Friday Night Lights?

Doesn't anyone else watch this wonderful show? I figured that as well written and acted as it is (It won a Peabody Award, after all), that people in this forum would be huge fans.

I have a secret, it's not really about football. That's just the glue that ties it all together. It's about people, and the stories about the people are so real, everyone can identify with it. They make you laugh and cry and cheer, all in one episode.

Also, it's not about rich people, or superheroes, or crimes. It's about people facing things like wanting to buy a house, but worrying about the mortgage payment. What if one of them loses their job? Or taking care of an aging grandmother with worsening dementia. Another character doesn't want to be a deadbeat dad to the son he never thought he'd never have.

If you've never seen an episode, every single one is available on NBC.com or Hulu. com

dclary said:

I stopped watching when they stopped broadcasting it on Fridays.

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It's still on Fridays. It went to DirecTV in the fall, on Wednesdays, but the same episodes have been airing since January on NBC on Friday.

dclary said:

I stopped watching when they stopped broadcasting it on Fridays.

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It's still on Fridays. It went to DirecTV in the fall, on Wednesdays, but the same episodes have been airing since January on NBC on Friday.

Here's a great five minute trailer that shows highlights from the first season. It just touches on stories, obviously, but it gives an idea of the show.
First Season trailer

maestrowork said:

How's the show compared to the movie?

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I've only seen the movie on tv, not all at one time, but the tv show was developed by Peter Berg, who also directed the movie. His cousin is H.G. Bissenger, who wrote the book, so it stays in keeping with the spirit of both the movie and the book. However, it is updated to present times, and now takes place in a fictional town of Dillon Texas. I read that was largely to avoid lawsuits from anyone who might claim that a character is really them.

According to Berg, he felt that with the movie, he had a limited time, and there was so much more to explore, plus, it's not just the kids on the team and the coach. It's the coach's wife, and his family. There's also several other important women in the show. (a player's grandmother. Seriously, Grandma Saracen rocks--you will love her. Same with a player's mother, Mama Smash. Her name in the show is actually something else, but on message board's, she's Mama Smash.)

It's filmed in that same style so that the viewer feels like a fly on the wall. The actors don't rehearse, they don't have marks, and the cameras (at least three) follow them, and the actors are free to adlib. Also, no sets are used. They film on location in Austin and everything is real. The coach's house is a real house, same for the others, etc, so that also gives such an authentic feel.

Critics love it. Alan Sepinwall blogs about it, and Maureen Ryan thought the first season was better than The Wire. (not a knock on The Wire, it's just that FNL isn't as unrelentingly depressing. There's more hope and humor in it.)

So, to answer your question, I can't say if the show is better or worse. I've heard others say they like the tv show better because it's so indepth.

childeroland said:

Wonderful show, though I'm not sure it can survive without Smash and the rest of the old team. I already don't care about the new star quarterback, and if Riggins, Tyra and Landry are going to college and leave the show, will Lyla (who looks like she won't be going) be enough to prop up the kids half?

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I'm assuming you've seen all of season three already. (for any who haven't seen all of season three yet, spoilers for the last few episodes below, so don't read further if you don't want to be spoiled.)


Ah, but Coach will have a whole new group of players over at East Dillon. He'll have his 'giraffes', and I can't wait to see how that develops. I actually liked J.D.'s storyline and would be interesting to see how he turns out too. They could have made him one dimensional, but they didn't. There's enough shown that he could easily grow a lot more.

As far as Riggins, Tyra and Landry, well, the only reason I don't want Riggins to leave is because Taylor Kitsch might actually draw in new viewers since he's going to be in the new Wolverine X-men movie, or whatever you call it. He plays Gambit. Also, a lot of teens (and not so teenage) girls love him, so gotta keep him around for that. Landry was somehow, inexplicably shown as a junior this year. It doesn't make sense, but I love Landry, so I'll pretend it does make sense, just to keep him around. Same with Julie. That's about the only thing that makes me go, "Huh?" about the show, but they do everything else so well, I go with the flow.

Besides, as long as Coach and Mrs. Coach are the heart of the show, I'm there. They portray the best, most realistic marriage on television now, and maybe ever.

I've heard that they are close to announcing a renewal for not just one, but two seasons, patterned after this last one.

scope said:

I thought the book was good -- far from great --- and I like most anything that has to do with sports.

I thought the movie was better than the book.

I definitely think the TV show is far, far better than the movie. But if you are new to the show your have to watch several episodes before you understand why. Like the show LOST, one episode is good, but afterwards you kinda scratch your head and wonder exactly what went on.

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Yes, I've heard people say that. I was hooked after one episode, but I've had other people say it took about three. Then they did marathon FNL sessions to get caught up. lol.

