Rescue Me Returns To FX After Two Years.

Dennis Leary and Peter Tolan are psyched about Season 5.

Rescue Me, a show that brilliantly blends drama and comedy, is making its long awaited return to FX this April. After two years off the air, due largely to the Writer's Strike of '07, Rescue is headed back to TV with a whopping 22 episodes. The time off plus the extended number of episodes for a cable season seemed to have really re-invigorated both Creator/Star Denis Leary and Creator/Writer Peter Tolan who revealed to the TCA at the recent press tour that they are having a blast. Working under the "write as we go" model, Leary and Tolan are usually about "two episodes ahead of what they're filming," Leary confessed. "Because we want to see what the actors are doing," said Leary. Being able to write to his fellow actor's strengths, Leary said that "the stories are bursting at the seams. We have so many stories that could be told."

"We're just full of ideas and energized," said Tolan. "I think we just wanted to come back strong. We told the guys that we've got to hit the ground running at 120 miles per hour. The episodes are very strong." This season boasts both Michael J. Fox and Maura Tierney as guest stars, with Fox appearing in the first five episodes as the wheelchair-bound and troubled Dwight. When asked about what kind of limits they have on a cable show like this, Leary answered comically with "I had a crazy idea of getting paid two hundred thousand dollars an episode and they kind of put a limit on that. That's Kiefer Sutherland money." Dennis was his usual amiable, yet bitterly funny, self during the panel, and even predicted that Michael J. Fox would win an Emmy for his performance while he himself will remain winless. Leary praised Fox for being one of the best guys around, and Tolan said that they were encouraged to dabble in a bit of "stunt casting" but that when they approached a lot of people who had told them that they wanted to do a spot on the show, they declined.

Leary's angry praise continued for his co-star Adam Ferrara. "Adam's a great comedian, but he's pissing me off now because he's become such a great dramatic actor," joked Leary. "Peter and I are like Double Joe Torres. We just have a great team." This season marks a return to the 9/11 theme that seemed to ground the show right at the beginning. The station is visited by a French Female Reporter who's making a coffee table book about 9/11 and wants to hear some on-hand accounts. It creates a bit of a rift among the boys, who think the idea of commercializing the events is terrible, but still want to have their stories told.

Another interesting note for Season 5 is the introduction of a potentially socio-politically controversial topic of "alternate" 9/11 disaster theories. Using their own method of writing for their actors, Leary and Tolan have made Daniel Sunjata's character of Franco believe that the tragic events on 9/11 were caused by an "inside job" due partially to the fact that Sunjata himself believes the very same thing. They wanted to explore the dynamics of a firehouse that's divided in debate over the theories and treat it in a serious way. Sunjata thinks that this move, to show differing opinions on the show is "admirable and should be applauded."

Leary, venting as usual, told the audience the story of how he lost the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for Recount this past Sunday night – "early, which was good so I could smoke." But then Leary had to head back in and stand in for his Recount co-star Kevin Spacey who was up for Best Actor, but couldn't be there because he was doing a play in London. So Dennis would have had to accept the award if Spacey had won. But Spacey lost, leaving Dennis thinking "I'm losing awards for other people now."