Pop Art: Rescue Me

There it is--one of the best advertisements for TV I've ever seen. Managing to be both terrifying and absolutely heartwrenching, this image tells you everything you need to know about FX's hard-edged New York firefighter show. I came upon it while flipping through the pages of the admittedly soft journalist pop culture rag Entertainment Weekly, and immediately had the entirety of the previous three seasons flash before my eyes: the sadness of the post-9/11 world in which Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) and his coworkers struggle though each day and its damning effect on their very souls, the bigoted, misogynist and racist anti-heroes at war with nobody but themselves.

It's the simplest publicity campaign so far for the show, which usually involves Tommy falling off a burning building in full firefighter gear, smirking at his fate, one that bears the burden for his fallen comrades. This is different. This is stripped down and raw, radiating rage and carnal energy. The monster inside all of us. At the end of the last season, he has just lost his brother, his family has all but abandoned him, and he has been drugged and left for dead by his deceased cousin's widow in a burning building, threatening to engulf everything he's worked for in order to start a new life. I'd look like that, too.

Absolutely powerful, FX.