I'm not good at writing about the show, I'm better at writing fanfic for it, so I dug up this wonderful write-up from Slate.com

The second season of NBC's Friday Night Lights is available on DVD starting today. If you have yet to tune in—and to judge from the Nielsen ratings, this describes most Americans—it's time to get with the program. The show, which is ostensibly about high-school football in the fictional West Texas town of Dillon, has something for everyone: enough testosterone-fueled football and violence to grow chest hairs by watching it, some of the most vivid and complex female characters on television, and sex and booze to pique any teenager's interest. Despite this mature content, the series is also a profoundly moving and edifying "family drama" as the genre has never before been conceived. If none of this interests you, maybe you don't actually like television.

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Rest of the article can be found here:
http://www.slate.com/id/2189688/

The article is great, but really, when it comes down to it, the show has to be seen. It's that simple. I can talk/write until I'm blue in the face (and yeah, I know I have done that. lol)

To make it easy, at least for those in the U.S. here's a link to the pilot episode on Hulu.com. Oh, and when it first aired, many critics said that the pilot could be the movie. That it felt very much like it, in a good way.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/541/friday-night-lights-pilot

Although I think there are only a couple of us here who watch the show, just thought I'd post that NBC just announced that they are going to renew FNL for two more 13 episode seasons. Each season will air first during the next two fall seasons on DirecTV, then be shown again on NBC in the springs of 2010 & 2011. That's how this season worked out. I have to say, I love the DirecTV airings, as they are shown commercial free.

Jean Marie said:

Count me in on the couple who watch it. I love the show, it's well written. Thank God they're renewing it. I was annoyed when they canceled it. Ok, pissed. Really pissed.

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I don't think it was ever canceled. It came very close. I actually donated to the Save FNL fund, which I've never done before for a television show. What was great about that campaign is that good portion of the money went to charities that related to the show. Even Variety commented on that.
Variety article

The Save Friday Night Lights movement has taken a philanthopic turn, with more than $2,000 in raised funds already donated to such charities as the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis and the U.S. Quad Rugby Association. The grass-roots organization has also sent DVDs of "Friday Night Lights" to troops stationed overseas.

Now, Save FNL has turned to helping out the family of David Edwards (right), who passed away last week, four years after suffering a paralyzing injury that "FNL" creator Peter Berg used as the template for the show's Jason Street character. Save FNL is aiming to help defray Edwards' medical expenses.

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In addition to that, the campaign has gone on to buy dvds for a number of public libraries.


So, hey, if this has anyone wondering why people would go to such lengths to save a tv show, then take a look. The show is on tonight at 9/8c on NBC. Tonight's episode is excellent. (I already saw it on DirecTV)

Amazon.com has the pre-order for season three, which comes out next month, for only about $19.

Not sure that it's better than The Wire, but it's as good as it. At least, according to several tv critics. Here's an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune critic Maureen Ryan's blog on the subject:

'Friday Night Lights' is the best show on network television
I find it difficult to convey how wonderful I think NBC's “Friday Night Lights” is. So I’ll put it in context – I not only think it's the best show on network television, I also think it’s as good as “The Wire.”

The HBO show and “FNL” are doing quite different things – through the use of memorable characters and complicated plots, “The Wire” masterfully depicts how a society rots from within, from the highest precincts of power to the lowest drug slinger on the streets.

“FNL" is depicting life in one small town in Texas, but it’s just as emotionally involving as “The Wire’s” heartbreaking recent season, perhaps more so. The fact that “The Wire” doesn’t shy away from cold, hard realities is what gives the HBO show its cumulative impact, but the show can be quite bleak.

“Friday Night Lights,” on the other hand, can finish an episode dealing with the land mine of racism in a small town with a sweet kiss between quarterback Matt Saracen (Evanston's Zach Gilford) and the coach’s daughter, Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden), and thus leave one feeling that the world is not such a bad place after all.

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The rest can be found here:
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/friday_night_lights/page/5/

Anybody else have DirecTV and watching this season? It's amazing! Best one so far, I'd have to say. Mostly because the focus is mostly on the two adults in the show. They've always done a great job of making this about more than just the highschool kids, but Eric and Tami haven't had many plot lines of their own, they just react to everyone else's problems. This year, they both have big problems, and it's riveting tv.

If neither Kyle Chandler nor Connie Britton get nominated for an Emmy this year, then the Emmy Awards are meaningless. Chandler has torn up the place, and Britton has had some great subtle scenes where she has to smile through her gritted teeth. As always, the two bring to life the best, most realistic marriage ever portrayed on television. Yeah, you read that right. Ever.

If anyone has DirecTV, there is a marathon on the 101 channel of the first three seasons of the show. I didn't know it, but luckily, my dvr did!