sidekick to Tommy in the firehouse may have overshadowed the true foundation of the friendship he has with Tommy and the importance of their relationship in the show. Lou is a big part of the heart of the series, which is a little ironic, considering his heart troubles. This is demonstrated beautifully in a conversation later on in the season, between Lou and Sheila and then humorously between Lou and Janet. You may have seen part of the scenes I’m referring to in the promos for Season 7. As 9/11’s tenth anniversary approaches, and the day plays such a large role in the foundation of the story, the subject is addressed in the season, both in the firehouse and from Tommy’s perspective as a survivor and as someone who’s lost friends and a cousin to the terrorist attack. There are a number of intense moments throughout the season, including one particular fire scene that will have you on the edge of your seat. This is the last season and Rescue Me is already a series with a body count. Given the nature of the work Tommy Gavin and his colleagues do, anything can happen and it’s entirely possible that not all of these guys will make it out of the show alive. Tension is running high, but in the grand tradition of Rescue Me, it’s cut nicely with humor and the sense that beneath all of the drama, these characters really are family. I haven’t seen the last two episodes of the season yet and for that, I’m kind of grateful. While I’m eager to see how the whole thing plays out, I like that I have just a little bit more to look forward to before the show ends for good. Rescue Me has had its ups and downs, just as Tommy Gavin has, but Season 7 delivers the goods. If you’ve been watching from the beginning and you’ve invested the time to get to know these characters, I think you’ll be pleased with what we’re being offered in this final installment. I’d like to close this out with a thank you to Rescue Me creators Denis Leary and Peter Tolan for contributing to television with this gritty, funny, and powerful drama series. It hasn’t always been easy to follow Tommy Gavin into the fire, (especially when he’s the one who’s started so many of them) but the ride has certainly been worth the occasional burn. Rescue Me Season 7 premieres Wednesday, July 13th at 10:00 p.m. ET on FX. www.cinemablend.com/television/Rescue-Me-Season-7-Review-Preparing-Say-Farewell-FX-Explosive-Drama-Series-33417.html
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Post by paigeelysec on Jul 14, 2011 1:24:31 GMT 10
Maura Tierney returns to her role as Kelly in more than one episode. Just as Tierney was battling cancer in real life, her character Kelly is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer when she runs into Tommy. Kelly’s outlook on life and the things she’s been through continues to offer fresh perspective on Tommy’s life, just as it did back when she was first introduced in the show. I’ve always thought of Tierney as one of the more fearless female actresses out there and that fearlessness comes through beautifully once again, particularly in an outstanding performance in one of the most emotional scenes of the season.
Well said.
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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 14, 2011 3:21:32 GMT 10
SOMETHING happens tonight on TV that couldn't have happened a year ago: "Rescue Me" and "Damages" are going head to head at 10 p.m.
And though Glenn Close can be pretty scary, I'm afraid it's not going to be much of a fight.
In one corner, we have Denis Leary, a long drink of water (or maybe something stronger) whose rowdy firefighter dramedy "Rescue Me" returns for its seventh and final season on FX.
In the other, we have Close, petite but powerful, and with a jaw of steel. Her legal thriller, "Damages," is migrating to DirecTV after three seasons on FX in a deal that will keep it alive for at least two more seasons, but isn't likely to increase its viewership. It doesn't help that FX won't be getting to rerun the episodes later, as NBC's been doing with DirecTV's "Friday Night Lights."
But that's show business.
And as much as I love "Damages" as an acting showcase, I'm not surprised it's never grown enough of an audience to keep it on ad-supported cable. Making a virtue of obfuscation tends to turn off more people than it delights.
But if you're one of the people who've so far managed the suspension of disbelief required to accept that Close's Patty Hewes could yet again find a way to pull protege Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne) back into her orbit, Season 4 shouldn't disappoint.
Focused on a case involving a well-connected private contractor in Afghanistan - yes, you're supposed to think Blackwater - it has a meaty part for John Goodman that more than makes up for his not being on HBO's "Treme" anymore.
Patty's private life has also taken an interesting turn as she confronts the one trial for which she never really prepared.
And if I told you more, she'd probably have to kill you.
Over at FX, Tommy Gavin is working his way toward the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks - the series finale is scheduled for Sept. 7 - and Leary, too, seems to be working toward something.
