TVSquad

(S05E16) Drunk dialing usually doesn't turn out well. But when I got a call in the middle of the night asking me to cover Rescue Me this week, I gladly obliged. Apparently, Jonathan Toomey has been on an all night bender with a bunch of his dead relatives, and I'm not one to get in the way of family. "You work it out, buddy," I told him, "And we'll be here for you in the morning."

I didn't discover Rescue Me until the second season, but I was immediately drawn in by the intimacy and idiocy of the boys. Watching Tommy try to rise from the pits he'd fallen into was impressive, as was the strength he showed. But even more painful, and yet far more riveting and satisfying, is watching him slowly falling flat on his face, and yet he has no idea the pavement is coming. Season five is blowing me away ... so how about next year, Emmy?

Rescue Me fans have been waiting far too long for this news. It was announced yesterday that the FX trademark drama will finally begin airing its 22-episode fifth season on Tuesday, April 7th at 10PM ET. And yes, the season will air uninterrupted, with the finale scheduled to air on September 8th.

Season four, which finished back in September 2007, received some of the drama's poorest critical reviews of the series to date. Season five, which has been delayed by over a year because of the WGA Strike, promises to be much better.

FX President John Landgraf said that, "...the quality of episodes...are some of the best they've ever produced," and when I spoke with Denis Leary by phone last June, he said the opening six episodes of the new season was some of the best stuff they'd written yet.

Excited? I sure as hell am. Keep reading though because the news gets even better.

I was watching a Red Sox game last week (yes, stay with me here, this really does have something to do with Life on Mars) and they had Lenny Clarke in the booth as a guest. He shows up from time to time, usually with Denis Leary (they're both from Boston) and riff on everything for an inning or two. The two announcers asked Clarke what he was working on and he mentioned that he was in the pilot for the ABC remake of the British series but didn't know if he was going to be in the rest of the series. He didn't really know what was happening with the show.

He's not the only one.

When I was in college, FOX aired a show called Get a Life. In it, Chris Elliot played a 30-year-old paperboy who lived with his exasperated parents and just refused to grow up. It was a weird little show, but it had its moments.

If you were a fan of that show, you'll like The Winner. Think of it as a less-creepy version of Elliot's show, with just as many funny moments. And for those funny moments, you can thank Rob Corddry.

The former Daily Show correspondent stars as Glen Abbott, who is currently the richest man in Buffalo, but in this show, he looks back fondly at 1994, when he came of age... at 32. Yes, the voice over method is a bit of a takeoff of The Wonder Years, but the show isn't really a parody of that.

Wow, I didn't even realize that FOX was going to do this, but they have posted four episodes of Rob Corddry's new comedy The Winner, which premieres (on television) on March 4 at 8:30.

Now, this is the part of the post where I tell you that I've watched a couple of the episodes and the show is either a.) funny!, b.) a disappointment, or c.) too early to tell, it could get better! Unfortunately, my speakers aren't working right now. Actually, they are, because I can play CDs and iTunes and other stuff just fine, but I can't play the sound on web videos at all (and yes I've checked the settings).

The show looks good. The way the credits come on and there's a title. And the way Rob Cordrry looks when he walks around a room, sits on a couch and moves his mouth. Wow! I can't wait to hear what all the characters are saying.

[via Pop Candy]