Rescuing Us From Summer Doldrums

When you think about it, it's been a depressing month for TV, what with the likes of "Lost," "Heroes," "The Shield" and "The Sopranos" wrapping up, only to be replaced by "America's Got Talent" (trust me, it doesn't) and "So You Think You Can Dance."

So it really is something of a rescue as we welcome back "Rescue Me" (FX, 10 p..m.) back to the airwaves tonight.

Conceived by series star Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, "Rescue Me" focuses on a group of dysfunctional New York City firefighters still trying to cope with their losses after 9/11. The series is both hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.

Leary's Tommy Gavin is still chased by the ghosts (literally) of his fallen loved ones and fire victims he failed to save. When we last left Tommy, he was trapped in a burning house after being drugged by his crazy ex-girlfriend Sheila (Callie Thorne), who was trying to rape him in order to conceive his love child. Yes, you read that right.

Tommy's home life is a mess. His family is still reeling after the death of his son at the hands of a drunk driver, and his ex-wife (Andrea Roth) is pregnant with either his or his late brother's baby.

Most of Tommy's unit isn't much better off. Jerry (Jack McGee) is trying to recover from a near-fatal heart attack; Kenny (John Scurti) is dating a soon-to-be-ex nun; Sean (Steven Pasquale) is trying to cope with marrying Tommy's off-the-wall nuts sister (Tatum O'Neal); Franco (Daniel Sunjata) is working at a relationship with a woman and her autistic brother, who may be more clever than people give him credit for; and the probie (Michael Lombardi) is struggling both with his sexuality and his terminally ill mother.

Tommy also gets a new love interest in Nona (Jennifer Esposito), the firefighter who saves his life in the house fire. Tommy's luck being terrible and all, he faces insurance fraud charges in the opener as investigators believe he was responsible.

"Rescue Me" is one of TV's best hours, boasting an Emmy-level performance from Leary and one of TV's best supporting casts. If you're only going to catch one show this summer, this is the one to see.

'SOPRANOS' RATINGS: Whether you liked or hated the ending, people definitely tuned in to watch "The Sopranos" Sunday night. Nielsen called it at 11.9 million, the highest rated episode for the series in three years.

But it was a good news/bad news deal for HBO. Whether it was the subject matter or anger over "The Sopranos" finale, new series "John From Cincinnati" brought in just 3.4 million viewers - lower than "Rome" (3.8 million) and "Big Love" (4.6 million), according to The Los Angeles Times.

Even with time-shifting and multiple airings on HBO, those are pretty bad numbers, though maybe they will pick up in Week 2 once "Sopranos" fever has ended.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: One show I never had a chance to review was "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," which has gotten mixed reviews from critics. But Perry is an extremely popular writer/director/actor, so his show (TBS, 9 p.m.) may be worth a look if you are a fan of his work.

"Hidden Palms" (CW, 8 p.m.) continues with new episodes this summer, while "One Tree Hill" wraps up with its season finale. Somehow, this was the show the CW managed to pick ahead of "Veronica Mars." Go figure.

"Traveler" (ABC, 10 p.m.) is also new tonight, as is a bunch of reality stuff.

VCR alert: "Rescue Me," as with other FX shows, tends to run long, so set the VCR to go that extra five minutes or so.

End of 'The Sopranos'

SPOILER ALERT: TODAY'S POSTING DEALS WITH THE FINALE OF 'THE SOPRANOS.' IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, GO AWAY.


****OK, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED****


****STILL HERE?****

Ok.

So I'm pretty certain that when you're TV screen went blank, just like mine did, your reaction was along the lines of "What the fudge?!?!"

I mean, eight seasons of buildup, including the last five minutes, and Tony Soprano's fate is ...?

But then I thought about it from creator David Chase's perspective and I realized that there was no good way to end the series. People want closure and surprise from the finales of their favorite series, and there wasn't really a way for Chase to deliver either.

So he didn't even try, instead providing a "Gotcha!" moment and no doubt enjoying a laugh knowing that he could lead audiences around by a chain until the very end.

Everyone thought Tony would die. Or Tony would live and a loved one would die. Or Tony would be sent to prison. Or Tony would turn snitch and join the witness protection program. Or....

By the time Chase had started to write the finale, pretty much every theory had been discussed and overanalyzed in the blogosphere. Chase had a scene that teased every one of those theories, only to shoot them down. What was there left to do in ending the series that would still grab people by the shirt collar?

Nothing. So maybe that was the point of Sunday's finale, building up the tension in the diner with Meadow trying unsuccessfully to parallel park and the restaurant patron seemingly not try to stare at the Sopranos as he gets up to go to the bathroom, shot in similar fashion to Bobby's assassination the week before.

Perhaps the scene in which Tony forgives Junior is the most telling, seeing the old man completely alone and senile, visited only by Janice, who is there to steal his money. Tony has to remind Junior that he and Tony's father Johnny once ran Jersey. Now Junior is left to rot away his remaining years. Is Chase telling us that such a fate awaits Tony down the line?

Tony is left trapped in his own mob lifestyle. His would-be heirs to the empire are either dead, like Christopher, too old, like Paulie, or just not cut out for it, like A.J. Paulie, who would like nothing better than to retire, is forced by Tony to take on yet another crew.

Of course, Chase has left the door open to a "Sopranos" movie or some other sequel by keeping most of the key members of the cast alive. Phil Leotardo may have met a rather ignominious fate, but Tony will always have someone nipping at his heels.

Odds are, most fans of the "The Sopranos" won't remember the ending with fondness. People wanted a "Newhart" style of stunner, or at least a "MASH" sense of closure.

Instead, Chase played the only card that was left to him: He turned the camera off, and that was it.

MONDAY'S BEST BET: The Tony Soprano of chefs, Gordon Ramsay, has returned to Fox for his American TV series "Hell's Kitchen" (Fox, 8 p.m.).

Over on HBO, you can torture yourself by watching the re-airing of "The Sopranos" finale at 8 p.m., followed by the season premiere of "Big Love" at 9 p.m.

I didn't get a chance last week to review "Creature Comforts" (CBS, 8 p.m.) The animation is brilliant and clever, though for me the running gag of series got a bit old and repetitive after a while.

But my pick of the night is a rerun of the funniest sitcom moment this year, the Robin Sparkles/slap bet episode of "How I Met Your Mother" (CBS, 9:30 p.m.) When I put out my Emmy picks last week, I should have mentioned this one for best writing.