Rescue Me is wonderfully politically incorrect (Tommy tells an obnoxious woman firefighter she has two uses as far as he's concerned — "you can give me a blowjob or you can make me a sandwich"), bracingly obscene — sex, of every persuasion, seems to be these guys' biggest diversion, drug, joke and solace — and aromatically male. I don't know if this is must-see TV in firehouses, but what I maybe like best of all about the show is the way it feels like New York firefighters are the audience Denis Leary really wants to please. (According to a review reprinted at firehouse.com, "Leary himself lost a firefighter cousin in an earlier incident and has set up a foundation that aids firefighters and their families.")

And as if all that weren't enough, the man is as sexy as an alleycat.