Reviews by Matt

A television show based on a movie based on a book. Could not be that good right? Wrong. “Friday Night Lights” is one of the best new shows of the season. Dillon Texas is a football obsessed small town where your success is measured by championship rings. Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) is the new head coach and is pressured to win. His job hinges on winning a state championship. When star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) goes down in the first game of the season, Taylor’s job is made all the more challenging when he is forced to put in untested second string quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford).

As said before this is based on the film, “Friday Night Lights” and the only returning cast member is Connie Britton who plays Tami Taylor (again she plays the wife of the coach). Again it is not about football. The show is more about the people and less about the game. The pressures that the players feel from the rest of the town are what most of the show is spent on. The show is very character driven and the entire cast does a great job. The backup turned starter is the one who feels the most pressure. The town has watched Street play for the past three years and is not going to be forgiving if Saracen messes up.

This past episode was all about losing. The team lost a game for the first time in 17 years. For a coach already under the microscope, the loss only magnified the pressure. One telling scene is when Coach Taylor goes into a restaurant to order food with his daughter. An angry fan starts talking to the daughter, asking if they had started packing yet. Taylor confronts the man and tells him to stop and to take the issues up with him. The man does. The man says that he will never get a title ring and will not last through the season.

This show is great. It is completely character driven and all the characters are strong and carry the show every week. The one thing I have said and will say again is that I love that the focus is not on the games, but on the players, coaches and fans. It is not about what happens on the field, but how the people of Dillon Texas deal with what happens. This has been called one of the best new shows of the season and I agree. It has such a sense of realism that it is more like a documentary then a television show. It is that realism that makes it stick out from all the other new shows.


NBC
TUES 8/7c