Friday Night Lights

[RegularKarate]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Friday Night Lights yet.
I haven't actually been able to catch a full episode yet, but the majority of the pilot and second episode and it's pretty promising.  The writing is just okay, but it's really well made.  It's going to piss a lot of people off because of the shaky camera work, but it's really well edited (the pacing is fantastic) and the music choices they've been making are a little surprising (Obviously Explosions in the Sky, but also TV on the Radio and a few others I can't remember right now).

The acting is pretty natural too.

[MacGuffin]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Friday Night Lights yet.

I saw some of the pilot and said to myself, Isn't this just the movie all over again?

[polkablues]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Friday Night Lights yet.

I saw some of the pilot and said to myself, Isn't this just the movie all over again?

Yes, exactly.  But that ended with the pilot.  The second episode proved that it's not just a rehash.  If anything, the show is better -- richer, more real -- than the movie was.  And all of the teen actors are better.

I guess nobody (looking at the ratings) watched this show, but I hope it gets a chance.  It really is worth following through on.

[MacGuffin]

Friday Night Lights Gets a Full Season... [RK Creams His Pants]
Source: NBC

NBC has given a full-season order for 2006-07 to its critically hailed freshman drama "Friday Night Lights" (Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET), it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"We're proud to reward an authentic, poignant series like 'Friday Night Lights' with a full-season order, demonstrating our confidence in it's appeal and quality," said Reilly. "Television critics and devoted fans have supported the show with well-deserved praise for the executive producers, writers and exceptionally talented cast."

Inspired by the book and the film Friday Night Lights, NBC's poignant series centers on the small rural town of Dillon, Texas, where the coveted state football championship rings are held in the highest regard. Dillon's promising high school team, its star quarterback, and newly appointed head coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler, King Kong, "Grey's Anatomy") continually feel the mounting pressure of the town's pride and honor riding on their shoulders as soon as the Panthers' new football season kicks off.

The strong cast also includes: Scott Porter as the severely injured team captain and first-string quarterback Jason Street; Gaius Charles as feared running back Brian "Smash" Williams; Taylor Kitsch as running back Tim Riggins; Connie Britton as Taylor's supportive wife, Tami; Zach Gilford as third-string quarterback Matt Saracen, and Minka Kelly as Lyla Garrity, Panther cheerleader and Street's girlfriend.

Also starring are: Aimee Teegarden as Coach Taylor's daughter, Julie; Adrianne Palicki as Tyra Collette, and Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke.

The series is executive-produced by Peter Berg (the film Friday Night Lights, The Rundown), who also wrote and directed the pilot, as well as Brian Grazer (The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind), Jason Katims ("Roswell"), David Nevins ("Arrested Development," "24") and Sarah Aubrey (Bad Santa, The Kingdom). "Friday Night Lights" is a production of Imagine Television, NBC Universal Television Studio and Film 44.

[polkablues]

Oh, fuck yeah.

Thank god NBC is desperate to become respectable again.  Last year, they would have dumped it after three weeks for "Celebrity Deal or No Deal", or some such nonsense.

[RegularKarate]

Yeah, a friend that works on this show told me earlier today... very psyched.. both for him and because I get to keep watching it (Though I'm an episode behind... gotta hit that DVR)

[I Love a Magician]

I like Friday Night Lights a lot. Really caught me off guard when they used "Everything I Do" by Whiskeytown in an episode the other day.

[©brad]

I like Friday Night Lights a lot.

this show is awesome. i only have seen 3 episodes thus far but i'm really really diggin' it.

and i love the handheld camera! i think it works better here than it does on 24.

[polkablues]

It's about time we gave a whole thread to this show (even though me and RK might be the only people in America who watch it), because it went and became the best drama on network TV.  There is not a weak character, a weak actor, or even a weak line of dialogue on this show.  Free television has not given us a drama this real and this emotionally satisfying since Evan Rachel Wood made me cry in the last season of "Once and Again" (and that's including "Lost", which loses a few points for inconsistency).

Yesterday's episode was a revelation; not just better than the other shows on TV, but better than any movie in the theaters right now, and better than any movie nominated for Best Picture this year.  The people who make shows like "One Tree Hill" should make sure they don't have any loaded guns in the house when they watch "Friday Night Lights", because if I were them, I would kill myself.  If you can watch the show but don't, you're an idiot.  There will be a special room reserved in Hell for you, where "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS" play on an endless loop, and Satan plays billiards with your testicles.  It's that good, is my point.

[Pubrick]

i'm tired of shows being overrated. it seems like every other show is going to redeem mankind as soon as ppl start watching, Friday Night Lights, The Wire, Weeds, The Office US --- not to mention the ones that ppl do see, Curb, Lost, and ones that are mercifully dead, AD, or sadly dead, Wonder Showzen. and then there's a whole heap of brilliant shows no one ever mentions cos they're not shown in america - all the stuff Garam keeps pushing, and for my part i'll say anything by John Safran, especially John Safran Vs God. oh and then there's the shows still getting rediscovered, Freaks and Geeks, and the walking undead corpses of previously great shows, The Simpsons, and the resurrected saviors, Futurama. and many more to come i'm sure.

so yeah, it looks like we're in the golden age of television judging by what no one is watching. either that or some ppl here are overrating hardcore.

[polkablues]

so yeah, it looks like we're in the golden age of television judging by what no one is watching. either that or some ppl here are overrating hardcore.

A little of both, maybe.  You might say we're in the golden age of hyperbole.

[MacGuffin]

If you can watch the show but don't, you're an idiot.  There will be a special room reserved in Hell for you, where "Criminal Minds" and "NCIS" play on an endless loop, and Satan plays billiards with your testicles.

I wouldn't mind since those shows use a steady-cam and hold their focus.



Boo-Ya!

[abuck1220]

man, sometimes i just cringe watching this show. some episodes are good, but others are like bad after-school specials...the whole steroid subplot was just tough to watch. come to think of it, any scene/story involving the tailback is terrible...that kid sucks.

the problem is, some of the stories are interesting (the qb in the wheelchair, his lady, the new qb and the coach's daughter) and some are worthless (anything involving the tailback, the lame story with the fullback and his dad, and that weird waitress girl who has seemingly no connection to any of the characters other than to pop up on the fringe of a story from time to time). the good stuff is good (and has kept me watching for the most part), but the bad stuff is really, really stupid.

and don't even get me started with the horrible football scenes. every play involves the qb, the fullback and the tailback...that's it. if it's a passing play, well, the fullback just splits out and becomes a receiver. a trick play with a bunch of laterals? the qb pitches to the fullback, who pitches to the tailback, who then throws it to the qb! man, would it be easy to defend that team!

[Pubrick]

and don't even get me started with the horrible football scenes. every play involves the qb, the fullback and the tailback...that's it. if it's a passing play, well, the fullback just splits out and becomes a receiver. a trick play with a bunch of laterals? the qb pitches to the fullback, who pitches to the tailback, who then throws it to the qb! man, would it be easy to defend that team!

haha, i guess i can cross this one from the illustrious list. now we need a real drug dealer, or drug dealer fan, to discredit Weeds. and a real mad cunt to discredit The Wire.

[RegularKarate]

Except that this show isn't for people who like football.

Complaining about the football scenes in Friday Night Lights kind of makes you sound like Nelson after seeing Naked Lunch.




note, I'm not saying this show is "Naked Lunch" good.