FX Orders Fifth Season of Rescue Me

FX ordered a fifth season of firehouse drama Rescue Me.

Production on 22 new episodes begins next spring, and they will run in two batches. Last season's original episodes averaged 1.9 million adults 18-49.

The show, which launched in July 2004, will continue with Denis Leary, Peter Tolan and Jim Serpico as executive producers and show runners.

"The show has been a great source of pride to FX and remains one of the cornerstones of our respected brand of original series," FX Networks president John Landgraf said in a statement.

FX premiered a fifth season of plastic-surgery drama Nip/TuckTuesday at 10 p.m. to 4.3 million total viewers and 3.5 million adults 18-49, making it the most-viewed cable show of the night and No. 2 in all of TV in the 18-34 demo, second to Fox's House.