Denis Leary Talks About The End Of Rescue Me

Rescue Me finishes its seventh and final season on FX this Wednesday, September 7. As if anyone doesn’t know, the show centers on a group of New York City Firefighters who are still dealing with the tragedy and events following 9/11. How they deal with the trauma isn’t always done in conventional emotional standards. Everyone grieves in their own way, sometimes in very dark ways.

Even though Rescue Me has won numerous awards some people and critics find the show disrespectful while others find it refreshingly honest. The last episode of the show (“Ashes”) leaves the same way it started, with tears, laughter, poignant moments and a few “What the ….?”

Actor/Creator/Writer Denis Leary answers some questions during the Television Critics Association press tour a few weeks ago.

POP CULTURE ZOO: So, in the very beginning did you know exactly how long the series was going to be, or if you didn’t, who decided to end it?

DENIS LEARY: If the show was going to remain popular enough, ending it right at the tenth anniversary of 9/11 would be the perfect world because there’s a natural sort of time totem there. We’ve dealt with a mixture of drama and comedy with the issues on the show, but there would be a natural feeling of summing up. As members of the fire department, there are going to be celebrations. There are going to be moratoriums. There are going to be all of these things approaching. We have to deal with 9/11 again. So it was kind of a natural thing, plus Peter [Tolan] and I really hated each other towards the end. (Laughing.) And so it all felt good. And I think Landgraf [John Landgraf, President & General Manager of FX] was sick of giving us notes, because his notes were so good. He would give us notes, and we would literally go, “Oh, man. Why didn’t we think of that?”

PCZ: Can you imagine a better role than Tommy Gavin, in your career?

LEARY: It’s very hard to imagine. I got to do action, comedy and drama, which is unheard of, all at one time, and with a group of people that I really loved going to work with – the cast and the crew. I would hate to put that weight onto anybody else’s project because I don’t think it will ever happen again. It was great. It was in New York. Peter is my favorite guy to write with. John Scurti is one of my oldest friends. A lot of the guest stars that came on were old friends of mine that I’d always wanted to work with; Sarandon, Tomei, Peter Gallagher. You don’t usually get that opportunity.

PCZ: What was the last day of shooting like?

LEARY: The girls were all crying. I was trying not to cry because there were about 350 firemen on set that day. We were shooting in a church. Peter and I had to do a speech because we had to thank the crew and everybody for working on the show, so we wanted to be funny and we had to keep shooting that day. So, we tried not to cry, but the girls were breaking down, and a couple of the firefighters who are very big, tough guys, started to get teary-eyed and we were like, “Uh oh, this is going to get bad real soon.” It wasn’t until we were editing for a long time and had to do a brief re-shoot, that we really started to think that you’re not going to see these people again, at least not on a daily basis, so it made it a little difficult. But, it’s better than doing nine seasons and having everybody say, “What the fuck did you do those two extra seasons for?” That’s what I always think.

PCZ: Your show has been very cathartic for people like firefighters and other first responders. Do you have any anecdotes or any great stories that you’ve gotten from them over the years that were meaningful to you?

LEARY: Almost every single one that was worthwhile, we put into the show. I don’t know if people realize that a lot of the actual fires were fires that Terry Quinn, our technical advisor, who is a FDNY member, and the other guys on the show would tell us about. They would come from work to the set sometimes and say, “Yeah. Last night, blah, blah, blah.” And we would take it and use that fire. But, also, a lot of the funny conversations like the penis measuring episode from ages ago. We were on set, and some of the firefighters came from the firehouse they were working in the night before, and at breakfast, I overheard these two guys complaining about some guy who cheated in the penis measuring contest. My ear literally went, like, ting, and I was, we are doing this story.

PCZ: Because this will be the last show – there has to be a big fire. How big is it?

LEARY: It’s a pretty big fire towards the end. I don’t want to tell you any more than that.

PCZ: Did you take anything with you from the set?

LEARY: Well, I took the bunker gear and the helmet because I have a charity and I know the value of auctioning stuff off. And, I took some of his other fire equipment that I was going to save it for 10 years and then auction it off for a lot of money. But then the Smithsonian called and we had to give it to them. So, it’s in the Smithsonian now, and I’m not going to make any money off of it.

PCZ: Where will you be on the 10th anniversary of 9/11?

LEARY: I’ll be in New York, actually. I’m doing a couple different things. Nothing of my own design. I’m sort of appearing at other people’s things.

PCZ: How do you think 9/11 has changed television news and the media in general?

LEARY: I don’t know if it’s done anything like that. I would hope the thing that it changed was people’s perception of firefighters in general, but specifically the FDNY. I think it’s very true that people are really aware of what those guys do, and are aware of the fact that, in any given circumstance, as first responders, they’re actually on site before the military is, in terms of defending our country. The guys that I know, the firefighters I know in New York, the thing they hope for most out of this 10th anniversary is to remember the 343 guys from that day, but also to just remind people of who they are and what they do because people do tend to forget.