On the FX cable network’s drama Rescue Me (Tuesdays, 10:00 p.m. ET), Denis Leary plays firefighter Tommy Gavin -- an acerbic, angst-ridden, sharp-tongued cynic.  Sound familiar?  It certainly isn’t a stretch for Leary to play this role because, for all of the plaudits from critics for the series’ supposedly honest portrayals of firefighters, the show is really a set piece for Leary’s twisted brand of comedy.  The April 21^st episode was a prime example of this.  For explicit sexual dialogue and content Rescue Me has been named Worst Cable TV Show of the Week.

The episode begins with Tommy conversing with fellow fireman Lou, who commends Tommy for being open-minded enough to allow his teenage daughter Colleen to date Black Shawn, who – as his nickname would suggest – is African-American and the newest addition to the firehouse.  Tommy, in fact, has nothing but good things to say about Black Shawn.  Lou adds that Tommy is especially lucky since Shawn wants to hold off having sex with Colleen until after they are married.  Surprisingly, Tommy is livid.  “That sneaky little black son of a bitch,” Tommy spews.  “We purposefully raised her as a lapsed Catholic.... so now she should be enjoying herself, on birth control, banging her brains out. But now she wants to reclaim her virginity and wait to have sex until she's married... my daughter turned Amish on me,” Tommy complains.  He resolves to set her straight, saying, “I'm gonna talk to her and she's gonna end up having sex with him. She's gonna have lots of sex with him. She's gonna have so much sex that sex is going to turn into what its supposed to be... a boring, monotonous chore, just like it is whenever anyone is in a long-term intimate relationship.”

Lou can’t believe what he’s hearing.  “So you're actually gonna have a talk with your teenage daughter, telling her to have sex with her boyfriend?” he asks.

“Yes I am,” Tommy states emphatically.

Tommy does in fact encourage Colleen to have sex, telling her, “If you were gonna buy a car, you would test drive it…Listen, I just think it’s important you make sure the parts fit.”

“What parts?” Colleen asks.

“I think you know the parts. Don't make me say... the parts.”

“His penis in my vagina,” Colleen clarifies. “Are you actually telling me to have sex with Shawn?”

“No!” Tommy insists.  “Kinda. I'm saying I don't think it's such a bad idea for you to do it. You don't have to do the whole thing. Do the Clinton thing. You don't have to go all the way.

“Oh, my God!” Colleen screams.

Later, Shawn confronts Tommy while they extinguish a fire.  “Hey, Tommy.  Did you tell Colleen to go down on me?” Shawn asks.  “She said you said something about Bill Clinton…I find that s*** really disturbing... I'm trying to give the sex some meaning and here you are telling her to go down on me and service me in an oral fashion… I'm gonna wait and give her that good loving on our wedding night.”

Tommy counters lamely, “Alright, but you wouldn’t buy a car without test-driving it.”

What father in his right mind would actually pressure his daughter to have sex outside of marriage?  It’s disgusting and downright disturbing.

Meanwhile, Fireman Garrity complains of back pain and Franco recommends a doctor in the area.  When Garrity visits the clinic the older, female doctor warns him that her methods are “unorthodox.”  She instructs him to lie face down on the table while she hikes up her skirt and straddles his lower back.  She begins to thrust her hips vigorously on top of him as she screams and moans in pleasure.  Garrity complains that he doesn’t feel comfortable with her methods, yet she refuses to stop.  It appears as if she reaches an orgasm. 

Almost as an after-thought, there is a subplot that involves a French reporter writing a book about the 10^th anniversary of 9/11.  But, as is often the case with the show, the heroes are lost in the muck.  Ultimately, it’s Leary’s hedonism that is on display, not the firefighters’ heroism. 

For explicit sexual dialogue and content Rescue Me has been named Worst Cable TV Show of the Week.

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