Things We Lost in the Fire

With my teeth locked down I can see the blood
Of a thousand men who have come and gone!
Now we grieve coz now is gone!
Things were good when we were young!

Why didn't anyone tell me that RESCUE ME is a post-9/11 comedy?

Okay, it's a dramatic comedy. (I do hate the term "dramedy". It somehow seems more vague than either "drama" or "comedy".) A show about self-destructive grieving, which is to say a show that speaks to me.

The writing is surprisingly good. Sharp. Smart. Genuinely funny.

A sampling of the dialogue, wherein a few firefighters discuss spotting one of their fellow firefighters out with a plus-size girl:

Fireman 1: I swear to god!
Fireman 2: Maybe it was his sister?
Fireman 1: NOBODY has a sister that big. And they were, like, holding hands! You hold hands with your sister?
Fireman 3: No! Only that one time, you know... when we went into the woods to eat the witch's house.

The cast is amazing. And if you're a fan of television like I am, you'll notice all these familiar faces from HOMICIDE, OZ and THE WIRE. I just started season 2 and fucking Beecher is in it! Tobias Beecher is a fireman and Ryan O'Reily is a cop?! Well, now I've seen everything!

Okay, I haven't see a 3D CG-animated SMURFS feature film, but Paramount is going to take care of that... they take care of everyone...