It's Tuesday, so it's Rescue Me night. The FX drama, brilliantly written by Denis Leary and Peter Tolan, is in its fifth season and better than ever. Maybe after the down time of the 2007-2008 writer's strike, the creative juices got flowing fast and furious. Or, perhaps with a 22-episode season instead of the usual 13, there's room for ingenious development of so many characters. Whatever the reason, Rescue Me is rockin' and one of the guys making it happen is Larenz Tate, who plays Black Shawn (left center). Tate, who joined the cast in the fourth season, has been front and center this season as his character gets more involved with Tommy Gavin (played by Leary) and his dysfunctional family. And a few decidedly un-PC things have happened. So when I had a chance to talk to Tate, I grabbed it.
 "I think Peter and Denis are able to get away with pushing the envelope and continue to push the envelope  because every racial background, every ethnicity, every religious belief gets it," Tate tells me. "We're able to digest it because no one is untouched."  Tate tells me he was welcomed into the existing brotherhood of the cast "with warm arms."  We talked about the potential for Emmy nominations — they will be annnounced Thursday —and Tate says that the cast is behind Denis, who already is a three-time nominee for Rescue Me, both as actor and writer. This time, however, they'd really like it if he'd win.