Friday Night Lights

By Myles Going into the show’s fourth season, the narrative was drawn as clearly as the zig-zagging border line: with two football teams in town, one led by our fearless hero and the other by the villainous interlopers, this season was going to be about the fight between the Lions and the Panthers. A...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) • Love that Tim once again finds himself in bed with a MILF. Did he and Lyla decided not to bother with the losing proposition of a long-distance relationship, or is this just Riggins being Riggins? • Louanne Stephens remains a comedy machine as Grandma Saracen. "Landry? Stop throwing the ba...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) In today's column, I review "Friday Night Lights'" fourth season, which is as terrific as I expected it to be, based on the clever ending of season three. After the jump, I'm going to briefly explain how I intend to cover the show this season.

By Tempo Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) and Landry (Jesse Plemons) are still in high school, and a new roster of young characters joins the cast this season. If a few of them prove as memorable as Riggins or Saracen, "FNL" will be in good shape.

By dupzyk Despite the brilliant writing, acting, et al., Friday Night Lights is still fighting to stay on TV. After thinking about it for a while, here is my proposal as to why: The penultimate episode of the most recent (third) season of Friday Night Lights has a scene that

By Jenny(noreply@blogger.com) TVGuide.com: I want you to know that my wife got hooked on Friday Night Lights this past season — and I think it's largely due to the tactile and real performances given by you, Kyle Chandler, et al. Connie Britton: Aw, that's so awesome! That's what I'm talking about, that's what we need to do.

Related articles from Randy Ray.

By Tempo Be professional," Gilford said. "It's your job." FNL" is known for giving its actors a wide degree of latitude in creating their characters, and at the invitation of executive producer Jason Katims, Gilford submitted some ideas for how to keep Saracen "relevant."

In season one of "Friday Night Lights", I discovered a neat little--if a little cloying--drama about a small town and its rag tag high school football team. And, oh yeah...The president of the Dillon Science club made the varsity football team, and then got away with covering up a homicide he c...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) I joked at the end of season one that a renewed "Friday Night Lights" would feature NBC-mandated changes like murder mysteries and Tyra and Lyla working at a bikini car wash. We eventually got the murder (though it came from Katims, not NBC), and we got the bikinis, too, but the brief glimpse...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) The Panthers fall deep into a hole in the first half as the QB-Coach tensions get worse, then after a speech at halftime, the anonymous Panther defenders improbably shut down the opposing offense and Matt Saracen leads the team to an equally improbable comeback.

By vunews Lyla responded with thanks, saying the financial aid program is just what she needs right now. Do I smell a spin-off: Friday Night Lights: Nashville? Okay, where to begin. I used to watch the show Friday Night Lights fairly regularly, via Netflix, af

By Richard The still reliably-employed Lucy Lawless has landed a new gig, one that returns her to familiar ground. She'll again be working with Xena: Warrior Princess creators Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi, this time on a series (for Starz, sigh) called Spartacus. She'll play the tough bosslady of a camp o...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Even though a lot of the Tyra/Landry material has been repetitive, I really like the easy banter the two characters have together, which only makes a moment like the one where Landry gives her a pep talk about all her hard work feel even sweeter.

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for "Friday Night Lights" season three, episode nine coming up just as soon as I pick a theme for the winter formal... Street is gone. Smash is long gone. Starting with "Game of the Week," we have five more episodes in the TV season and four more games, at most, in the football season. Shoul...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for "Friday Night Lights" season three, episode eight, coming up just as soon as I peel down to my unadorned id... And annoying as the Tyra subplot is, it did give Connie Britton a lovely subtextual moment where Tami had to let Tyra know that she blew the college interview without ever...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) The random introduction of a new Panthers player, with a problem that was easily solved in an episode with virtually no tension and no inspiration felt pointless. Even Tami giving a nice speech about how wonderful Eric is -- followed by Eric opening the car door for a very self-satisfied Ta...

By TheBigLead How awesome has Friday Night Lights been through three episodes? We’ll leave spoilers out just in case anyone still hasn’t seen the last one but a few thoughts (if you’re looking for a quick catch-up, Slate has a section devoted to the show) …

By Jason Mittell Even more problematic are some of the new storylines moving forward. Tami becoming principal feels like a highly conventional television move - when you run out of stories, change a character’s job (even without rational explanation) to create new conflicts and situations. This move ha...

Related articles from justtv (WordPress), justtv.en (WordPress).

By Jason Mittell Even more problematic are some of the new storylines moving forward. Tami becoming principal feels like a highly conventional television move - when you run out of stories, change a character’s job (even without rational explanation) to create new conflicts and situations. This move ha...

Related articles from http, justtv.en (WordPress).

By Myles Leaping forward about six months at the beginning of the show’s second season nearly killed Friday Night Lights - there was a sense that all the time we missed had been eventful for these characters, and their motivations had changed in ways that were not something that should happen off s...

