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When "Friday Night Lights" premiered a few years ago it at first looked like a strange mix of ingredients. You had the solid acting of the two leads, played by Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler; you had the gritty film-quality production style; you had dudes hanging out and playing football; and you had lots of incredibly good looking boys and girls. No small town, such as the one FNL takes place in, has THIS many amazing looking people. Hell, most countries don't.
And while the production style and some of the acting was surely top shelf, the fact that the show looked like another teen drama chased away most serious viewers. Photos like the one to the right are how the media presented the show - hotties. Young hotties. Ugh. A shame, considering how much soul - and how little sex - the show has.Â
We at the Ze Cat watched the show from day one because we liked both the book and film that the show is based on, and we knew that the director of the film, Peter Berg (Hancock, Rundown), was producing the show. Say what you will about Berg and his movies, his FNL film is one of the best sports movies of all time.
We liked the show right away. We watched the first season as it played on the air, then watched all 22 SSN1 episodes on DVD the weekend after it was released. The show, about a small town where high school football is everything, took quite a bit of inspiration from the book and film, fleshing out the family element of Coach Taylor (Chandler) and adding a huge number of side characters and, yes, some love triangle stuff. Mostly, the first season was about a new high school coach who is trying to lead his team to the state championship, doing so always under the watchful eye of pretty much everyone in town. Again, very similar to the film and book
By the time season two kicked off the Ze Cat was so stoked and ready. Episode one of that season is one of the show's best episodes ever, opening with a pool scene soundtracked by T. Rex and then a birth scene soundtracked by Wilco. It's a very solid episode that does a nice job of setting the season up. Unfortunately, from there, the show loses it's focus and becomes somewhat of a letdown. There are great episodes here and there, and some great acting and production (of course), but the show falls apart. It falls apart so much that the network stopped the season with seven episodes left.
Lost in limbo, FNL was bought by DirecTV, who signed the show up for three more 13-episode seasons. Here's where the show becomes, in our opinion, a classic. With a smaller production value the producers use their money better, using locals as extras, much grittier sets and a crew of hungry young directors and writers. Season three is great; we see Coach Taylor take on a new prodigy, who then (along with his very wealthy and influential father) takes over. The season is clean and concise, leaving behind many of the bloated side stories and make out scenes. SO much happens over the course of this 13-episode season. Great writing and acting, as usual.
Season four of FNL, for our money, is one of the best TV seasons ever. Period. It's amazing. Produced in a similar manner as season three (but with even a smaller budget), the show looks to HBO's great "The Wire" for influence, focusing much more on the culture clash element of the book. Also, as digital production has gotten cheaper, the show retains its cinema-quality looks. Season four finds Coach Taylor working at the rival of his old school, trying to build a football program after being pinched out by the wealthy father of his previous season's star player - a young and cocky quarterback ranked as one of the best in the country. The season references "The Wire" often, even casting a few of that show's actors. I'll say no more, other than that, if you like this show, the season finale is amazing. You'll want to watch it again the second it ends. Tim Riggins (pictured above with Coach Taylor), probably the third lead of the show, makes a heartbreaking decision at the end of the season while Coach Taylor's two families (home and field) see some success and happiness. At last.
The fifth and final season of FNL (episodes 64-76) are set to air beginning in the fall of 2010. It'll be interesting to see how this uncompromising show decides to cap things off. We hope that they continue to give the actors the huge amount of artistic power they've always allowed them and we hope that they, as the kids say, continue to "keep it real."
Written by G. William Locke
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