So I've been telling anyone willing to listen for the last 3 years that the best drama on TV is Friday Night Lights. Stop laughing, it's true. It just finished its third season and I still stand by my claim. I love Lost and 24, but they just don't feel real. They need viewers to make leaps of logic to stay with them (e.g. a supernatural island, an unstoppable super-patriot). Friday Night Lights just focuses on the lives of the players, coaches and families of the Dillon Panthers in Dillon, Texas. It's a simple formula that works beautifully.
If you have any pre-conceived notions about the show based on the movie version starring everyone's favourite gravy-loving sumbitch Billy Bob Thornton, please check them at the door. The show is its own creature. With more time to tell a story about a season of football, the show makes you care even more about their quest to win State. But let me be absolutely clear ... this show is not just about football. You don't have to like football or even know what a football looks like.
The show is about the pressures of high-school without all the contrived 90210 crap. Think Degrassi: The Old Generation with a sports twist and ridiculously good looking students. It deals with all the social hot-buttons you'd expect but in a realistic way. We also get a revealing look at the Texas high-school football phenomenon where local teams gets more attention than the Dallas Cowboys. The show is mainly about family and the struggles that everyone has to deal with at home before even making it to school. The relationship between the head coach and his wife is really the centerpiece of the show and it may be the most genuine marriage I've ever seen on TV.
So YAY to you Friday Night Lights. Hang in there and don't let your ratings get you down. You're good enough, you're smart enough and doggone it, people will like you on DVD.
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