denis leary

On the season 6 opener of 'Rescue Me' (Tue., 10PM ET on FX), Tommy Gavin has fully recovered from being shot. But as far as his family's concerned, his reckless behavior still needs mending. To prove the point, Cousin Mick gives him a crash course of sorts: driving Tommy straight up the wrong side of a frenetic New York City street -- while screaming at him and chugging vodka.

"Remember when we were kids?" shouts Mick, as he swerves between cars. "If the priest said such and such is a sin, you were always the first guy to say, 'Hey, let's give it a go.' ... The rebel with a cause, mister break all the rules, mister go against the grain. Well, you're going against the grain now, [bleep]! How does it feel?!"

Why is Denis Leary so angry? What's the latest men's fashion accessory that really pisses him off? He shared his irritation on 'The Tonight Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on NBC).

"Let's start with the douche bags who wear the wool hats when it's like 105 degrees outside," said Leary. "I've seen some of these famous douche bags like Brad Pitt and Colin Farrell on your show with the douche bag hats on."

He doesn't hate Pitt and Farrell. But, wow, he's reserved a lot of vitriol for this trend.

Season six of 'Rescue Me' won't kick off until June 29, but series creator Denis Leary already knows how the whole thing will end next year. Leary and company have already shot the ending for 'Rescue Me,' to be aired next year in season seven. In a recent conference call, Leary was tight-lipped with the details, but assured the series finale would satisfy people.

"Not that we were out to please the audience," he says, "but we wanted to do something that was organic and, obviously, fit the characters, and fit the tone of the show, which is a group of firefighters who deal with life and death all the time."

Not surprisingly, it will have something to do with death. Whether that means the death of Leary's Tommy Gavin, Leary isn't saying. Whatever happens, Leary, producer/writer/director Peter Tolan and writer Evan Reilly have planned some sort of comic silver lining. "The show has obviously dealt with the question of mortality over, and over again," says Leary. "So, it will deal with the mortality of the characters and it will deal with it, hopefully, in the traditional 'Rescue Me' way, which is with some biting drama and some really, really funny comedy."

More of our best of the decade coverage, which started on Tuesday. You can read the other posts at the link above. Here, we talk about the best dramatic actors of the decade. And, boy, was it a tough choice.

From a meth-making chemistry teacher to a damaged 1960s ad exec, the guys populating the dramatic actor category in our best of the decade are nothing short of brilliant.

It's hard to choose favorites when you're dealing with the likes of Jon Hamm, Bryan Cranston, Mark Harmon, James Gandolfini, and many others, but the TV Squad team has spoken.

Did your favorites make our list? If not, feel free to add them in the comments below.

We're thrilled that HBO has renewed 'In Treatment' for a third season. In two seasons, it has proven to be one of the most compelling experiments in dramatic television. A lot of that has to do with the stellar -- and Emmy-nominated -- work by Gabriel Byrne, who plays psychotherapist Dr. Paul Weston.

The show was based closely on the Isreali series 'Be Tipul.' That program only lasted for two seasons, which means that season 3 of 'In Treatment' will be its first foray into wholly new territory. To this point, much of the dialogue, relationships and all of the patients were based on their Isreali counterparts, with minor variations. Now, the writers will be taxed with creating everything from scratch.

With that in mind, we decided to help out by scouring through the channels to find 10 television characters who desperately need treatment from Dr. Weston.

(S05E22) "You won't go to AA? I'll bring AA to you." - Teddy

After 22 episodes that didn't always feel all that cohesive, this was a finale that truly tied it all together. Rescue Me has had some memorable cliffhangers in the past, but this easily trumps them all not only for dramatic effect but for the potential lasting effects as well.

We'll get to all that because there really is a lot to discuss when it comes to "Drink." From the pettiness of Janet and Sheila to Damien's place at the 62 Truck house to the Gavin drinking epidemic, it was all answered in the comically twisted and dark fashion that we've come to expect from Rescue Me. Bottoms up.

The boys of 62 Truck are finally calling it quits. According to TVGuide.com, Tommy, Lou, Franco and the rest of the Rescue Me crew have fought their last fire, polished the rig one final time, and will hang up their boots for good in 2011.

Details on how it'll end, who might be back, and a preview of this Tuesday's season five finale are after the jump.

(S05E21) "That was some real father son type shit there, Tommy." - Black Shawn

The penultimate episode. Only one hour left to go in Rescue Me's massive 22 episode fifth season. There's been a lot to love, a lot to hate, orange (and teal!) penises, and plenty of drinking. Before I go on, I should point out that FX did end up sending out the final two episodes to critics (which is the only reason you're reading this right after the show has aired), and in an effort to make sure my reaction and speculation is as pure as possible, I watched and wrote up my review of "Jump" without having laid an eye on the season finale yet. So rest assured that anything that follows isn't a spoiler, and if it is? Well, good for me then.

