Rescue Me Season 3
My son put me onto Rescue Me. Over the years, I have come to rely on his opinion of various TV shows, tuning in at his suggestion and finding, always, that I fell in love with all of the shows he recommends. Examples: The X Files, Battlestar Gallactica, The Unit, and now, RESCUE ME. I was never a particularly big fan of Denis Leary, although I loved him in "The Ref." This year for my birthday, I received from my son Rescue Me Seasons 1 and 2. Within just a few episodes, I was hooked! The show is incredible -- the plots, the actors, the acting. Denis Leary shows us a hero who has all the flaws (and then some) of every man and woman. He is surrounded by ugly, messy, hilarious extended family members and co-workers, and just when you think the writers can't come up with anything more implausible and delightful to watch, the show takes another turn. Through it all, Denis remains likeable, understandable, heroic, neurotic, funny, and I find myself always pulling for him, often in incredibly tragic circumstances. This show is more like "real life" (only funnier) than just about anything I've seen on T.V. I couldn't wait to get Season 3 from Amazon as soon as I finished the first two seasons. I have now finished Seasons 3 and 4 and am waiting to catch Season 5 when the CD is released and will catch original episodes when the series starts again. As usual, my son's recommendation was spot on. Trust me, whatever your age or sex, you're going to fall in love with RESCUE ME!

rescue me 3rd season
the 3rd season was flawless as well, no scratches in any of the disc. i will buy from this company again.

Rescue Me's Controversial Season Three.
Rescue Me is one of two good reasons to own a television these days. (Mad Men is the other.) Set in post-9/11 New York City, Season One of Rescue Me (which premiered in 2004) introduced viewers to a crew of NYC firefighters working, smoking, drinking, and socializing together. The show centers on Denis Leary, who plays the role of a self-destructive firefighter named Tommy Gavin. He is a mercurial, chain-smoking anti-hero, who struggles with alcoholism and dysfunctional relationships. Although Tommy and his wife Janet (Andrea Roth) were separated, he continued to live across the street clinging to the hope that he could somehow salvage his marriage, despite the fact that his estranged wife was already dating a new, white-collar guy. Despite his many flaws, Tommy is a good father who loves his three children. He lost his cousin, Jimmy Keefe, in the September 11th attacks, and was secretly seeing Jimmy's widow, Sheila. Tommy is frequently haunted by the many victims of 9/11 he failed to save.

Season One also introduced us to a cast of equally well-drawn supporting characters. For instance, viewers met Chief Jerry Reilly (Jack McGee), a homophobic father of a gay firefighter. Firefighter Sean Garrity decided to secretly date one of his coworker's former lovers. That coworker, Franco Rivera (Daniel Sunjata), discovered he had a 5-year-old daughter with a psycho ex-girlfriend. Lt. Kenneth Shea (John Scurti) coped with his post-9/11 trauma by writing poetry. Mike Siletti (Mike Lombardi) fell for a "fat chick" named Theresa (Ashlie Atkinson). Firefighter Laura Miles is always at odds with her male coworkers, and with Tommy in particular.

Season Two then premiered on June 21, 2005, and picked up where Season One ended, with Tommy working at a new firehouse on Staten Island. He eventually returned to his old house when his co-workers discovered Tommy's replacement, Sully, had a thing for wearing women's clothing. While Tommy continued in his attempts to reconcile with his family, he not only discovered he had a half-brother, a priest and a suspected pedophile, but he also lost a child in a drunk-driving incident.

Season Three is sensational in that it is marked by one controversial scene after the next. It premiered on May 30, 2006, and resumed the storyline where Season Two left off. When his ex-wife Janet begins sleeping with Tommy's brother (Johnny), Tommy and Janet have a very physical sexual encounter, a scene which sparked a controversy for its graphic depiction of violent sex. Shortly thereafter Tommy embarks on a relationship with Johnny's ex-wife (played by Marissa Tomei). Meanwhile, Franco begins dating an older woman (played by Susan Sarandon), and Probie immerses himself in a sexual relationship with his (male) roommate. Sheila then drugs Tommy with a date-rape cocktail and Viagra just to have sex.

It's easy to understand why this show was nominated for an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series during its first season. The show continues to realistically confront social taboos like dysfunctional relationships, depression, alcoholism, homophobia, rape Alzheimer's disease, and the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Rescue Me is must-see television.

G. Merritt

'Rescue Me' ROCKS!!!
Oh boy- where could I begin with a review for this show? First off- the direction is impeccable; the story lines sometimes seem like they could never happen in real life, but also remember no one ever considered an attack on American soil taking out a major part of our economic infrastructure.
The crew are all too convincing in the execution of their roles. In the midst of a 'Rescue Me' marathon (fueled by Cutty Shark and Dewer's) I found myself ready to shed tears with the cast. That is, until I realized I was a little too drunk and was internalizing a freakin show...My advice: just buy the entire series and prepare to weep and dance with this merry gang of drunkards, womanizers, and cheaters. It's worth the ride.

Rescue Me is on Fire!
I don't want to give anything away, but the entire series has been very addicting. Certainly different from Six Feet Under, but nearly as good.