By brocknroll Just got done watching the Friday Night Lights - Season 3 premiere. I’m so happy to see the show back. Just to give a quick brief review ’cause I don’t want to give out any story spoilers. Kev Just got done watching the Friday Night Lights - Season 3 premiere. I’m so happy to see the s

By Myles If you are a fan of Friday Night Lights, “Underdogs” is going to be mightly familiar: as the Dillon Panthers head off to the State High School Football championships, there’s a quarterback having trouble keeping his focus on the field, there’s a road trip to the big game, and there’s a scen...

By rss@youtube.com (DEMCADreviewer) The critically-acclaimed NBC drama center around a high school football team in Texas. Airs Friday on NBC. Stars: Kyle Chandler Connie Britton Zach Gilford Minka Kelly Taylor Kitsch Adrianne Palicki Jesse Plemons Aimee Teegarden

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 Dexter 07.00 Friday Night Lights 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 The Venture Bros. 09.30 Rising Damp 10.00 The Office 10.30 Corner Gas Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 12. "Who Do You Think You Are?" A mixed bag. Some stories are great, and some are pedestrian. Carlotta leaves Matt. It's a lazy ending to a pointless storyline. Corlotta was just somebody for Matt to be with while he wasn't with Julie, and the show made no great effort to turn her into anything more. Which is a pity. Highlight? Dexter (great conclusion) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog One Year Ago   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 04.30 Friday Night Lights 05.30 Rising Damp Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 11. "Jumping the Gun" Smash and Coach Taylor are the two featured characters in this episode. Smash has been overlooked this season, sadly, but this is a great story for him. Eric Taylor is usually well featured in most episodes, of course, but this is one of his best stories and Kyle Chandler is simply fantastic in the role. He should be getting an Emmy (or a Golden Globe) for work like this. Instead, he doesn't even get nominated... Highlight? Friday Night Lights (nobody apologies, and learns from it, like Eric Taylor) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog One Year Ago   [read the full post]

By Tempo Photos: Zack Roerig and Adrianne Palicki; Gaius Charles and Kyle Chandler; Aimee Teegarden, Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler; Jeremy Sumpter and Whitney Hoy; Zach Gilford and Jesse Plemons. The third season of "Friday Night Lights" (8 p.m. Wednesday, DirecTV's 101 Network) is unfoldin...

By Tempo Photos: Zack Roerig and Adrianne Palicki; Gaius Charles and Kyle Chandler; Aimee Teegarden, Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler; Jeremy Sumpter and Whitney Hoy; Zach Gilford and Jesse Plemons. The third season of "Friday Night Lights" (8 p.m. Wednesday, DirecTV's 101 Network) is unfoldin...

By Myles And I don’t want any tragic ends: I want happy people who are going to live happy lives. It’s an odd request, after I just spend a lot of time in the past week talking about how the tragedy of The Wire was so effective, but Friday Night Lights is telling a different story. Yes, it is about the oppres...

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) 06.00 Dexter 07.00 Friday Night Lights 08.00 Burn Notice 09.00 The Venture Bros. 09.30 Rising Damp 10.00 The Office 10.30 Corner Gas Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 10. "There Goes the Neighborhood" Poor Tim Riggins. Guy just can't catch a break, can he? Most of this episode shows how the Taylor household adjusts to having Tim living there full time. And, to my surprise and delight, it adjusts pretty darn well. Eric, in particular, seems happy to have another male in the house. The Venture Bros. Episode 2. "Careers in Science" This isn't as funny as the first episode but it's got a much better story and gives you a much better sense of who these characters are.   [read the full post]

By podcast@mail2tv.com (RikerDonegal) Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 9. "The Confession" Tami and Julie have more mother-daughter moments. It's good... Don't get me wrong. But haven't they done this already? Or is this different in some way too subtle for me to pick up on? Much, much better is all the stuff with Santiago and Buddy. I don't know what to think. After Buddy dropped the ball (ha-ha! a FNL joke!) with Riggins a few weeks back, I keep thinking he'll make a mess of things with/for Santiago. But, in this story, he appears to give some really good advice and Santiago gets to not only play at the end but also understand what it's all about: playing with/for your team. Powerful/moving storytelling.   [read the full post]

By RikerDonegal(podcast@mail2tv.com) 05.30 Prison Break 10.00 Friday Night Lights 11.00 Worst Week 11.30 Worst Week Friday Night Lights. Season 2, Episode 4. "Backfire" Average episode. We get to see how guilty Landry and Tyra are feeling, as various scenes show us how paranoid they have become. Julie finds out that her boyfriend is... a normal guy, who's not that interested in her. Lyla tries to help a kid who's just gotten out of prison and Buddy steps in to help her help him. Down in Mexico, Street and Riggins investigate the possibility of surgery on Street's spine. Highlight? Prison Break (Alex and Wyatt) Yet Another TV Review Podcast Yet Another TV Review Book Yet Another Film Review Blog   [read the full post]

By Myles And, really, this week’s episode of Friday Night Lights, airing exclusively on DirecTV’s 101, is the perfect example of both why I blog about television shows in general, and why it would be darn near impossible to not blog about Friday Night Lights ahead of its more accessible airings on...

