FX has announced that since it will be another ten months before we get a new season of Rescue Me, they've kindly gone ahead and filmed 10 five minute episodes to air start airing June 24th. Really? You think that's going to make it all better? Hardly. I know the writer's strike took a toll on the industry and these cable network shows with oddly scheduled seasons, but five minute episodes are almost worse than no episodes at all. Unless you have ADD, in which case this may be the greatest invention ever. I get that they are trying to placate the masses who are chomping at the bit for the new season (though after last season's bizarre twists and turns, I'd rather the writers take their time. Seriously. Take three years off if you need it.) but five minute episodes don't cut it. You can't create story arc and character development in five minutes. That short amount of time is essentially a commercial or a trailer, not an episode. I think the folks over at FX would have been wiser to take the cash they are spending to create these ten installments and hiring the cast/crew of Rescue Me to do an hour-long movie. It would have been the same amount of screen time, and would actually be enough to add something to the plot of the show, instead of these minisodes. I honestly feel wrong complaining about any chance to see more of Daniel Sunjata and I presume that Denis Leary and Co. will have a good time hamming it up in this short format but this just seems like a lame way to keep the fires smoldering during the nearly two-year lag between seasons.

Tags: daniel sunjata, denis leary, rescue me