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Friday Night Lights on NBC

post #1 of 47
5/6/10 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
Who woulda thunk it? S4's NBC premiere is Friday May 7th, 8/7c.

It's the best drama on network TV (That's right, Lost fans, I said it)...Maybe the best show on network TV...Maybe the best show on TV, period.

Odds are good you've never seen it. Take a shot. Fans of The Wire especially, see some familiar faces. See John Carter.

Don't worry that it has football or is set in Texas. Don't worry if you haven't seen the previous three seasons (although they are dirt cheap on DVD and worth watching like nothing else).

Peter Berg directed tomorrow's episode.
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post #2 of 47
5/7/10 at 12:50am
Totally snuck up on me. Definitely the best show on network TV (and were it not for Breaking Bad, it'd be a strong contender overall), and it's a minor miracle that the 4th season is actually going to see prime time. Can't wait.
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post #3 of 47
5/8/10 at 5:57am
Season 4 was great. The only thing I had a problem with was how quick Riggins quit college. Sure, he's no academic, but he LIVES for football. Surely he would have stayed to play, especially considering he was one of the best players in Texas?? I know he says the coach was 'no Eric Taylor' but I would have thought he would give it a shot. I just hope he gets back to coaching, circumstances permitting obviously.

Shame the football aspect turned off UK viewers. The first season only got 27,000 viewers on average.
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post #4 of 47
5/8/10 at 1:54pm
Seeing as how this is the "on NBC" thread, you think we could mark spoilers for episodes that have yet to actually air on NBC?
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post #5 of 47
5/8/10 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Absolutely. There is some major drama this season, and unfortunately probably the biggest event is spoiled in the main NBC trailer.

Interesting - Kyle Chandler was up for the lead in a new Spielberg-produced show but turned it down, apparently. Does this mean he has plans to take part in Battleship? Or further seasons of FNL?

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/ex...rra-nova-17111
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post #6 of 47
5/8/10 at 8:37pm
I said this in the other thread, but I really liked how they brought back some of the racial and class stuff that they sort of phased out in seasons two and three. Specifically, I liked how they weren't afraid to make Coach kind of racist, or at the very least, bigoted, in his big speech to the players about "gold chains" and shit.
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post #7 of 47
5/8/10 at 8:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post
Absolutely. There is some major drama this season, and unfortunately probably the biggest event is spoiled in the main NBC trailer.

Interesting - Kyle Chandler was up for the lead in a new Spielberg-produced show but turned it down, apparently. Does this mean he has plans to take part in Battleship? Or further seasons of FNL?

http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/ex...rra-nova-17111
I'm glad, Chandler is too good an actor for something like that.
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post #8 of 47
5/8/10 at 9:02pm
It is BEYOND ridiculous that neither Chandler nor Britton has been nominated for these characters. They are so exquisite, so real, that it pains me they aren't more widely recognized. Or even Zach Gifford and Scott Porter. Really, America? You prefer stuff like NCIS and American Idol over this?

That NBC couldn't make this show the smash hit it deserves to be is just another entry on the ever expanding list of NBC Fails. It's not like The Wire where you can see why the masses didn't tune in. This show is a crowd pleaser with amazing actors and writers. It's a quality show families can enjoy together (something you don't see enough of). Yet the NBC run gets treated like the red headed stepson of the network. It does not make sense.
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post #9 of 47
5/8/10 at 9:05pm
To be fair to NBC, they kept it around for two seasons when they really could have cancelled it through the first season. And also in NBC's defense, if the show had aired during the Must See TV era, it would have been done after six episodes (although you could make the argument that this is the equivalent to something like Homicide, which was another critical darling loved by the people who watched it but nobody else).

Sure, the NBC episodes get dumped at the end of the season, but at the end of all this, we'll have gotten five seasons to a show that shouldn't have made it past one. That's pretty remarkable.
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post #10 of 47
5/10/10 at 10:32am
But why were the ratings so low for season one? Surely NBC must take some of the blame for that. They should have built more awareness and supported it better. And why show it on Friday nights, when most people who might watch it would be watching a football game! Are people really more likely to watch it on a Friday just because the title has Friday in it?
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post #11 of 47
5/10/10 at 11:58am
NBC Airing the first few episodes on Friday night was a truly bizarre move, but if I recall I think they did try to move it to Tuesdays or Wednesdays during the first season.

