TV with MeeVee

Denis Leary Says: Take "Rescue Me" In Smaller Doses

"Kids today have a very short attention span," Denis Leary said. "That whole YouTube thing, which I’m guilty of, going on YouTube and watching the, you know, overly dramatic squirrel and all that stuff."

The always-sardonic Leary was promoting the new  five-minute "minisodes" of his series "Rescue Me," which debut at 10 p.m. tonight and for the next nine Tuesdays on FX. The minisodes will also be available on Crackle.com and other online outlets after the broadcast.

"If you can get three to five minutes or six or seven minutes and people can get on and watch it ... that’s a form of advertising, I guess. It may hopefully bring some people to the show that haven’t been there before," Leary said.

Last week, Leary and executive producer Peter Tolan got on the phone with a group of bloggers to talk about the minisodes and the next season of "Rescue Me." The conference call began this way:

Operator: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to register a question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone. You will hear a three-tone prompt to acknowledge your request.  If your question has been answered and you would like to withdraw your registration, press the 1 followed by the 3. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift your handset before entering your request.

Denis Leary: Jeez, did you hear this fucking thing? That’s complicated.

2007 Emmy Predictions, Part 1: Comedy Acting

The 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards will be handed out Sept. 16 in Los Angeles, live on Fox, in a ceremony hosted by Ryan Seacrest. And it seems like now is a good time to get our predictions in the major categories on the record, before fall premieres clog our bandwidth next week. Four days, 10 categories, and absolutely nothing at stake except our honor: Write your own joke. Today, we consider the four comedy-acting categories.

Best Supporting Actor In A Comedy nominees: Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama and Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage"; Neil Patrick Harris as Barney Stinson on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother"; Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute on NBC's "The Office"; Jon Cryer as Alan Harper on CBS' "Two And A Half Men."

MeeVee's take: Dillon's nod is frankly a surprise. Piven won last year and could repeat, but "Entourage" has slipped a bit. "Two And A Half Men" is TV's highest-rated comedy and Emmy loves hits, but this should come down to a race between Harris as the sparkplug of "Mother" or Wilson's insane Dwight. If "The Office" rocks, it could be  Wilson. But something tells me this is Harris'  year.

Morning Reads

I'm not sure if this is good news or bad news, but Jim Belushi is moving out from in front of the camera. He's going to direct. ... Doug Elfman has a funny Game Dork column in the Chicago Sun-Times outlining the video game habits of stars like Zac Efron he met on the press tour. Wish I'd thought of that. ... TV Guide reports "24" star Reiko Aylesworth - aka the late Michelle Dessler - is joining "ER" this season. ... Our pal the TV Addict has pix of a certain second-generation Hispanic music star's upcoming appearance on "How I Met Your Mother." ... TV Squad's recapper is having a complicated relationship with this week's "Rescue Me," which seems about right, actually. ... Dave, Oprah. Oprah, Dave.

MeeVee Video Top 5: Action - The Amazing Race, Prison Break, 24, and more

Car explosions, intense car chases, and monster football hits are just samples of the big-time action found in many of today's popular TV shows. With shows like 24 and Friday Night Lights, some TV shows are creeping up on Hollywood as big budget productions.  These heart-pounding shows are just constant reminders of how bland our lives truly are. That reminds us, we gotta go pick up our clothes at the dry cleaners.

The Amazing Race: All-Stars shows us that no matter what your age, gender, size, or sexual preference, when you have the chance to win money you'd do just about anything. Check out some of the highlights from previous shows.

We have the explosive interviews with the producers and director of 24. Get their take on the show everyone talks about Monday mornings at the water cooler. This week we also have full episodes of Friday Night Lights and behind-the-scenes of Rescue Me.

Finally, we have some hot yo-yo action. This guy can "walk the dog" and then some!

Backstage Blaze At "Rescue Me"

SPOILER ALERT: If you don't know what happened on this week's installment of "Rescue Me," stop reading now. Because the episode ended with the despondent Chief Reilly, doomed to a desk job, eating his gun. And Jack McGee, who plays Chief, is red hot about it. McGee told Television Without Pity that a lack of off-set rapport with "Rescue Me" star and creator Denis Leary is what doomed his character, then went on to rage about Leary's dealings with cast and crew, calling him a "bully." Well now the "rescue Me" squad is on a counterattack. Co-stars Lenny Clarke and Callie Thorne tell Leary's hometown Boston Herald that he's a great guy and a generous collaborator.