Friday Night Lights 1/10/07

[spikedavis]

This is such a phenomenal show. The writing is just top notch.

Matt is such a good kid!

I really, really, REALLY hope this gets renewed for a second season...

[mwhip]

This is such a phenomenal show. The writing is just top notch.

Matt is such a good kid!

I really, really, REALLY hope this gets renewed for a second season...

The one thing that runs through my head over and over when I watch this show is heart. This show has more heart in it then most any show I can remember. I really hope the community comes together and helps Matt out.

[spikedavis]

The one thing that runs through my head over and over when I watch this show is heart. This show has more heart in it then most any show I can remember. I really hope the community comes together and helps Matt out.


You're right. My wife gets choked up throughout the episode because it's so geniune and you really feel sympathetic for everyone. I thought the scene with Coach Taylor and Mr. Street was exceptional.

[The Flush]

Nice to see some depth to Tyra.

Saracen's family situation seems very real. It's good to Julie trying to help them out.

[ruexp67]

I am really enjoying this show. One of the many things I like about it was demonstrated at the carnival/rodeo when the coach and the Jason see each other across the midway.

Sure, they talked later, but in that scene, it was all just conveyed on the faces of the actors, which was really interesting. I can't remember another show taking that long of a pause and having "dead air." It worked, and worked well.

Kyle Chandler does a GREAT job on this show.

[vikingguy]

Great stuff as usuall I could use some help. During the last segment there were no voices only sound till smash at the end. I can guess what coach/street and tyra/mom said but what did matt and his dad speak about?

[madscientist]

Matt told his dad that he (Matt) knew his dad was miserable, and that he (the dad) should go back to Iraq, and that Matt wasn't upset with him about it and knew it was something he had to do.

He (Matt) said he'd be fine looking after his grandmother just as he had been before and that the dad shouldn't worry about them.

Matt's dad was skeptical at first but it seemed like he was relieved and basically agreed by the end of the scene.

[vikingguy]

Thank you for the recap.

[DLiquid]

When Coach and Street's dad were having the conversation at the pharmacy, there was one point when Street's dad made that half smile, crinkled up face, head shaking expression that Street does all the time. I thought that was a nice touch.

About the line, "You raised that boy on the football field." I must be forgetting something. Since the coach is new to the Panthers this season, what was his past history with Street?

[MikeMar]

About the line, "You raised that boy on the football field." I must be forgetting something. Since the coach is new to the Panthers this season, what was his past history with Street?

He coached him for YEARS, and that was partially the reason he got the job!

He coached him in JV and I think either freshman year or middle school. He was kinda HIS player.

[DevdogAZ]

He coached him for YEARS, and that was partially the reason he got the job!

He coached him in JV and I think either freshman year or middle school. He was kinda HIS player.
Exactly. Coach Taylor was the QB coach before this season, which meant he worked specifically with Street and made him the QB that he was.

During the scene at the rodeo between Street and Coach Taylor, I just wanted to yell at Coach and tell him to go talk to Street. This show really pulls you in.

[modnar]

When Coach and Street's dad were having the conversation at the pharmacy, there was one point when Street's dad made that half smile, crinkled up face, head shaking expression that Street does all the time. I thought that was a nice touch.

About the line, "You raised that boy on the football field." I must be forgetting something. Since the coach is new to the Panthers this season, what was his past history with Street?
Yeah, after that, I looked them up on IMDB to see if they were really father and son or something (doesn't look like they are). Very well done.

[deathster]

Does anyone wonder how they will fill episodes once the football season ends? Will they stretch things out so the final "big game" airs during May sweeps?

If it does get renewed, what happens to the graduating players? Riggins and Smash are both seniors, right? Matt is a sophomore, if I recall correctly, so at least he'll still be around.

Ditto everyone's strong praise for this show. It's easily one of the best on TV right now. Hopefully it finds more of an audience. NBC should be commended for sticking with it despite sometimes meager ratings.

Any scene with Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton is consistently great. They are one of the most believable couples on TV.

