‘Rescue Me’ airs 5-minute segments until series returns

Tue., June 24, 2008

USA Today The Spokesman-Review

FX’s “Rescue Me,” facing an extra-long break because of the writers’ strike, is turning to an unusual tactic to keep the fire burning for fans: a series of weekly five-minute segments, dubbed “minisodes,” that will air Tuesdays at 10 p.m. starting tonight.

The darkly comic series about NYC firefighters, starring Denis Leary, last aired in September. New episodes won’t arrive until April.

“We felt there was some risk there, and the best way to hedge our bets is to give us some face time with our audience so they don’t drift away,” says Peter Tolan, who writes and produces the series with Leary.

On the bright side, when full episodes finally return, fans will get 22, up from 13 in previous seasons.

FX also is streaming the minisodes on several Web sites, including YouTube, Hulu and Crackle.

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