Based on purely anecdotal evidence, I agree that NBC did something wrong in the marketing of it. My parents (who I use as measuring stick for "mainstream" viewers) love it, and everyone I've ever shown it to gets immediately hooked on it. But I can't hate them too much, because I really didn't expect to get more than one season from the show.

As for season 4, I've only seen the first half of it so I can't wait to start re-watching it.
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post #12 of 47
5/10/10 at 11:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu View Post
I said this in the other thread, but I really liked how they brought back some of the racial and class stuff that they sort of phased out in seasons two and three. Specifically, I liked how they weren't afraid to make Coach kind of racist, or at the very least, bigoted, in his big speech to the players about "gold chains" and shit.
Absolutely. And what makes it more interesting is, it's what the kid needed to hear, even if it was far too late.

Similar was JD's assault on Julie at the pool party - evidence the sense of entitlement felt by many star athletes, the lack of intervention bordering on misogyny.

I know many people watching this season have expressed skepticism about the sudden revelation of East Dillon, but back when Bissinger wrote the book, Odessa, TX (upon which Dillon is based) was one of the murder capitals of the USA.

One of my favourite bits - which I'm sure would be played up in a lesser show - is Coach Traub's tourettes, and Coach Taylor's flicker of annoyance during the anthem.

Also Riggins, seated in a room full of devoted students, scribbling down notes on The Odyssey - great work by Berg there, casting away hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks. Riggins is Dillon, and he's not meant to leave.

Great cameo by Nnamdi Asomugha, who's one of the good guys in the NFL.
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post #13 of 47
5/11/10 at 3:20am
[QUOTE=Subotai;2915043]Also Riggins, seated in a room full of devoted students, scribbling down notes on The Odyssey - great work by Berg there, casting away hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks. Riggins is Dillon, and he's not meant to leave.
QUOTE]

Yeah, Riggins is Dillon, but he also is football. He lives for it. One of the best players in Texas. Would he really give that up so quickly? It seems like he was only there a couple of weeks.
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post #14 of 47
5/11/10 at 1:43pm
Thread Starter 
Riggins just wasn't meant for college. And going back to #1.1, he said himself that he was happy just kicking around Dillon. But who knows? May be his relationship with football is not quite over...
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post #15 of 47
5/12/10 at 3:57pm
[QUOTE=Bluelouboyle;2915151]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post
Also Riggins, seated in a room full of devoted students, scribbling down notes on The Odyssey - great work by Berg there, casting away hundreds of dollars worth of textbooks. Riggins is Dillon, and he's not meant to leave.
QUOTE]

Yeah, Riggins is Dillon, but he also is football. He lives for it. One of the best players in Texas. Would he really give that up so quickly? It seems like he was only there a couple of weeks.
Yeah, in real life there is no way one of the better players in Texas would be allowed to "slip through the cracks" that easily.
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post #16 of 47
5/12/10 at 7:13pm
I think the fact that Riggins is back in Dillon has a lot to do with the fact that ladies love Tim Riggins in a way that they didn't love Smash or Street. The producers recognize this and so does the actor. I keep making this comparison, but it is similar to Clooney on ER, when they kept him on for as long as they could even though Diamond Doug Ross would have been shit canned very early in that show's run.
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post #17 of 47
5/13/10 at 3:30am
Yeah, I realise that the producers knew he had to be on the show full time. It just seems like a waste. The same with Matt Saracen, although at least he had a legitimate reason, i.e. his passion for art.
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post #18 of 47
6/4/10 at 10:11pm
Even on a second viewing, "The Son" completely wrecked me. I think the main Saracen story in this episode is the best thing the show has ever done.
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post #19 of 47
6/4/10 at 11:01pm
This show should be drowning in Emmys.
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post #20 of 47
6/5/10 at 9:27am
Thread Starter 
It should, but it won't, and it never will. Five seasons are our reward for sticking.

