Denis Leary said FDNY firefighters’ rapid swing from grief to laughter in the weeks after 9/11 gave him the emotional blueprint for “Rescue Me.”
One firehouse moment changed the show’s direction: Leary recalled a firefighter devastated after crews found “a piece of a friend,” then laughing with others about 20 minutes later.
Leary and co-creator Peter Tolan built the 2004 FX drama from stories supplied by firefighters and consultants, aiming to mix intense fire scenes, loss and dark humor; younger firefighters told them, “You got it.”
The project drew on Leary’s deeper ties to the fire service, including the 1999 Worcester warehouse fire that killed his cousin Jeremiah Lucey and his launch of the Leary Firefighters Foundation in 2000.
“Rescue Me” ran for seven seasons through 2011, and Leary said its balance of tragedy and comedy reflected how people endure trauma rather than laugh at the event itself.