'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.