(S05E20) "Call Turks and Caicos - tell people to start stabbing their eyes out." - Needles

This whole season of Rescue Me has been sort of a question mark for me. That's no secret - it's been excellent, but trying to determine what direction it's headed in has been a little tough. Obviously, the past four or five eps have really focused on Tommy's Sheila vs. Janet dilemma and I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume that the final two episodes are gonna stick with that trend. How do I know? Well... I don't. Last night's episode was the last one FX sent out for early preview, so I'm basing what's after the jump on my own speculation and one potential HUGE spoiler. So there. You've been warned.

(S05E19) "This is all above board. It's underground of course, but it's above board." - Needles

What's that old saying? Chances are someone else has already said it better than you... or something like that? Well, this whole season of Rescue Me I've been looking for the right words to describe just how exactly I felt about it. There hasn't been a bad episode this season and I doubt any of the final three will disappoint either, but still - something has just been off.

Well, leave it to the show's co-creator, Peter Tolan, to put it in simple English at the TCA: when dealing with a shorter season (as in 13 vs. 22 episodes), you can focus on the quality of each episode (rather than being forced to move on to the next immediately). That's what I meant to say.

(S05E18) "Dude, I swear to God, you'd be a goddamn millionaire if you just cut that thing off and sold it to science." - Franco

This was easily the most polarizing episode thus far in Rescue Me's fifth season. There was a lot to love and, in my opinion, a lot to hate. It was extremely uneven, featuring a pointless dream sequence and played out gags. However, it ended with what will ultimately, I believe, go down as the best scene of the season and easily one of the best in the series to date, which can only mean one thing - Callie Thorne has done it again.

(S05E17) "Aww man... some people just make shitty alcoholics." - Cousin Eddie

At the end of last week's episode, I have to be honest -- I was dumbfounded. To abandon something that Rescue Me has so steadfastly built up as a pillar of what makes this show tic - namely, the collective on again/off again sobriety of the Gavin clan - seemed ridiculous to me. One Tommy Gavin speech and poof - everyone's boozin'.

But with the "let's go find an AA meeting" option suddenly off the table, I tell ya what - it's a lot more fun. I've said it before, but as viewers, it says a lot about us when we find the addictions, weaknesses, and vices of others as sources of enjoyment, but why the hell not? That seemed to be the theme of this week's episode anyway as we witnessed Tommy get his balls, figuratively speaking, wedged right into a Janet/Sheila vice-grip.

(S05E16) Drunk dialing usually doesn't turn out well. But when I got a call in the middle of the night asking me to cover Rescue Me this week, I gladly obliged. Apparently, Jonathan Toomey has been on an all night bender with a bunch of his dead relatives, and I'm not one to get in the way of family. "You work it out, buddy," I told him, "And we'll be here for you in the morning."

I didn't discover Rescue Me until the second season, but I was immediately drawn in by the intimacy and idiocy of the boys. Watching Tommy try to rise from the pits he'd fallen into was impressive, as was the strength he showed. But even more painful, and yet far more riveting and satisfying, is watching him slowly falling flat on his face, and yet he has no idea the pavement is coming. Season five is blowing me away ... so how about next year, Emmy?

(S05E15) "Oh, god no, Tommy. No, if you're affectionate with me, I might actually start liking you." - Janet

See? This is what I meant earlier in the season when I said that no strings for Janet and Sheila doesn't mean no strings for Tommy. The guy cannot have meaningless sex with either of these women. But whenever he tries to bring more to the table, whether it be a hug or an expression of concern, both woman have shot him down. Lou was right last week - Tommy is a whore. His payment is supposed to be the lack of strings attached and to complete this terrible analogy, the bank in his heart has no idea how to deposit that kind of currency.

(S05E14) "What, you think elder statesmen such as I don't think about things like this, huh? I do have the biggest dick in the department and have been known to use it!" - Chief Feinberg

This was one of those "I had forgotten about that!" episodes. That Feinberg quote is a perfect example. Remember when Tommy glanced his eyes at Sydney's junk a few seasons back? It was hilarious. Another thing from the past that got brought up? Colleen was a lesbian! At first it seemed like a bit of a running joke, but now I'm convinced of it -- sexually speaking, it seems like she really has tried everything. Black Shawn really needs to start embracing that ... or at least get over his peanut butter phobia.