Cheers to Jack McGee for resuscitating his career post-Rescue Me. The fireplug character actor killed himself as Chief Jerry Reilly on FX's drama — then committed potential career suicide by publicly trashing costar-cocreator Denis Leary for the plot twist. Yet McGee has continued working steadily with guest shots on CSI, CSI: Miami and now Criminal Minds' season finale. As a hard-nosed NYPD detective, the real-life FDNY vet proved he's equally adept at playing New York's Finest as well as New York's Bravest. He's truly a Jack of all trades.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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Wow. Did not see that coming. I realized Chief was upset about failing his physical and not being able to return to the firehouse. As he told his buddy, “I gotta get back Stu... I got nothin’ else.” Going from saving lives and having your adrenaline pumping to being a pencil pusher/desk jockey cannot be easy. Sure, sometimes the gray cubicle walls seem like they’re closing in on you, but it’s not a fate worse than death. And it seemed like he did have so much else going for him: his son, his friends, golf, retirement in Hilton Head in a few years. I know he told the guys that he still hadn’t really accepted his son and just wanted to pretend that he did, but his speech at Peter’s commitment ceremony seemed truly heartfelt. On shows that Tommy watches, such as Oprah, they say that people often get all of their affairs in order before they commit suicide, so I guess that’s what Chief was doing by being there for his son and helping out Tommy wit...
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FX's Rescue Me (Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET) once again reminded its fans to expect the horribly unexpected, as its June 27 episode concluded with the gunshot suicide of firehouse chief Jerry Reilly. But the plot turn was downright devastating for Jack McGee, the actor who played the gruff, lovable chief.
Speaking to TV Guide in March during his last day on set, McGee alleged that the decision to off his character derived from an unnamed animus from the show's star and executive producer, Denis Leary. He claims the two were once close but that in recent years Leary had barely spoken to him off camera. "I don't know what I did to him," McGee says. What's worse, he added, is that Leary didn't break the news personally. "He handled it
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Question: Considering the wonderful praise given to Rescue Me by you as well as other critics, it saddens me that this show seems to be snubbed come nomination time. It's made plenty of critics' Top 10 lists and I'm happy it made AFI's list. It simply amazes me how Denis Leary does not get an acting or writing nomination for Tommy Gavin and Season 2 for the Golden Globes. It's not the first time a deserving series has been ignored, but I am just surprised given the "FX is the new HBO" attitude as of late. In HBO's prime, it got tons of nominations. Finally, what saddens me most of all is that the ensemble of this show will simply never be recognized. Jack McGee and Daniel Sunjata deserve recognition for their story lines. The wonderful work of Steven Pasquale, John Scurti and Michael Lombardi will never be awarded since their story lines are mostly comedic in a dramatic program, even though the show would not work without them. The drama is so poignant because we are able to laugh with ...
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