:up: :up:

--deathster

[DevdogAZ]

Does anyone wonder how they will fill episodes once the football season ends? Will they stretch things out so the final "big game" airs during May sweeps?

If it does get renewed, what happens to the graduating players? Riggins and Smash are both seniors, right? Matt is a sophomore, if I recall correctly, so at least he'll still be around.

Ditto everyone's strong praise for this show. It's easily one of the best on TV right now. Hopefully it finds more of an audience. NBC should be commended for sticking with it despite sometimes meager ratings.

Any scene with Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton is consistently great. They are one of the most believable couples on TV.

:up: :up:

--deathster
Riggins is a senior, but I'm pretty sure Smash is a junior. It was talked about when he was trying to get on that scout's list, how he's done all this stuff and he's still got another year.

[MikeMar]

Riggins is a senior, but I'm pretty sure Smash is a junior. It was talked about when he was trying to get on that scout's list, how he's done all this stuff and he's still got another year.

Matt is a junior as well

[mwhip]

Matt is a junior as well

Matt is a sophomore and their daughter is a freshmen.

[MikeMar]

Matt is a sophomore and their daughter is a freshmen.

as yes, he is 16, my bad

[minckster]

I just added the movie "Friday Night Lights" to the top of my Netflix queue. Will watching it give any spoilers for the TV show? I'd rather wait on the movie than ruin any surprises in the show.

[mwhip]

I just added the movie "Friday Night Lights" to the top of my Netflix queue. Will watching it give any spoilers for the TV show? I'd rather wait on the movie than ruin any surprises in the show.

The two are like distant cousins the concept is the same but they are really not similar. None of the characters are such are the same not even the name of the town. I still think this show would have been better served being called "Dillon, TX" and had a inspired by the book "Friday Night Lights" in the credits.

[LeVich34]

The movie is a completely different story line.... the lone similarities is it follows a small-town Texas football team striving for a State Championship.

[mightyb]

I just added the movie "Friday Night Lights" to the top of my Netflix queue. Will watching it give any spoilers for the TV show? I'd rather wait on the movie than ruin any surprises in the show.

I'm not sure about spoilers...kind of depends on how you look at it...

But I like the TV actors way better than the movie actors....
They've really developed the characters on TV.

[edc]

I just added the movie "Friday Night Lights" to the top of my Netflix queue. Will watching it give any spoilers for the TV show? I'd rather wait on the movie than ruin any surprises in the show.

No. They are different entities. The movie (and book) are about real-life people and places (although, as always, there are some written scenes and composite characters). The series is fictional, trying to capture the "feel" instead of any specific event.

[Wheens]

IIRC, the movie was based on a "real life" season for Permian High in Odessa, TX. Odessa, a few miles west of Midland, has an economy that is heavily dependent on the "awl bidness". It sits right in the middle of the famous Permian Basin oil field. Sizewise, Odessa is somewhat larger than Dillon appears to be, but is predominantly, like Dillon, bluecollar.

[betativoII]

IIRC, the movie was based on a "real life" season for Permian High in Odessa, TX. Odessa, a few miles west of Midland, has an economy that is heavily dependent on the "awl bidness". It sits right in the middle of the famous Permian Basin oil field. Sizewise, Odessa is somewhat larger than Dillon appears to be, but is predominantly, like Dillon, bluecollar.

That's correct. And you will see some similarities between the characters in the movie and the tv show. They have changed just enough, but they are there.

I'm partial to the book more, then the movie, simply because I lived there during those days. I was only 2 months into HS at Permian before we moved my freshman year, but I knew several of the folks mentioned in the book, and I knew one or two of the guys portrayed in the movie because we went to the same junior high school.

[Graymalkin]

The only similarity between the movie and the TV series is that Connie Britton plays the coach's wife in both.

As Billy Bob Thornton played the coach in the movie, I would think Ms. Britton infinitely prefers cuddling with Kyle Chandler. But that's just IMHO.