I'm not sure what that is, exactly - I've so far made it through seven of the nine episodes FX sent - but I did peek and the finale is titled "Ashes."
That can't be good. Can it?
I've washed my hands of "Rescue Me" more times than Tommy's kicked the bottle, driven away by the show's treatment of most of its women characters and the eye-rollingly ridiculous way those women keep falling at Gavin's feet, as if being an angry, abusive alcoholic were some sort of sexual superpower.
When I come back it's not because "Rescue Me" can be insanely funny - though it can be, particularly when it sticks close to the firehouse - but because I still believe that buried under layers and layers of Leary's nonsense, there's an actual story that's dying to get out.
I'm still holding out hope for that story, but much of what I've seen of this season feels like a mix of throat-clearing and perhaps (a little) atonement for past excesses.
Not only is Tommy suddenly finding himself utterly resistible to women, but the women already in his life have incongruously joined forces in an effort to domesticate him. Janet (Andrea Roth) is about to give him one last shot at fatherhood, but she has conditions. Her new best friend? Former cousin-in-law Sheila (Callie Thorne), who not only used to sleep with Tommy but once tried to kill him.
The fabulous Maura Tierney makes an energetic return as a sardonic breast-cancer patient, and she, too, will have something to teach Tommy.
I'm not sure if this is a Bizarro World version of "Rescue Me," or if Leary's decided that what women really want are his testicles - at the end of a pointy stick.
(Wrong again, boyo.)
Or, maybe he actually has something cool up the sleeve of that battered leather jacket?
In any case, I've come this far: I might as well stick around to see where he's going with this.
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Post by Dianne on Jul 14, 2011 12:01:53 GMT 10
....Rescue me plz.. I wanna see it! Thanks for all the articles gals!
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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 14, 2011 19:28:21 GMT 10
TV Review Rescue Me 2.5 stars
As “Rescue Me” turns the ripe (and terminal) age of 7, you may come to the conclusion (as I did) that this series is long past the days when it could shock, amuse, excite or dumbfound — often in a single scene.
The brutal narcissism of the main character, firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary), has worn thin (he was more interesting when he drank), and Leary’s actorly tics — the halting voice, like he’s midpoint in some stand-up anecdote — feel a bit annoying.
You also may wonder (as I did) how much more anger, insanity, stupidity — all in the name of repressed guilt for long-fallen comrades — can any one character exhibit before you’ve had enough?
But we’ve stuck with “Rescue Me” this long — no point in bailing in its final season. In tonight’s episode, Tommy’s wife Janet is very much pregnant and drops an ultimatum before him, while the firefighters of 62 Truck are wondering why there hasn’t been a fire in weeks.
This episode is a weak start, but the show gets into a groove when Maura Tierney’s Kelly McPhee returns in the second episode. Tierney — who left NBC’s “Parenthood” in 2009 after undergoing cancer treatment — completed this arc playing a woman who lost her daughter and (presumably) has incurable cancer.
Tierney’s role is so strong that you may start to get the impression (as I did) that the most compelling story in this final leg is hers, not Tommy’s.
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Post by Martine on Jul 14, 2011 19:30:20 GMT 10
As FX's firefighter drama Rescue Me begins its final season Wednesday (10/9c), it must contend with the question that has loomed over the series like a black cloud of smoke since Episode 1: Will there come a day when reckless hero Tommy Gavin won't come out of a burning building alive?
Of course, fire isn't his only vice. Although Tommy (Denis Leary) survived the rescue effort on 9/11, his battle with alcohol and his revolving door of women have put him a number of situations that were just as life-threatening as running into the World Trade Center. So, after six years of ghosts, sex and gallons of booze, is there any chance Tommy escapes the series with a pulse?
"Obviously, you want to make sure it's a satisfying end of the journey for the viewers," co-creator and executive producer Peter Tolan tells TVGuide.com. "I think more than anything we just want to end on a positive, hopeful note. After so many years of 'What the hell is going to happen to this guy?' I think that's the choice we had to make — to offer some glimmer of hope that Tommy might pull it together finally in the end."
Standing in the way of Tommy's happy ending, however, is a new type of ghost. Although he's always been haunted by visions of dead loved ones when the whiskey starts to flow, this season his godson Damian ((Michael Zegen), who was paralyzed after an on-the-job accident last season, is a constant, living reminder of his guilt.
