Rescue Me (2004 — 2011)

Rescue Me is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on FX on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters. The protagonist and focal point of the series is veteran New York City firefighter Tommy Gavin. The series follows Tommy’s troubled family and co-workers as they deal with real-life issues, such as post-9/11 trauma or their own domestic problems. Tommy struggles with the loss of his cousin and best friend, firefighter Jimmy Keefe, as well as 59 other firefighters whom he knew who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Jimmy frequently visits Tommy in ghostly dreams.

Tommy is an impatient, self-loathing, hypocritical, manipulative relapsed alcoholic who suffers with severe survivor guilt and posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of 9/11. In the pilot episode, he and his wife Janet have already separated, although they are technically still married, and Tommy has moved across the street. Most of Tommy’s actions as a firefighter are heroic and brave, but his family members and fellow firefighters view him as selfish, despite his concern for others and passion for the job.