6. Rescue Me
Must Watch; Seasons 1-6Must watch Season 7 to get it over with. Rescue Me was the show that made everyone sit up and say wait, isnt that the guy who sings Im an A**hole?' and 'He can act?' Set in New York after 9/11 it followed Firefighter Tommy Gavin (Dennis Leary) as he tries to cope through alcoholism with the post-traumatic stress of having his best friend and fellow firefighters die in the Twin Towers collapse. His attempts at trying to reconnect with his ex-wife Janet and their kids is severely hampered by his feelings of guilt he harbors and his need to care for everyone around him, including his best friends widow Sheila, who he winds up having an affair with, and her son who wishes to become a firefighter when he grows up. Despite the raw emotions surrounding the lives of New York firefighters and the ones that are hired to replace them, the show manages to keep one foot firmly in comedy, providing much needed relief to the seriousness of the show. It is obvious Dennis Leary holds the firefighters in much respect and treats the subject matter accordingly, while his fights with alcoholism and domestic abuse remain an ongoing theme of the show. The show touched on father/child relationships, the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11, first responders who developed cancer at Ground Zero, women joining the predominantly male profession and of course, sex in all manners. BUT By the end of season 6, the show has run its course; Tommys alcoholism is a never-ending battle which his now adult daughter must also fight, he has failed to stop his nephew from joining the fire brigade despite the pleas of his best friends widow and the firehouse is on the chopping block due to budget cuts. The season 6 finale pointed to a major death of one of the major characters of the show and despite knowing it was going to happen, the result is still a shock. What would have been the ultimate closing scene for the series was instead brought back for one more season where it was finally put out of its slow demise.