"He's been haunted by the people he couldn't save, and he carries those people around on his back wherever he goes. And in a way Damian is no different than that," Tolan says. "There's just more guilt there. I think that forces Tommy into a different place as a caregiver and a supporter for Sheila."
Meanwhile, Sheila (Callie Thorne), who has perhaps finally found peace, forms a bond with Tommy's pregnant wife, Janet (Andrea Roth). The two have put their warring ways aside and are now double trouble for Tommy, who is often reduced to being their errand boy.
Looking for a reason to escape the house, Tommy has another chance run-in with Kelly (guest-star Maura Tierney) the pot-smoking woman Tommy bonded with after her apartment caught fire in Season 5. When they meet again, however, Kelly is in the final stages of cancer treatment, something Tierney went through in real life just months before filming her return appearance.
"It was just incredibly brave," Tolan says of Tierney's bold performance. "I don't know how she got her head into the space to actually do that. [Maura] really steered that ship in terms of what that story was and how it ended up on the screen."
Despite surviving the disease, Kelly is furious at the world, which is something to which Tommy relates, Tolan says. "It's about survival and anger — it is anger at survival," Tolan says of the new story line. "And that fits right into Tommy's, 'Why did I have to experience what I've experienced? Wouldn't it have been easier to just die than to go forward in fear?' I don't think Maura feels like she's got anything hanging over her head, but Tommy does, and that may be the difference between the two of them."
As always with Rescue Me, these weightier issues are undercut with humor. Garrity (Steven Pasquale) is dating a new hottie, but she gets horrendously gassy after sex. Mike (Michael Lombardi) takes a major role in planning Colleen (Natalie Distler) and Black Shawn's (Larenz Tate) wedding. And all of the guys of 62 Truck hilariously take parts of Lou's (John Scurti) physical so he can get an otherwise-unattainable clean bill of health.
"It's just typical Rescue Me," Tolan says with a laugh. "As sad as it gets, that's how f------ off the wall it gets with the comedy."
And will Tommy be laughing when it's all said and done? "You don't want to send out a message that says human beings don't survive tragedy, because the reality is that they do," Tolan says. "We [looked at 9/11] with big laughs, and then you realize that laughter is the whole coping mechanism. The show was saying, on some level, 'Look: We go on, we laugh, we survive.'" www.tvguide.com/News/Rescue-Me-Final-Season-1035236.aspx
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Post by Tara on Jul 14, 2011 22:38:26 GMT 10
Wasn't Leary supposed to be on The View one day this week? I totally forgot about it.
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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 14, 2011 22:43:09 GMT 10
Wasn't Leary supposed to be on The View one day this week? I totally forgot about it. He was. on monday, but it was rather boring and he didn't talk about maura.
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Post by Tara on Jul 15, 2011 1:28:59 GMT 10
Oh okay, thanks - glad I didn't miss anything new then.
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Post by paigeelysec on Jul 15, 2011 14:20:37 GMT 10
Great articles, thanks everyone! Looking forward to seeing this talent that our girl is about to portray.
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Post by sissa on Jul 16, 2011 0:25:16 GMT 10
'The Good Wife,' 'White Collar,' 'Bones,' 'Franklin & Bash': Find out what's next in the Spoiler Roomby Sandra Gonzalez - Jul 15 2011 ... Sandra, what did you think of the premiere of Rescue Me? I’m super excited [that] I saw Maura Tierney in the preview for next week. I really love her. Is there a spark between her and Tommy again? — Sue Tommy has a lot of woman on his hands next week, even without factoring Tierney’s character Kelly into the mix. But their scenes together, which include her helping him buy tampons, are definitely worth the wait for her return. ... insidetv.ew.com/2011/07/15/good-wife-white-collar-spoiler-room/So many things to talk about and she mentions tampons. Sad.
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Post by juniormauraTfan on Jul 16, 2011 0:43:57 GMT 10
So many things to talk about and she mentions tampons. Sad. Wow. now that's poor. hey, that fabublous awesome talented brave strong actress had cancer and took the part even though she just got out of treatment and that woman says "it's worth watching it, hey, they talk about tampons." REALLY!?
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