'Rescue Me' Minisodes Burn Up the Small Screen This Summer
Ten Original, Standalone Minisodes Premiere June 24th on FX & Online at
Sony Pictures' Crackle
LOS ANGELES, June 2 -- The writer's strike may have
delayed the fifth season return of Rescue Me until next spring, but Sony
Pictures Television and FX will deliver ten minisodes of new, original
content of the critically acclaimed series from Denis Leary and Peter
Tolan, which will air commercial-free on FX, Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT
beginning on June 24th.
Each of the five-minute minisodes will feature Denis Leary and the rest
of the show's ensemble cast in weekly comedic, standalone episodes, and
will be available the day following the FX telecast on Crackle.com
(http://www.crackle.com/rescueme) and via SPT's The Minisode Network on
other online and mobile partners.
"Fans of Rescue Me have come to expect their favorite show to run
during the summer, but because of the delay in production due to the
writer's strike that wasn't a possibility," said John Landgraf, President
and General Manager, FX Networks. "These minisodes are hysterical and will
provide fans the opportunity to enjoy the characters they have come to
love. The minisodes are designed to keep the series top-of-mind in
preparation for next season's 22 consecutive episodes, which will be an
unprecedented single-season run of a scripted series on basic cable."
"Denis, Peter, Jim Serpico & their team were enthusiastic about keeping
the show salient, and this is a smart way to give viewers their much needed
Rescue Me fix this summer," said Zack Van Amburg, co-president, programming
and production, Sony Pictures Television. "It's an added bonus that we'll
be able to leverage the studio's existing digital network to deliver the
minisodes to a vast online audience," added co-president Jamie Erlicht.
The minisodes will feature Rescue Me's regular cast, which in addition
to Leary includes: Adam Ferrara, Michael Lombardi, Steven Pasquale, Andrea
Roth, John Scurti, Daniel Sunjata, and Callie Thorne. Some of the
storylines fans can anticipate are: Sean (Pasquale) struggling to hold up
to his fast in the face of great adversity -- Lou's (Scurti) homemade
doughnuts; the gang discussing their criteria for a good bar; and Tommy's
(Leary) erotic fantasies taking a turn for the worse, much to the delight
of his ball-busting bunkmates. They will be written by Leary, Peter Tolan,
and Evan Reilly, and will be directed by John Fortenberry.
The episodes will be available online at Crackle
(http://www.crackle.com/rescueme), YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/minisodenetwork), MySpace
(http://www.myspace.com/minisodenetwork), AOL Video
(http://video.aol.com/video-category/the-minisode-network/110600), Hulu, Tidal
TV, Joost, and exclusively on mobile at Sprint TV.
The Rescue Me minisodes mark the second time that Sony and FX have
provided original, standalone content for the series. In 2006, as promotion
for season three, they teamed with Leary and Tolan to deliver Rescue Me
2.5, a 15-minute episode which ran online and was added to the third season
DVD.
Rescue Me revolves around the lives of the men in a New York City
firehouse, the crew of 62 Truck. Examining the fraternal nature and
relationships of firefighters, the series tackles the daily drama of the
life-and-death situations associated with being a firefighter, while
exploring the ways the men use dark humor to protect their true emotions.
Rescue Me was created by Leary and Tolan, who serve as executive producers
along with Jim Serpico. The show's fifth season is set to premiere on FX in
April 2009.
In 2006 & 2007, Denis Leary was recognized with an Emmy(R) Award
nomination for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series." In 2005, both
Leary & Peter Tolan were nominated for Emmy(R) Awards in the category of
"Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series" for their work on Rescue Me's
pilot. Tolan was also nominated for "Outstanding Directing for a Drama
Series" for the same episode. That same year, Rescue Me was an official
television selection of the AFI Awards, and the Producer's Guild Awards
also recognized the show with the Visionary Award. The series is produced
by Apostle Pictures, The Cloudland Company and DreamWorks Television in
association with Sony Pictures Television.
Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading
content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre,
including series, telefilms, theatrical releases and family entertainment
for network and cable television, as well as first-run and off-network
series for syndication. With more than 25 programs on the air, SPT boasts a
program slate that includes the top-rated daytime dramas and game shows,
landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically
acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. SPT also owns one-half
of cable channel GSN and is a partner in FEARnet, the premier
horror/thriller website and VOD service. Sony Pictures Television oversees
all of Sony Pictures Entertainment's (SPE) domestic digital distribution
efforts across all electronically delivered platforms, including the
internet and mobile. Sony Pictures Television, advertiser sales, is one of
the premiere national advertising sales companies, handling the commercial
inventory in SPT syndicated series as well as in all of SPE's digital
businesses in the United States, for Sony BMG and for iN DEMAND's
high-definition channel Mojo and the Tennis Channel, and is part owner of
national media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT
(http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment
company.
FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox.
Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 94 million homes. The
diverse schedule includes a growing roster of distinctive original series
and films, an established film library with box-office hit movies from 20th
Century Fox and other major studios that run in prime time and an
impressive lineup of acquired hit series.
