Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights might be the best show on television right now. It’s based on the H. G. Bissinger book about the 1988 high school football season in Odessa, Texas. That book was made into a motion picture, and then last season, the TV show debuted. But make no mistake; the TV show has a very distinct flavor and storyline of its own.

I know some people may not be interested in watching a program about Texas high school football, but the truth is, though football is the organizing principal of the show, the program isn’t really about football at all. Like all great pieces of fiction, it has bigger themes. It’s a show about living in a small town, about growing up, about love and marriage, about realized and unrealized dreams, about relationships, and about family.

What makes the show head and shoulders above many other prime time programs are a couple of things. First, there’s the cast. The show primarily follows the trials and tribulations of a football coach, Eric Taylor, played deftly by actor Kyle Chandler. He is ambitious, conflicted and the story’s perfect protagonist. But he is surrounded by what really amounts to an ensemble cast, which, from the primary characters to the smallest roles, has been cast extraordinarily well. Each performance is complex and nuanced, a pleasure to watch each week. Then there’s the writing. The writers have done a good job of providing plenty of twists and turns and the dialogue is realistic, gritty and direct.

The intended audience for this show might be twenty and thirty somethings, as the cast is filled with some sexy and charismatic young actors. But the loyal audience I’ve found through an unscientific poll tends to be a bit older.

The show succeeds at what episodic television does best, weave together compelling multiple story lines, some of which are resolved in one episode, many which you must watch multiple episodes to see develop and be resolved. One episode is satisfying, but there is still that cliffhanger element that brings you back next week wanting more.

My only criticism or worry about the show is that when you base a program upon many characters who are in high school; can you sustain it when they move on? I wonder about the ability of the writers to sustain the show over multiple seasons, and wonder if like other programs I have seen come and go quickly, Friday Nights Lights will burn bright like the shining lights of a distant stadium, then flicker out.

Watch this clip.


See what Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales had to say about the show.