Friday Night Lights Needs You
January 27, 2007 by Kath Skerry
I am the Lyla Garrity for Team FNL. Now if you don’t know that that statement means I’m head cheerleader for Friday Night Lights, then you clearly haven’t been watching the show. And why not? Don’t you trust me? Don’t you trust that I wouldn’t lead you astray? Friday Night Lights is SO worth your time. You have to start watching. Do you want me to beg?
Listen, I know you have a lot going on, and some of you even have lives, but Friday Night Lights can’t afford to be added to the list of shows you are going to catch up on this summer or on DVD. If you don’t start watching now there won’t be a reason to catch up on the show because there won’t be a second season.
Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune recently posted a column entitled “So how do you get people to watch Friday Night Lights?” I think at this point in time, it’s got to be word of mouth. NBC has promoted the show and it’s clearly getting the critical acclaim it deserves, but now it just needs more eyeballs (preferablly Neilsen eyeballs).
So how do we get more people watching? As Mo Ryan says, “NBC must find a way to convince potential viewers that the show is about much more than football (and some weeks – go figure – there’s no football at all).” True. Football is the backdrop but the focus are the people whose lives are brought together by football. But I think there is still the conception (especially among women) that all the drama is on the field which ironically enough is the opposite of how it goes. So how do we get more of the ladies watching. Ryan has a fantastic suggestion:
Posters of Tim Riggins all across America. Riggins, a star player (played by Taylor Kitsch) on the show’s fictional Dillon Panther football squad, is a combustible mixture of party boy, rebel and sensitive yearner (the fact that he’s yearning for his disabled best friend’s girl makes things all the more bittersweet)
And ladies, Tim Riggins isn’t the only eye candy. We’ve got Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler), Jason Street (Scott Porter), Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) and a few others. And boys, don’t think I forgot about you…FNL boasts some of the prettiest little ladies in all of TV. There’s Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden), Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) and Tyra Collette (Adrienne Palicki).
But it’s not about how pretty the people are. It’s about how wonderful the writing and the acting are. It’s about the stories that are being told in a way that is different than anything else on TV today. Please, don’t let Friday Night Lights be the show you wish you had watched when it was on. Watch it every Wednesday night at 8pm on NBC.
Read more about what FNL at Mo Ryan’s site
Here’s a little taste of Friday Night Lights…
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Filed under Friday Night Lights
The episode which this clip is from is the one that made me fall in love with this show. I had started to watch some of the eps before this one online and really liked it, but this ep (and especially the scene not included in the clip of Matt singing to his Grandma) put the show in a whole special category of its own for me. FNL is my absolute favorite drama right now and one of my favorite shows overall, just behind The Office. I really hope everyone who comes to this site gives FNL a chance if they haven’t already. EW also had a feature in last week’s issue asking why more people aren’t watching this show. Hopefully it will continue to get more media coverage.
The next few episodes have some great storylines coming up. I really hope FNL sees even just a slight gain in ratings during sweeps next month. If there was ever a show that deserved a second season, this is it.
I watched the pilot and wasn’t really interested, but I did give it another chance when NBC posted all the episodes online. It’s a pretty solid show, though I still have my issues with a few of the characters (the women, oddly enough, are the most annoying). Matt and Landry are comedy gold, though.
I do wonder if maybe it should end after a year. I agree that it’s a great show, but I’m starting to think it’s better to go out when you’re on a creative high, rather than steadily decline until even the most loyal viewer breathes a sigh of relief when the network finally pulls the plug. Like you mentioned, the network has pretty much done all it can to get the show out there – but viewers just aren’t interested. I’d choose a natural, well-thought out wrap-up over a couple years of network meddling and budget sacrifices, just to keep it on the air.
But then again…a world without Matt Saracen? I’m not sure that’s something I’m ready to consider.
I have totally fallen in love with every male character on FNL (except maybe Buddy Garrity). Seriously, the roles of Coach Taylor, Jason, Matt, Landry, Riggins and to an extent Smash are some of the all time best wriiten TV roles for men in my opinion.
I’m very interested in where the storylines will lead, and I think that the stories that are being created could last for more than a single season without losing their creativity. I really hope that the numbers increase steadily, or at least stay where they have been, so that a second season is given a chance!
FNL is easily the kind of show that families could watch – maybe not families with small children, mind you, but it has all the elements of a great drama that you love on your own and could watch with your parents/kids.
Some people listened when they heard Buffy wasn’t just about vampires – maybe even more people will understand that FNL isn’t just about football?
You may have gotten me addicted with that video clip.
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