`RESCUE ME' STILL SMOLDERS WITH DARK HUMOR.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic It's safe to say that three years after its premiere, no TV series comes close to the levels of hilarious comic anarchy, devastatingly dark drama and the uncanny ability to meld the two seamlessly that FX's ``Rescue Me'' manages on an almost weekly basis. Created by comedian Denis Denis, king of Portugal: see Diniz. Leary and his longtime collaborator Peter Tolan, ``Rescue Me'' essays the lives of an exquisitely screwed-up crew of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of firefighters, who survived 9/11 fairly handily hand·i·ly adv. 1. In an easy manner. 2. In a convenient manner. Adv. 1. handily - in a convenient manner; "the switch was conveniently located" conveniently 2. but seemingly cannot fathom how to endure the crises they create in their personal lives. Last season, Leary's character, Tommy Gavin, almost managed to repair his tattered marriage with his long-suffering wife, Janet (Andrea Roth), until his son was killed by a drunk driver on Tommy's watch. His pal Lou (John Scurti) frittered his life savings away on a pretty con artist, while his boss (Jack McGee) was forced to place his dementia-afflicted wife in a nursing home. Unrelentingly bitter but undeniably amusing one-liners filled in the corners of these bleak existences. As season three opens, the men of 62 Truck can only form a family among themselves, as their outside attachments prove so wanting. But the gags remain ebulliently e·bul·lient adj. 1. Zestfully enthusiastic. 2. Boiling or seeming to boil; bubbling. [Latin frothy froth·y adj. froth·i·er, froth·i·est 1. Made of, covered with, or resembling froth; foamy. 2. Playfully frivolous in character or content: a frothy French farce. , belying the men's actual suffering. (The show's attitude toward women seems pretty Philistine, but it comments more acutely on the male characters' backward mind-sets.) As per usual, Tommy has a lot on his plate. Unbeknownst to him (at least initially), his brother Johnny (Dean Winters) has supplanted him in Janet's bed, his train-wreck of a sister (Tatum O'Neal) is secretly seducing another colleague, and his teen nephew's dalliance with a teacher results in more complications than even Tommy's capable of negotiating. His Uncle Teddy (Lenny Clarke), who iced the drunk driver, is actually enjoying his favored status in prison: He doesn't want any special-interest groups to spring him from the clink Clink, district in Southwark, a Greater London borough, England. The Clink prison was used from the 13th cent. as a detention place for heretics. Its name is now a slang term for a prison or jail. . Meanwhile, house stud Franco (Daniel Sunjata) has been absorbed by a world-class man-eater (Susan Sarandon -- and what a feather it is in ``Rescue Me's'' cap that it lured a talent such as hers). And the heretofore upright Lou, thanks to his luckless love life, is thrust into an unlikely tailspin tail·spin n. 1. The rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep, spiral spin. 2. Informal A loss of emotional control sometimes resulting in emotional collapse. from which even Tommy may not be able to rescue him. ``Rescue Me'' is equal parts exhilarating and grim, thanks in no small part to Leary and Tolan's brilliantly acerbic dialogue. Tommy's dad's (Charles Durning) faculties may be waning, but even he can still uncork a one-liner as sharp as: ``I'm glad Jesus loves me Jesus Loves Me is a Christian hymn written by Anna B. Warner[1] and David Rutherford McGuire. The lyrics first appeared as a poem in the context of a novel called Say and Seal, written by Susan Warner and published in 1860. , but that's how rumors get started.'' David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com RESCUE ME - Four stars What: Third-season premiere of Denis Leary's darkly comic drama about New York firefighters traumatized by 9/11, but, more precisely, by their own bad behavior. Where: FX. When: 10 tonight. In a nutshell: Still hilarious. Still harrowing. Still brilliant. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: John Scurti and Denis Leary face down fires -- and their own demons Demons See also devil; evil; ghosts; hell; spirits and spiritualism. ademonist one who denies the existence of the devil or demons. bogyism, bogeyism recognition of the existence of demons and goblins. -- on ``Rescue Me.'' |
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