'Rescue Me' came to the rescue

Hundreds of TV entertainment shows have come and mostly gone since Sept. 11, 2001, but nearly all pretended the day never happened.

For people involved in the business of making shows, there would seem to be good reasons for this: The tragedy was too recent, too depressing and too terrifying. Moreover, almost 3,000 people died on Sept. 11, and to consign any aspect of this to a prime-time show would skirt exploitation and/or appropriateness. Commercial TV is about making money, but no one wanted to make money off this.

Then, on July 21, 2004, TV's silence on the subject was broken. FX's "Rescue Me" was a risk. It was about a profane, alcoholic FDNY member Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary), whose personal demons had been empowered by the worst day of his life, when he lost his cousin and best friend, Jimmy Keefe (James McCaffrey), in the Twin Towers. Jimmy -- a better man and husband than Tommy could ever be, or so Tommy believed -- had first charged up one tower, and then perished after entering the next. His apparition later appeared to Tommy, mostly to taunt him.

"Rescue Me," which wrapped for good Wednesday, also happened to be a comedy -- a raunchy comedy.

Peter Tolan, who co-created the show with Leary, recalled that on Sept. 11, he and his partner were shooting a TV series and working in and around the city. "We were just here sort of watching it all go down, and I said at some point to him, 'This is the show we should be doing -- the story of these guys.' "

"These guys" were the heroic firemen who were determined to reach the Twin Towers, and those who would die in them. Tolan and Leary's series focused on the survivors and their dilemma: How to get on with the business of living after watching your brethren die?

"The only challenge was being respectful, because people's lives were forever altered and we couldn't constantly use the event as the story, so we were careful that way," Tolan says. "Our show was about the aftereffects. It wasn't necessarily about 9/11 and we used a tremendous amount of humor to get the message across that 'life moves on.' "

Was he or Leary ever bothered by the nagging question of "too soon?"

"Because of the proximity and magnitude of the event, it almost feels like this is equated with Vietnam and look how long it took for there to be movies and TV shows about Vietnam."

Tolan had no intention of waiting that long. "There are so many more tentacles of pain that are still being dealt with because of ," he said at the TV critics' recent press tour in Beverly Hills. "Just in terms of keeping it alive, in some small way, I felt like that was a positive ancillary effect of 'Rescue Me.' "

Other 9/11 episodes in TV history

BY VERNE GAY, verne.gay@newsday.com

In the wake of 9/11, prime-time TV did not totally avoid the event. "NYPD Blue" and "Third Watch," both set in the city, tied in episodes to the attack, while a fast-turnaround "West Wing" episode in October dealt with terrorism. A year after 9/11, "Sex in the City" opted to launch its fifth season with "Anchors Away," an homage to both the 1945 movie "Anchors Aweigh," released shortly after Germany's surrender in World War II, and to the great city that had suffered the grievous wound. -- VERNE GAY

9/11 shows airing on 9/11

BY DIANE WERTS, Special to Newsday

News reports on Sunday's events

10th ANNIVERSARY NEWS COVERAGE (7 a.m.-1 p.m.) -- CBS/2, NBC/4, Fox/5, ABC/7, WWOR/9, WPIX/11, MSNBC, CNN, FNC, CSPAN; starting and ending times vary, check listings.

60 MINUTES (7 p.m., CBS/2)

AMERICA REMEMBERS: 9/11 (8 p.m., PBS/13) -- "NewsHour" special.

20/20: REMEMBRANCE AND RENEWAL (10 p.m., ABC/7) -- Retrospective focuses on those most affected that day.

Documentaries

NINE INNINGS FROM GROUND ZERO (5:55 a.m., HBO; 2 p.m., 10 p.m., MLB) -- 2004 documentary about 2001 return to play at Yankee Stadium.

WORLD TRADE CENTER (7 a.m., History) -- 2002 chronicle of attacks and cleanup.

IN MEMORIAM: NEW YORK CITY 9/11/01 (7:15 a.m., HBO) -- 2002 film collects video/photos shot by residents.

RUDY GIULIANI: AMERICA'S MAYOR (8 a.m., Bio) -- 2001 "Biography" profile made shortly after attacks.

102 MINUTES THAT CHANGED AMERICA (8:46 a.m., A&E, Bio, History and Lifetime; 9 p.m. p.m., 1:01 a.m., History) -- 2008 special recalling the attacks.

MIRACLE OF STAIRWAY B (10:28 a.m., History) -- 2006 special of 14 people rescued.

TELLING NICHOLAS (10:30 a.m., HBO Signature) -- About a 7-year-old whose mother worked in WTC.

RISING: REBUILDING GROUND ZERO (11 a.m.-5 p.m., 5 p.m.-11 p.m., 11 p.m.-5 a.m., Science) -- Steven Spielberg's five-part report on new World Trade Center.

COUNTDOWN TO GROUND ZERO (11:30 a.m., History) -- 2006 special covers lead-up to attacks.

