Friday Night Lights: Pilot (series premiere)

I was very disappointed in this show. Wow did they ever over do everything. Coaching, playing, relationships and most of all praying. What we forget was that "the preacher" the guy with the gold cross on his neck. He wants the over sexed and under dressed blond. No offense but remember she is only 16-17 yrs old. This show does belong on MTV or the new CW. Not on NBC. What a waste of time. To bad, this was a year for NBC to take back some share points. They have failed again. I won't be watching.

I'll add too that I don't think the comeback at the end is THAT unreasonable. Don't forget, even though the kid is the scrawny backup quarterback he's still the 2nd string QB on one of the best HS football teams in the country. Depth breeds quality, not as much in HS as in college, but you aren't going to have an All-American QB on a team like this and JV kid as the backup. The kid is obviously on the team because he's quick and got a good arm and he's been playing football in Texas his entire life. While you know it was over-scripted and dramatic...how hard is it to imagine that you watch your hero get his neck broken and you're losing and you have to go in and save the entire season for this town. The kid was obviously about to puke and @#$ his pants and so he understandably blew the first few changes. He got his breath back and and got his head back into it and showed why he is the man (2nd man anyway). Of course it all happens a little 'too' fast and in 'not quite enough' plays but don't forget it's about the kids not about the football. Other than the strange out of bounds play I think they did a good job on the football. Honestly, I commented to my wife that for the first time they actually got kids to play on the football teams that look like High School atheletes instead of All-Pro NFL players.

Chris

Another expensive NBC show that will sadly be canceled. Sad, because it had great production values. Canceled, because of dismal ratings and poor scheduling.

Friday Night Lights (FNL) had its strengths and weaknesses. NBC needs to maximize the latter and minimize the former if it wants this show to survive Tuesdays - which has overthrown Thursdays as the most competitive night this season.

Kyle Chandler and the adult actors, and of course the football, were the saving grace for the show. They delivered the goods. I always loved Kyle's naivete and subtlety even during his Early Edition days. The other adult actors provided the needed rapport and support to the lead.

However, this show devoted too much time to the unknowns. This is where it gets bad. The majority of these unknowns had meh acting. They were good-looking but I needed good acting. They single-handedly almost turned FNL into some cheap WB teen soap. NBC hoped to draw the fickle teen audience but it may have turned off the true NBC audience.

Still, I would prefer this show over NBC reality junks Biggest Loser and Fear Factor. Sadly, reality shows are cheaper than quality shows. NBC may not have the patience to let this show survive the November sweeps. I just hope that NBC sticks to what this show is really about - the football game - and to what this show should not be - One Tree Hill. The great ratings will just follow.

I am a mature woman with children and grandchildren. I decided to tape this last night because one of my favorite shows was on at the same time. While watching it to today ,I really got excited. Wow!! a show that I can watch and not be embarrassed or gritting my teeth over the foul language and sexual plays. We raised our children in a small town and so many of your characters brought back memories of those days. I commend you on a great show and I intend to be an avid fan and "watcher" each week. Added bonus is Kyle Chandler!!!! Thanks again for thinking of the many Christians of America and how it makes all of us proud to see some DECENT TV shows on the air.

"So going out of bounds only stops the clock enough to reset the ball."

Actually, that's exactly what happened. In fact, the game announcers said something to that effect just after he went out of bounds. Now, whether or not they actually had enough time to get that last play off or not I don't know, but hey, it's TV.

Speaking of the announcers, I thought they were the least realistic part of the show. It's hard to fake on the spot emotion, and they didn't do it very well. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it. And having Explosions In The Sky doing the soundtrack (as they did in teh movie) certainly helped.

Having seen a fair amount of football in my life, I didn't think the Panthers' comeback was unreasonable as we're painting it here. We're talking about high school kids, not pros, and they can more easily drift in and out of focus. You drop passes because you lose focus, because you're thinking about the hit or because you're scared of dropping it. It's plausible that the team would have regained its focus after Street's injury.

And just because they won, don't think the pressure is off. I'd bet a few of the radio callers next week are still taking the coach to task, asking why they needed a last-minute comeback to beat an inferior team. And what was up with the defense?

I was more stunned by how tiny Saracen looked out there. He looked like one of the pee-wee players.

This show will be walking a fine line. If Street doesn't recover, it could drift into the maudlin. As it was, it was the most impressive drama debut I've seen in years. Unfortunately, I also said that about Boomtown. (Well, it WAS! The show just went downhill when the suits showed up with their notes.)

eugene, I have to say I didn't even think about Smash running out of bounds. Now that you mention it, my understanding of football says that should stop the clock. But then, I have no idea how Texas HS rules work.

Elliot, Landry is Matt's best friend. The scene you missed was of him driving Matt to practice and the two of them bantering. It was quick but showed what their relationship is like.

MrsEldubya, you put it very well. This show is different, and that is a big part of why I like it so much as well.

Mike, I totally get the handheld camera thing. I like the feel it brings to the show, but it's certainly not going to be for everyone.

And Brian, I wondered about whether they will be able to maintain this level as well. It's something I brought up in the early look. Shooting a pilot is different than shooting episode 13 with a deadline looming and work already begun on episode 14. For now, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and hope the show can keep it up.

Thanks for all the great comments everyone!

Although I liked the movie FNL, I was reluctant to add this show to my Tivo season passes. As it turns out, it was a last second add when I saw it getting good reviews on the Internet. No longer knowing what to expect, I watched the pilot objectively and was very impressed by the *quality* of the show. From production value, to acting, to initial plot threads, to it's docudrama style of filming this show shoots out the gate more like a returning show than a newbie hopeful. But I have to wonder if this show can 1) hold onto this level of quality in coming weeks and perhaps more importantly, 2) if FNL can maintain it's audience when football season is over early next year. We'll see, but color me impressed so far.

It was so-so. I can't stand that handheld camera/mtv-ish shakey-cam look. It would have been ok if they just did it during game scenes but during the whole episode is annoying. The entire episode was extremely predictable also. With all the pressure from the town on the new coach, the looking for a new house and everyone and their grandma giving advice to the kids it would have been a more interesting story if they had lost their first game. The following episodes would then be about the town's disappointment and anger at the new coach, how he would plan to win the 2nd game and re-earn the trust of the town. But they didn't go that way, instead they did a typical hollywood fluff piece.

I enjoyed the show because it was different than alot of the new shows this season. I definitely plan to keep watching and I'm glad to have another show on Tues night to watch. We follow alot of football so we are familiar with boosters and rabid fans. Yeah, the come from behind win with the inexperienced QB was a tad dramatic but it's still a good show. I liked the coach when he said "throw to our guys" as his pep talk too. Good show and worth watching.