One bit I love about the son is Buddy Garrity's moment with Saracen - his heart's in the right place, but he's just giving the standard patriotic lines, and Saracen's good enough to let Buddy say his thing, and it's nicley juxtaposed with Coach Taylor's reassuring nod from across the room. I miss more Buddy as much as anything else with the 13-episode season, bud Leland is always gold, no matter how much he's on the screen.
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post #21 of 47
6/5/10 at 9:45am
Yeah, this one really tore me up, too. Poor Matt. That kid has had it pretty rough. Props to my old Sunday School teacher Louanne Stephens for doing a great job with the tragic scenes. It's nice to see her getting along alright with Matt's mom, too.

Bonus points for the little Smash shout-out and the Lyla Garrity appearance.
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post #22 of 47
6/5/10 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, never seen a girl wear a skirt and cowboy boots to a funeral though.

The Smash bit was great - I love it how he's working his way up to first-string, he hasn't set the place on fire.
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post #23 of 47
6/5/10 at 5:13pm
Why in fuck is Zack Gilford not a movie star?
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post #24 of 47
6/5/10 at 5:45pm
This episode ("The Son") was better written and acted than every movie I've seen this year.
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post #25 of 47
6/5/10 at 6:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
Why in fuck is Zack Gilford not a movie star?
I don't think he could be. He should be, but I think he'll become a very well-respected character actor. He's incredible. The dinner scene left me sobbing. Scott Porter and Taylor Kitsch have a better chance of being movie stars, and it helps that they're both great actors.

The bigger question is why Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler aren't headlining movies. Well, TV these days is probably a better place for someone with Connie Britton's immense talent.
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post #26 of 47
6/5/10 at 6:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subotai View Post
It should, but it won't, and it never will. Five seasons are our reward for sticking.

One bit I love about the son is Buddy Garrity's moment with Saracen - his heart's in the right place, but he's just giving the standard patriotic lines, and Saracen's good enough to let Buddy say his thing, and it's nicley juxtaposed with Coach Taylor's reassuring nod from across the room. I miss more Buddy as much as anything else with the 13-episode season, bud Leland is always gold, no matter how much he's on the screen.
What I loved was the end where Julie, in that gasping sob that absolutely wrecked me, said that somebody needs to help Matt and Eric says he will and any other show would have had Coach do a rousing speech(Like Buddy did) but he gives Matt what he needs, somebody to walk home with. So fucking good.
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post #27 of 47
6/5/10 at 7:23pm
I absolutely loved when Buddy is going on, and Coach just looks across the room and Matt this little supportive nod. Such a great, tiny moment that this show is so good at capturing.
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post #28 of 47
6/6/10 at 2:35am
Maybe the free-form, improvised shooting style helps. Whatever, it's amazing.

I wonder if Eric Taylor is disappointed, even slightly, that Riggins and Saracen didn't continue their football careers. Riggins especially. It would be selfish, but human and understandable.
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post #29 of 47
6/6/10 at 2:40am
Thread Starter 
Riggins is one of those cats who doesn't like to stray far from home. Saracen would've had a tough job getting a college gig; he's got guts, but to paraphrase Joe McCoy, at 5"9, 170 lbs, his future is limited past high school.
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post #30 of 47
6/6/10 at 2:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle View Post
Maybe the free-form, improvised shooting style helps. Whatever, it's amazing.

I wonder if Eric Taylor is disappointed, even slightly, that Riggins and Saracen didn't continue their football careers. Riggins especially. It would be selfish, but human and understandable.
Especially after the tragedy of Jason Street, who Eric was coaching to achieve greatness. Saracen might have made a team in college, but likely never left the bench unless his team was way ahead.
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post #31 of 47
6/7/10 at 3:34am
I suppose he's proud of Smash's success, but he sure got behind Riggins' shot at college. Maybe you're right about Riggins, Subotai, but I don't think Coach Taylor thinks he "shouldn't stray far from home". He seemed to genuinely believe he had a shot at a college football career, and then when Riggins drops out coach looked a little suprised and then didn't mention it again. I just thought it was a little weird. I'm glad he gave him the job on the school team, but still...
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post #32 of 47
6/16/10 at 8:21am
I’m starting a sports book thread, but thought I’d quiz FNL fans about the original book, which I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read. I assume it’s very good. How closely does the movie and TV show mirror its themes? I’ve heard that racism is explored more deeply than in the movie or, until season 4, the TV show.

