Friday Night Lights is a good series.

Oh, really, Adam? And why should we believe you?

I'll tell you why: because I don't like football, hated high school, and especially didn't care for high school football, or athletics of any kind. Despite all of that, Friday Night Lights has drawn me in by being one of the most objective, unflinching depictions of teenage life since Freaks and Geeks. The two series aren't comparable beyond that, but they both do away with the gloss and rose-colored hindsight prevalent in so many other TV series and movies about teens. Friday Night Lights does not try to force a certain perspective: if you think getting worked up over a sport is idiotic, this show won't change your mind, but you'll be too affected by how it both tears the town apart and brings it together to care.