The The Associated Press
NEW YORK - “Rescue Me” has been playing with fire since the start.
This FX drama has dared to picture New York City firefighters as loutish, madcap and self-destructive - not just heroic. At its core is Denis Leary, whose titles on the show include co-creator, co-executive producer and writer, plus his starring role as Tommy Gavin, a flawed champion among New York's Bravest.
After much too long, “Rescue Me” returned for its fifth season this week, kicking off an extra-long run of 22 episodes.
As always, it's a volatile mix of action, heart, raciness and dark humor.
While the series has a raw topicality, it's rooted in the ruins of 9/11. Among Tommy's fellow firefighters who lost their lives that day, a cousin (and Tommy's best friend) died at ground zero, later haunting him in visions.
This season, Tommy's wounds are reopened (and his hackles raised) when a sexy French journalist arrives at the firehouse, researching the tragedy for a coffee table book to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorists attacks.
Guest stars have always sparked “Rescue Me,” and this season is no different. First up: Michael J. Fox in a multi-episode arc gets under Tommy's skin as the obnoxious guy dating Tommy's estranged wife.
But there are also fires to put out, of course. This explains why production crew, equipment and firefighters (some real, some make-believe) have descended on a block of Manhattan's West 121st Street on a frigid January night.
This sequence, from an episode to air late this season, will show the men of 62 Truck responding to a call at a blazing brownstone. It will also introduce a character played by guest star Maura Tierney, who pulls up in a cab to find her home on fire, then defies Tommy's efforts to bar her entry with a swift kick to his privates. (Can romance be far behind?).
“Even though it's fake fires that we're creating, it's real flame and smoke, with safety issues,” Leary notes.
The guy in charge of playing with fire is the show's special effects coordinator, Conrad (“Connie”) Brink.
“My responsibility is to make sure this house doesn't burn down,” he says. “My second responsibility is to make fire.”
Later, after the exterior shots are done, Tommy Gavin and his fellow firefighters will be filmed bursting in from the street to face the smoke-clogged front hall. But the rest of the action inside the apartment will be shot a few days later under more controlled conditions: on a set in a studio across town.
By then, the only evidence of the made-to-order inferno on West 121st Street will exist on film.
“When we're finished,” says Brink, “we'll pull all our stuff out, everything will be cleaned up, the paper will be taken off the walls and floors, and the guy can have his place back.”
But that seems far away as the shoot drags on.
“It's starting to get old now,” Leary declares. “After 10, 11, midnight, it gets REALLY old. You really want to go home and go to sleep.”
This FX drama has dared to picture New York City firefighters as loutish, madcap and self-destructive - not just heroic. At its core is Denis Leary, whose titles on the show include co-creator, co-executive producer and writer, plus his starring role as Tommy Gavin, a flawed champion among New York's Bravest.
After much too long, “Rescue Me” returned for its fifth season this week, kicking off an extra-long run of 22 episodes.
As always, it's a volatile mix of action, heart, raciness and dark humor.
While the series has a raw topicality, it's rooted in the ruins of 9/11. Among Tommy's fellow firefighters who lost their lives that day, a cousin (and Tommy's best friend) died at ground zero, later haunting him in visions.
This season, Tommy's wounds are reopened (and his hackles raised) when a sexy French journalist arrives at the firehouse, researching the tragedy for a coffee table book to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorists attacks.
Guest stars have always sparked “Rescue Me,” and this season is no different. First up: Michael J. Fox in a multi-episode arc gets under Tommy's skin as the obnoxious guy dating Tommy's estranged wife.
But there are also fires to put out, of course. This explains why production crew, equipment and firefighters (some real, some make-believe) have descended on a block of Manhattan's West 121st Street on a frigid January night.
This sequence, from an episode to air late this season, will show the men of 62 Truck responding to a call at a blazing brownstone. It will also introduce a character played by guest star Maura Tierney, who pulls up in a cab to find her home on fire, then defies Tommy's efforts to bar her entry with a swift kick to his privates. (Can romance be far behind?).
“Even though it's fake fires that we're creating, it's real flame and smoke, with safety issues,” Leary notes.
The guy in charge of playing with fire is the show's special effects coordinator, Conrad (“Connie”) Brink.
“My responsibility is to make sure this house doesn't burn down,” he says. “My second responsibility is to make fire.”
Later, after the exterior shots are done, Tommy Gavin and his fellow firefighters will be filmed bursting in from the street to face the smoke-clogged front hall. But the rest of the action inside the apartment will be shot a few days later under more controlled conditions: on a set in a studio across town.
By then, the only evidence of the made-to-order inferno on West 121st Street will exist on film.
“When we're finished,” says Brink, “we'll pull all our stuff out, everything will be cleaned up, the paper will be taken off the walls and floors, and the guy can have his place back.”
But that seems far away as the shoot drags on.
“It's starting to get old now,” Leary declares. “After 10, 11, midnight, it gets REALLY old. You really want to go home and go to sleep.”
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