BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — When "Rescue Me" reaches the end of its run (sometime around the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks) it might not be exactly what the show's fans are expecting.
It will be (gasp!) "somewhat life-affirming," according to executive producer/creator/writer Peter Tolan. "It really was a surprise."
Particularly given that this series is about alcoholic firefighter Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary), who survived 9/11 and has battled his demons and the bottle ever since.
And neither Tolan nor Leary (who, with Evan Reilly, wrote all 93 episodes of "Rescue Me") originally envisioned anything approaching a happy ending for the series.
Back when they began discussing how the series would end, their conversations "would sometimes go to a dark place where Denis was saying, 'I think Tommy … just sort of sits down in the middle of a room on fire, sits in a chair, and that's how it ends.'
"I'm like, 'I don't know if that's going to really work. I don't think that's going to work for us,' " Tolan said. "Because, obviously, when you create a series that lasts this long, there's got to be some reason at the end why people watched it."
Tolan and Leary also considered having Tommy end up with Kelly McPhee (Maura Tierney) and "find some sort of happiness." But not much.
"She had a house by the beach, and then one day he sort of takes his clothes off, goes down to the water's edge, and just keeps swimming out. And that's the end of the series, like he's going to commit suicide," Tolan said. "That's probably not going to do it either."
But as they began shooting the current sixth season, they came up with a new scenario.
"We actually found a hopeful place for that character, and I think sort of a positive message," Tolan said. "The idea of the entire series is — will a person succumb to the pressures created by living through a life-changing experience? I mean, is that going to destroy them or are they going to overcome it? And I think at the end Tommy does overcome it."
According to Tolan, the episode "Blackout," which aired on July 27, was a turning point for the series.
"People always wondered if Tommy Gavin was going to hit bottom, and (that) was it when he loses his daughter after a night of drinking," he said. "And that really gave us sort of a starting point for the end. So I think all of the (remaining) episodes … follow a really strong line that ends in a very hopeful place.
"And actually, in a much lighter place than I had imagined. Even in writing it, I thought, 'Oh, it's 9/11. And it's the end of this era for these characters. It's going to be very profound.' And we wrote a version that was that. But in the end, it didn't turn out to be there. It turned out to be much lighter, and actually much more life-affirming and about the resiliency of people in the face of a tragedy.
"So maybe all those things don't sound like 'Rescue Me,' but that's what it turned out to be."
Again, it surprised even the guys who wrote the show. Because, even as that final episode was being filmed, they rewrote it.
"Many times, especially in the later seasons, the day would come where you'd have (script) pages that you were going to shoot, and we'd go, 'Are we really going to say this? What's the quicker way? Or what's the funnier way? Or what's the way that's a left turn that people won't expect?' " Toland said.
"There was some writing in that finale that was a little bit more momentous. … And the day came and we threw it out, and what replaced it was much lighter and much more life-goes-on. And I really had a moment, because I directed the episode, where I was like, 'Boy, this is so not what we wrote.' And I went, 'But it's right. It's right. Let's get off the soapbox and let's not make a big speech about it.'
"So it was right, but it was a little daunting in the moment."
If you watch …
What: "Rescue Me"
When: Tuesdays, 11 p.m.
Channel: FX
The end is near: Four episodes (including this week's) remain in the sixth season; a nine-episode seventh season will air in the summer of 2011, ending about Sept. 11.
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com