And how are Bissenger’s other books? THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST, about the St Louis Cardinals, looks good. I don’t know much about American Football – other than what I’ve learned from FNL and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY - but FNL has got me more interested in it.
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post #33 of 47
8/7/10 at 1:25am
Well, the NBC run of S4 is done as of tonight. Pretty damn touching finale, on multiple fronts. The game, the Riggins' situation, and everything else made for a quality ending, but it also made me feel like this show really needs a longer season.

Oh well, I'm just happy we get a little bit more.

Connie Britton was on Fallon the other night (hottt), and she mentioned that they'd just wrapped the final season. Sadness prevails.
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post #34 of 47
8/8/10 at 1:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle View Post
I’m starting a sports book thread, but thought I’d quiz FNL fans about the original book, which I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t read. I assume it’s very good. How closely does the movie and TV show mirror its themes? I’ve heard that racism is explored more deeply than in the movie or, until season 4, the TV show.

And how are Bissenger’s other books? THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST, about the St Louis Cardinals, looks good. I don’t know much about American Football – other than what I’ve learned from FNL and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY - but FNL has got me more interested in it.
The book FNL has sold 2 million copies deservedly. It's objective and unforgiving in its depiction of Odessa (Dillon), much more than the television show. But Bissinger isn't simply a liberal writer with his heart on his sleeve - I remember a poignant section where he envisions Michael Dukakis ('88 Dem nom) visiting Odessa or Lubbock and making a token attempt to understand the people there. You can read in the postscript how the townsfolk were disappointed and angry in his depiction of their use of racial epithets, etc., after he had lived among them for a year and earned their trust...The truth sometimes affects people that way.

Bissinger's Three Days in August is pretty good, but strictly for a baseball fan. Utterly lacks the sociological aspects of Friday Night Lights.

A Prayer for the City is a great examination of urban poverty in America from a politcal/legal context. Certainly Bissinger's second best after Friday Night Lights and worth reading. Bissinger won the Pulitzer for reporting and it's in this book and FNL that his writing strengths are fully on display.

The less said about Shooting Stars, the better.

Overall the amount of literature on football is quite small in comparison with baseball. Baseball's history lends itself to the romantic/poetic writing style, and the relatively short careers of football players doesn't help. Doesn't mean there isn't good stuff out there, though. I'll post some suggestions in the book forum.
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post #35 of 47
8/8/10 at 1:49am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Gray View Post
Well, the NBC run of S4 is done as of tonight. Pretty damn touching finale, on multiple fronts. The game, the Riggins' situation, and everything else made for a quality ending, but it also made me feel like this show really needs a longer season.

Oh well, I'm just happy we get a little bit more.

Connie Britton was on Fallon the other night (hottt), and she mentioned that they'd just wrapped the final season. Sadness prevails.
Yeah, 13 episodes is better than nothing, but what I wouldn't have given for 22. One more season to go.

Riggins talking to his brother, and later walking away - heartbreaking, and you could see the fear in his face.
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post #36 of 47
8/8/10 at 8:15pm
The way I cheered when Landry nailed that field goal you would have thought it was a real game.
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post #37 of 47
8/9/10 at 3:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raspberry Leper View Post
The way I cheered when Landry nailed that field goal you would have thought it was a real game.
I kind of rolled my eyes at the whole sports movie vibe of that sequence. But I totally forgave it when he describes it as a "seventy two yard field goal..."