9/11 MASTERMIND (noon, NatGeo) -- "CIA Confidential" about manhunt for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

DC 9/11 (1 p.m., NatGeo) -- Home video and other on-scene cameras capture capital attacks for "Witness"

9/11 REMEMBERED (1 p.m., 7:30 p.m., YES) -- Sports after the attacks.

9/11 STATE OF EMERGENCY (1:30 p.m., History) -- Interviews with Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, etc.

9/11: WHERE WERE YOU? (2 p.m., NatGeo) -- First responders and others recall that day.

GIULIANI'S 9/11 (3 p.m., NatGeo) -- The mayor looks back.

HOTEL GROUND ZERO (3:30 p.m., History) -- Marriott WTC Hotel that day.

VOICES OF 9/11 (4 p.m., NatGeo) -- Dispatchers, operators remember getting calls about the tragedy.

MAN WHO PREDICTED 9/11 (4:30 p.m., History) -- Story of WTC evacuation plan.

INSIDE 9/11 (5 p.m., NatGeo) -- Step-by-step history of warnings, attacks, aftermath.

9/11: TEN YEARS LATER (5 p.m., Reelz) -- Pop-culture impact.

THE DAY THE TOWERS FELL (5:30 p.m., History) -- 2002 hour about the disaster.

9/11: THE NY METS REMEMBER (6:30 p.m., SNY)

9/11: THE DAYS AFTER (6:32 p.m., History) -- Examining the tragedy's impact on culture, psychology.

ENGINEERING GROUND ZERO (7 p.m., WNET/13) -- "NOVA" hour looks at rebuilding.

9/11: 10 YEARS LATER (8 p.m., CBS/2) -- Robert De Niro hosts update of Naudet brothers' 2002 film shot inside the World Trade Center that day.

MAKING THE 9/11 MEMORIAL (8 p.m., midnight, History) -- Premiere of special about the installation at Ground Zero.

FOOTNOTES OF 9/11 (8 p.m., CNN) -- Workers like maintenance techs and ticket agents who became part of the story.

PENTAGON UNDER FIRE (8 p.m., Military) -- 2002 report on hijacked plane crash there.

MIRACLE DETECTIVES (8 p.m., 11 p.m., OWN) -- Three miraculous stories about 9/11.

WHEN POP CULTURE SAVED AMERICA (8 p.m., Bio) -- How celebs helped the country heal.

911: FIRST RESPONDERS (9 p.m., WLIW/21; 10:30 p.m., WNET/13) -- Ordinary citizens who aided rescue effort.

TWINS OF THE TWIN TOWERS (9 p.m., OWN) -- How one twin responds when the other is killed on 9/11.

BEYOND BRAVERY: WOMEN OF 9/11 (9 p.m., CNN) -- Female rescue workers.

DAN RATHER REMEMBERS (8 p.m., HDNet) -- Personal memories of anchoring that day.

AMERICAN GREED: 9/11 FRAUD (9 p.m., CNBC) -- Scams related to the tragedy.

GEORGE W. BUSH 9/11 INTERVIEW (9 p.m., NatGeo) -- Former president's first extended talk about that day.

9/11: AFTER THE TOWERS FELL (9 p.m., Military) -- Rescue attempts are recounted.

9/11: THE TOWERS/THE PENTAGON (10 p.m., Military) -- Forensic engineers examine what happened.

THE HEROES OF FLIGHT 93 (10 p.m., TBN)

FROM THE GROUND UP (10:15 p.m., OWN) -- Widows of firefighters killed at ground zero.

TWIN TOWERS (10:21 p.m., USA) -- Premiere of documentary short about policeman and fireman brothers.

WITNESSES TO 9/11 (10:42, History) -- Video cameramen remember that day.

METAL OF HONOR (11:30 p.m., WNET/13) -- Ironworkers who aided in recovery.

9/11: STATE OF REFLECTION (11:30 p.m., WLIW/21) -- Tragedy's impact on New Jersey.

Movies/music

FLIGHT 93 (7-8:46 a.m., A&E) -- 2006 TV docudrama about the fourth hijacked plane.

UNITED 93 (6 a.m., 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m., Current) -- 2006 feature-film dramatization of flight where passengers rebelled against hijackers.

THE CONCERT FOR NEW YORK (4 p.m., VH1) -- 2001 benefit concert features Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, others.

JAY-Z AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (7 p.m., fuse) -- 2009 concert for 9/11 charities.

CONCERT FOR NEW YORK REMEMBERED (8:30 p.m., midnight, MSG)

NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC CONCERT FOR 9/11 (9 p.m., WLIW/21; 10 p.m., WLIW/21)

THE SPACE BETWEEN (9 p.m., USA) -- Commercial-free premiere of movie with Oscar winner Melissa Leo playing flight attendant grounded on 9/11 with Pakistani-American boy.