Rescue Me - TV-MA
DVD
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this show is an unflinching look at the lives of firefighters. These rough-and-tumble men -- and the occasional woman -- put their lives on the line when they go to work, and their language is as rough as the situations they face. When they're not fighting fires, they're usually crass, sometimes violent, often drunk, and always looking for either sex or love, though not always at the same time. In short, they're very human, very flawed, and very real.
Families who watch with older teens can discuss how they would react to some of the conflicts Tommy and his pals face. The show creates extreme, but realistic, situations that require the characters to make difficult choices. In one important story line, for example, Tommy, his father, and his uncle take justice into their own hands. What do teens think they would do in a similar situation? Do the ends ever justify the means? What can people do when they believe the law has failed them?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Will Wade
Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) has problems. He's an alcoholic who's hardly trying to control his drinking, his ex-wife hates him even more than most divorcees hate their former husbands, and he sometimes finds himself having conversations with dead friends and family members.
The one place where Tommy, the senior firefighter at a busy New York firehouse, feels on solid ground is at work. Though this compelling and realistic drama centers on Tommy and his complicated life, his co-workers are also important characters with plenty of their own problems -- and helping his fellow firefighters sort through their issues helps Tommy (and viewers) realize that everybody's life can sometimes get pretty messy.
Though the firefighting scenes are exciting, the strength of RESCUE ME is that the characters' problems and crises are all very believable; watching Tommy and his pals try to figure out what to do with their lives feels like it could be anyone trying to muddle through life.
Viewers might be put off by the language; firefighters can't really be expected to watch their words when battling a blaze, and the station house seems much like a lived-in locker room, but these guys are incredibly foul-mouthed by any standard. There's not a bad word ever coined that they don't use liberally, and they make up plenty more that are creatively explicit.
Still, Rescue Me goes a step beyond the standard hospital or police station ensemble drama because its characters have more going on in their lives than what happens at work. That said, the level of complication and complex shades of gray in those lives make the series iffy for all but the most mature teens.
Fans might also like long-running medical drama ER, Grey's Anatomy, and The Sopranos.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentPlenty of sex, talking about sex, and arguments between sexual partners. Some pretty graphic sexual scenes in many episodes (but not all), including partial nudity. Characters have affairs. |
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ViolenceThese firefighters are frequently in danger on the job and sometimes engage in pretty realistic fights off the job. |
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LanguageExtremely foul. Just about every bad word imaginable, and a few creative new ones. |
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Social BehaviorDespite plenty of bad habits, these very-human characters generally try to do the right thing. They drink too much but realize it's a problem and try to get help. Sometimes they break the law, but they analyze every side of their moral dilemmas and try to find some legitimate justifications for their choices. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoTommy is a struggling alcoholic, and it's not pretty when he falls off the wagon. Several other characters also drink heavily, and some take drugs. This show doesn't shy away from portraying both the fun times and the ugly lows that come from both. Many characters smoke cigarettes. |
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