Yeah, Julie and Matt is the heart of the storyline and blahblahblah, but writing Saracen out of the show really cost the show something special in the easy chemistry that Gilford and Plemmons have. Those two could make a couple words speak volumes about the history and relationship of the characters without being showy at all.
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post #38 of 47
8/9/10 at 6:10am
Well what would Saracen do in Dillon? Deliver pizzas? They do have great chemistry, but it would be unrealistic to have him hanging around just for that.
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post #39 of 47
8/9/10 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle View Post
Well what would Saracen do in Dillon? Deliver pizzas? They do have great chemistry, but it would be unrealistic to have him hanging around just for that.
They could just pretend that he was in High School still! Writers: "You guys didn't realize Matt was 12 years old when the show started? *shrug*"

It's sad to see Saracen go, because I think he's matured from a pretty wooden "aw shucks" stereotype into a solid actor - but ultimately the show could lose all of the 'kids' as long as it kept the coach and his wife and other assorted adult characters (Buddy!).
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post #40 of 47
8/9/10 at 3:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle View Post
Well what would Saracen do in Dillon? Deliver pizzas? They do have great chemistry, but it would be unrealistic to have him hanging around just for that.
I wasn't saying they needed to keep him there, just that sometimes the consequence of moving a character forward is to lose a strong performer. And I happen to think that Saracen and Landry were capable of bringing a lot of heart and humor to the show with very brief scenes, and I'll miss that.

As much as I like seeing the character get "out", I don't think it would be unrealistic for him to stay around at all. A dead end job in Dillon and a life that peaked at 18 was a constant, very real possibility for Saracen throughout the series. It would've been sad, but all too believable.
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post #41 of 47
9/10/10 at 1:48am
So I skipped this show when it came out. My brother was one of those walking, talking football cliches. A big football star who was allowed to do whatever he wanted as long as he won games. Then he tore his ACL and the school dropped him like a hot rock. Five years later he's finally in college and things are far enough away that it was a little easier to watch this show.

I'm glad I waited. I know watching this so back when it first aired would have been a very unpleasant experience, and I still can't convince other family members to give it a go, but what an amazing show. Like absolutely wonderful. It's thoroughly authentic and a bit of a fantasy (if only there were teachers and coaches like the Taylors. Those are some superheroes!).

Just got to the episode with Matt's father's funeral. Absolutely heartbreaking. And I love seeing now that Wallace DIDN'T die in Baltimore, but fled to Texas where he's on his way to becoming a football star.

Also it's kind of awesome seeing local Texas actors getting work. From the absolutely bat shit crazy conservative Janine Turner to Drew Waters. Worked on an awful show with that guy and it's such a wonder to see how he's matured as an actor.

I can't wait to finish this show and then spend time bitching about how it should have been better recognized.
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post #42 of 47
9/11/10 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schwartz View Post
I kind of rolled my eyes at the whole sports movie vibe of that sequence. But I totally forgave it when he describes it as a "seventy two yard field goal..."

Yeah, Julie and Matt is the heart of the storyline and blahblahblah, but writing Saracen out of the show really cost the show something special in the easy chemistry that Gilford and Plemmons have. Those two could make a couple words speak volumes about the history and relationship of the characters without being showy at all.
Gilford and Plemmons are the best couple on FNL. I thought it was pretty fitting that the last shot of them for the season is flying together to Chicago. Let's hope those crazy kids make it.

FNL is the most satisfying, fulfilling hour of drama out there. The acting, camera work, plot lines, and character...enough can't be said.
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post #43 of 47
9/11/10 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ali View Post
[PEOPLE OTHER THAN THE COACH AND HIS WIFE] are the best couple on FNL.
I can't even accept this in jest.
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post #44 of 47
9/12/10 at 11:33am
Amending to BEST TEENAGE COUPLE. Then I think of Matt and Julie, pretty much an iconic example of teenage love. This fucking show.
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post #45 of 47
1/23/12 at 6:25pm

So... I just mainlined the first 7 episodes of Season 1 last night. Damn this is good television. I feel bad that I didn't watch it when it was airing. All the pieces are good, and the adult cast is great. I will be making my way over the next couple of weeks through the rest of it, but damn. Somehow I missed the CHUD love on this.

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post #46 of 47
1/25/12 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 

Good to hear.  Man, I would love to discover this show all over again.  Better late than never.  The love on CHUD for this show was small but vocal.  Hard to believe, some folks will still not give this a shot....Hopefully Berg and Katims get the film version done in a few years.

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post #47 of 47
1/26/12 at 1:24am

We're already getting a FNL spinoff movie!

 

TIM RIGGINS OF MARS!!!

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