'Rescue Me,' Conan O'Brien, Joss Whedon: Notes from FX's press tour

[Midnight 6]

[imgleft] [/imgleft] "Rescue Me" will return to FX in the early summer, but it might not stick around for much longer after that.

The cable channel has 19 more episodes of the show on tap, FX president and general manager John Landgraf said Sunday (Jan. 17) at the TV Critics Association press tour -- but beyond that, he's not certain of its future.

"We've ordered 19 seasons -- 19 episodes -- that was a little bit of a Freudian slip, wishful thinking. We've ordered 19 episodes," Landgraf said. "... I think there's a good chance that these 19 will be the final 19 episodes of 'Rescue Me,' but we haven't decided yet."

The episodes that are left will be broken into two seasons. The first 10 will air this summer, with the next nine likely following in 2011.

- It's been a long time since FX tried a late-night franchise (anyone remember "The X Show"?), but now that a certain late-night host is about to enter the job market ...

"I think we'd love to have a daily show -- if it's as good as Conan or 'The Daily Show' or Colbert," Landgraf said. He doubts landing Conan O'Brien is something FX could afford at the moment, but he does call the soon-to-be-former "Tonight Show" host "one of the great media talents of our time."

"If he ever became available to basic cable, we'd go after him in a heartbeat," Landgraf said. "I kind of doubt that will happen, but you never know."

- Don't get too excited, but Landgraf is meeting with Joss Whedon soon. For lunch.

"Actually, is representatives called and set up a lunch with Joss in the next two or three weeks," Landgraf said in response to a question about whether he'd consider working with the "Dollhouse" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator.

"I have enormous respect for him," Landgraf said of Whedon. "... I don't really know Joss well, but I'm really looking forward to meeting him. I love his stuff."

As we say, don't overheat yet. Despite "Dollhouse" being born over lunch, most meetings don't go that way.

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Related:

'Rescue Me' takes its last call in 2011

Conan O'Brien deal: NBC reportedly paying $30 million

'Dollhouse': Why we're happy it was canceled

Photo credit: FX

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