[minckster]

As Billy Bob Thornton played the coach in the movie, I would think Ms. Britton infinitely prefers cuddling with Kyle Chandler. But that's just IMHO.LOL! I agree - and am very jealous of Ms. Britton (that b!tch!)!!! :)

Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm anxiously awaiting the non-spoilerizing movie. Let's just hope that FNL has enough ratings to keep it going. Kyle Chandler must be deja-vu'ing "Homefront" right about now.

[betativoII]

The only similarity between the movie and the TV series is that Connie Britton plays the coach's wife in both.

As Billy Bob Thornton played the coach in the movie, I would think Ms. Britton infinitely prefers cuddling with Kyle Chandler. But that's just IMHO.

You don't see any simliarities between the characters? I do. Also, because the movie and the show shares the same director (Peter Berg), I see a huge similarity in the music and overall style of the two.

[AccidenT]

One thing I find unrealistic is the fact that Matt would have ever had the time or interest to try out (and make) the football team with everything else that was going on in his life. Unless his dad leaving and him getting a job happened after he was already on the team. If that's the case, I guess that would explain why (even though he was the backup QB on a succesful football team) he didn't know the first thing about the offense when he had to step in after Street's injury.


BTW, at the rate Riggins is going, he'll fail this year and be back for another season as well. :D

[DevdogAZ]

One thing I find unrealistic is the fact that Matt would have ever had the time or interest to try out (and make) the football team with everything else that was going on in his life. Unless his dad leaving and him getting a job happened after he was already on the team. If that's the case, I guess that would explain why (even though he was the backup QB on a succesful football team) he didn't know the first thing about the offense when he had to step in after Street's injury.
In a normal town anywhere else in the U.S., it's probably unrealistic that Saracen plays football with all his other responsibilities. But in small-town Texas, where football is everything, that's probably what he's been brought up to do from when he was a little kid, and what everyone expects of him. If he's played Pop Warner and on the junior high team and he's any good, it would be UNTHINKABLE for him not to continue playing once he's in high school.

What I find a little unbelievable is that in a town that's as football crazy as Dillon, and has realistic expectations of making it to the state tournament, the backup QB is a skinny, puny sophomore who basically sucks until he's given some special coaching and tutoring AFTER he becomes the starter.

[The Flush]

I just added the movie "Friday Night Lights" to the top of my Netflix queue. Will watching it give any spoilers for the TV show? I'd rather wait on the movie than ruin any surprises in the show.

There is one particular football play that is very similar between the movie and the series.

[ruexp67]

One thing I find unrealistic is the fact that Matt would have ever had the time or interest to try out (and make) the football team with everything else that was going on in his life. Unless his dad leaving and him getting a job happened after he was already on the team. If that's the case, I guess that would explain why (even though he was the backup QB on a succesful football team) he didn't know the first thing about the offense when he had to step in after Street's injury.

I believe he moved there, and moved in with his Grandmother JUST to be on the "Dillon Panthers." After he moved in with her (to establish his residence and elegibility) his grandmother started to slip thus putting more responsibility on him. Then Street goes down and he gets even MORE responsibility. It's a very interesting character study IMHO.

[Bierboy]

We didn't get this show in our market until yesterday afternoon (pre-empted because of college BB :down: :down: :down: ). This series is really growing on me. I, too, hope NBC sticks with it for at least another season. The acting by a group of little-known actors is top shelf.

[miketx]

The only similarity between the movie and the TV series is that Connie Britton plays the coach's wife in both.

As Billy Bob Thornton played the coach in the movie, I would think Ms. Britton infinitely prefers cuddling with Kyle Chandler. But that's just IMHO.

There is one more actor: Brad Leland (played John Aubrey...leader of the football boosters... in the movie, and plays Buddy in the TV series).

Mike

[Dnamertz]

Was there an episode of FNL on this week 1/17/07? There was an NBA game on in my local area and I'm not sure if I missed this week's episode.

[Graymalkin]

No new episode this week (1/17).

Article in the latest Entertainment Weekly about the show and its prospects for a second season, which are not great because NBC doesn't know how to market it properly. EW suggests aiming the ads at women, because it's a relationship show that just happens to have football in it, just like Grey's Anatomy is a relationship show that just happens to have doctors in it, and women make up most of the audience for those shows.