By Jerkwheat Landry and Matt are having a J.D. centric conversation in the cafeteria (he's on the cover of Texas High School football! It's a three page spread!). Julie shows up and Matt spills his guts on how stressed he is over the whole situation. She finds him "adorable" when he rants. You luck S.O.B. 

By Randy Ray(noreply@blogger.com) And the show is about a subject with which I'm familiar. I live in a small town in Texas which loves football, and I grew up in another small town here that also loves football. And Friday Night Lights nails the source material. The show seldom rings a hollow note.

Related articles from Spoiler TV.

By Myles There isn't a single piece of drama this season that is unrelated to these qualities: with Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) making the leap from guidance counsellor to Principal of Dillon High School, and Lyla (Minka Kelly) back in a relationship with Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), there isn...

By Alan Sepinwall(noreply@blogger.com) Okay, after a lot of thought, and reading the comments here, and talking to other critics, I've decided that the only proper way to deal with the "Friday Night Lights" dilemma is to review the episodes as they air on DirecTV, rather than waiting to comment when the NBC run begins in February...

By steve@iscribelimited.com (pantherpride4lyfe) NBC and DirecTV hosted a luncheon with the cast of TV's best drama, Friday Night Lights, in which executive producer Jason Katims huddled up with a few journalists - such as Entertainment Weekly star Michael Ausiello - and basically outlined plans for the entire third season.

By DarkUFO(noreply@blogger.com) If you're having a tough time coping with the impending loss of Gaius Charles' Smash and Scott Porter's Jason, wait until next year: Katims reveals that Tim, Matt, Tyra and Lyla are all entering their senior years this season. The knowledge that this may be their final year in Dillon will "a...

By Adam Season 1 and Season 2 out on DVD. Created by Peter Berg. Starring Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch, Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki, Jesse Plemons, Scott Porter and Aimee Teegarden. Season 1 - A- Season 2 - B

By DD Previously, in football- drama-town, Texas: Landry and Tyra killed her stalker and covered it up. Fans didn't like that so much. And yeah, a few other things happened--a Taylor baby popped out, Julie and Matt are on the rocks, Buddy Garrity's on a downward spiral--but seriously. Landry and...

By DD Eric Taylor becomes coach of the Dillon Panthers, the top-ranked high school football team in Texas, with the small town's hopes pinned on a state championship. And it's a storybook season all right--if the storybook is Fractured Fairy Tales.

By DD Welcome back to Friday Night Lights fodder. We'll get right to it this week. Previously: Everything is bigger in Texas, including the drama surrounding the Dillon Panthers, not so much a high school football team as Beatles-like figures in their small town. And "Friday Night Lights" has so...

By Dan Fleschner The parade of Friday Night Lights stars to come through the allDAY offices continued today when Gaius Charles stopped by before his interview with Ann and Natalie. WATCH VIDEO Charles plays "Smash" Williams on the award-winning and critically acclaimed show, which focuses on a high sc...

By Tempo Photos: Brad Leland as Buddy Garrity and Jesse Plemons as Landry Clarke; Connie Britton as Tami Taylor; Gaius Charles as "Smash" Williams; Plemons and Brea Grant as Jean; Zach Gilford as Matt Saracen and Louanne Stephens as Grandma Saracen;  Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins; Kyle Chandler...

By tube talk girl Never in all of my TV-viewing life would I have predicted that Friday night would be the best night for TV viewing. But it’s true. Friday is the new Thursday. With shows such as Friday Night Lights, Las Vegas, Moonlight, Psych, and Monk, there is a show for pretty much every TV taste. Here’s my tak...

By Alan Sepinwall And for what? What benefit does this possibly bring the show compared to what's being lost -- in terms of Landry as a character and in terms of the series as a whole? Katims said the goal was to push Landry and Tyra closer together, that "their relationship would never become as intimate as it...

By Jason the TVaholic Review: Friday Night Lights is one of the best shows on TV right now. More people should be watching this terrific show than did for most of the first season. If you think it is just another high school drama or about football, you would be sadly mistaken.

By Tempo When “Friday Night Lights” (8 p.m. Friday, WMAQ-Ch. 5) returns for its second season, Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), the former coach of the Dillon Panthers high school football team, encounters one of the team’s players in a grocery store.

By Alan Sepinwall I wrote reams and reams of praise about the first season of NBC's "Friday Night Lights": how it's the best show on network TV right now, how it's a drama about high school football that's of equal appeal to sports fans and sports haters alike, how it's so obviously great that NBC actually set...

By Chris Beaumont In 1988 the Odessa-Permian Panthers high school football went on an impressive run to the staste finals. The team's trip and the town's obsession with the sport is chronicled in the 1991 book, Friday Night Lights. In 2004 Peter Berg directed the big screen adaptation of the book, creating a...