Tonight, NBC begins its run of the final season of 'Friday Night Lights.' The drama -- about so much more than football -- began broadcasting its fifth season on DirecTV's channel 101 late last year.

For your convenience, we've gathered some of our 'Friday Night Lights' stories below to get you ready for the East Dillon Panthers' latest season.

First up, take a look at AOL TV lead critic Maureen Ryan's take on the magic of 'FNL,' Texas Forever: 12 Things Television Can Learn From 'Friday Night Lights.' Why, exactly, was the show so good? Well, there's the realistic portrayal of a healthy marriage, the fact that it told stories about teenagers that weren't dumb, the changing yet always ultra-talented cast ... should we go on?

With the fifth and final season of 'Friday Night Lights' both releasing on DVD today and premiering on NBC this weekend, maybe it's finally time to come to terms with the end of one of the best dramas to ever grace television screens.

If you can clear the tears from your eyes long enough to watch, check out TV Squad's exclusive deleted scene from the -- sniff -- last season in honor of today's DVD release. In it, Coach Taylor counsels Vince on the rules regarding college recruiters contacting him and luring him to their schools with free meals and other no-no perks.

Watch the clip after the jump.

Two critical darlings may be enough for DirecTV. After saving 'Damages' and 'Friday Night Lights,' the satellite broadcaster will no longer be answering desperate "save our show!" pleas.

According to Variety, DirecTV's 101 Network -- which can be seen by 19 million subscribers -- will refocus on original programming after 'Damages' launches in 2011.

"In the future, I think we're going to move away from that model," Chris Long, senior vice president of entertainment and production, said.

Here's tonight's TV lineup (all times Eastern).

• At 8, ABC has 'A Charlie Brown Valentine,' followed by new episodes of 'The Middle,' "Modern Family,' 'Cougar Town,' and 'Ugly Betty.'
• CBS has a new 'Old Christine' at 8, then new episodes of 'Gary Unmarried,' 'Criminal Minds,' and 'CSI: NY.'
• NBC has a new 'Mercy' at 8.
• FOX has new episodes of 'Human Target' and 'American Idol.'
• PBS has a new 'Faces of America' at 8.
• TCM has 'Kiss of Death' at 8, followed by 'Pickup on South Street.'
• HBO has 'Temple Grandin' at 8.
• At 9, DirecTV has the season finale of 'Friday Night Lights.'
• Fine Living has a new 'Whatever, Martha' at 9.
  
• Discovery has a new 'Man vs. Wild' at 9.
• History Channel has a new 'MonsterQuest' at 9.
• Showtime has a new 'Inside the NFL' at 9.
• Also at 9: Syfy has a new 'Ghost Hunters International.'
• At 10, TNT has a new 'Leverage.'
• USA has a new 'Psych' at 10.
• There's a new 'Nip/Tuck' on FX at 10.
• Bravo has a new 'Shear Genius' at 10.
• TBS has two new episodes of 'Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns' at 10.
• MTV has a new episode of 'The Real World' at 10.
• At 10:30, Comedy Central has a new 'Tosh.0.'

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Minka Kelly might not be on 'Friday Night Lights' anymore but she is keeping busy. She has just signed on to star in the pilot for a new CBS comedy, 'True Love.' It comes from Matt Tarses of 'Scrubs.' It's about four close friends in New York City and their relationships.

I know, I know, everyone is going to say "hey, that sounds a lot like 'Friends,' doesn't it?" But is that really fair? There are just so many plots that a TV show can have before it starts to seem like they're copying it. I remember when a lot of 'Friends' clones popped up after that show became a hit, but that was more about the timing of those new shows. It's all about the writing and the cast and the direction and all of those elements, not that it's about single people living in Manhattan.

Besides, 'Friends' ended years ago. How much longer will we compare new shows to it?

If Jim Parsons wins the Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist: Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.

In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.

Fans of Friday Night Lights who have been freaking out about the possibility that the show wasn't going to come back for another season can relax: the show is actually coming back for two more seasons.

To be precise, they're two 13-episode seasons. But that's a lot better than what the news was looking like just a few weeks ago. Michael Ausiello reports that the news will be announced "any day now." It confirms news that he broke a couple of weeks ago.

NBC and its various cable stations are making their presentations today and tomorrow. Since it is Sunday, the critics got a little bit of a break and didn't have to start until noon, when a lunch session was held for Friday Night Lights. This session had a little bit of added juice, due to the unique deal NBC struck to have DirecTV shoulder the cost of producing the series in exchange for the rights to air new episodes on the satellite service first, before they air on NBC. Thirteen episodes will be produced and will air in October on DirecTV's 101 Network, and they'll air in February on the Peacock network.

Not surprisingly, there were as many questions about the new arrangement as there were about the creative aspects of the show. Show-runner Jason Katims and DirecTV entertainment head Eric Shanks fielded most of those questions, and the cast of the show fielded the rest.

Fans of the perpetually unwatched but much-loved NBC show Friday Night Lights have a reason to rejoice this morning: the show has been renewed for a third season, according to Nikki Finke.

NBC executives had been looking for a way to renew their low-rated show, mostly through cost-sharing deals with other networks. They finally found a partner: DirecTV. No details of the deal were given; all we know right now is that the satellite company and the Peacock folks will share the costs of producing the show and will both air the show across multiple platforms.

It's not the first time an Internet campaign has saved a show. This time, Friday Night Lights, on the brink of cancellation due to poor ratings, might be returning.

NBC is in talks with a number of other networks including the CW and TNT to discuss the possibility of having FNL appear on more than one network in the same week. Naturally, it would be broadcast on NBC first and then would be re-broadcast elsewhere.

It's Monday again, which means it's time for us to give away some stuff again. One of today's giveaways is for three copies of Friday Night Lights season one on DVD, which will be in stores August 28. All you've got to do is submit a comment below before 5PM Eastern, August 31, and mention what your favorite character from Friday Night Lights is. We'll randomly choose three winners to receive the DVDs!

Some other details:
And now we present you with the legalities of the giveaway. (Read them. Please.)

I've been checking out Friday Night Lights on and off throughout the season, and every time I tune in, I'm always blown away at a) how well acted it is, b) how the stories don't always fall into the cliche, and c) how the show can suck you in even if you're not a week-in-week-out watcher. Last night's episode demonstrated all three attributes. Brett's review goes into more details than I ever could, but there were two scenes in particular where the show could have fallen into the usual TV and movie conventions, but steps around them, giving the viewer much more compelling results.

Over the Christmas holiday, NBC is putting all episodes of 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights on its website-- for free. That's right. Don't even bother to buy them from iTunes right now. The first nine episodes of FNL and the first seven episodes of 30 Rock are available for viewing on the website. Of course, you have to watch an unskippable ad at the beginning of each episode. NBC is looking to recruit new viewers, especially college students who are killing time at home for Christmas break.

While I'm not too keen on FNL, I highly recommend taking the time to watch 30 Rock. The first three episodes aren't that hot but it starts to get hilarious at about episode four. Alec Baldwin seems to carry the first few episodes, but then Tracy Morgan and the guy who plays 'Kenneth the NBC page' really start to play it up.

The free promotion expires when new episodes of both shows return to the air in early January.