The best NBC drama currently in production hasn't been doing much to help the Nielsen ratings. That's because the show, Friday Night Lights, isn't being shown on NBC right now. Season three has been unspooling on DirecTV and after eight episodes, the award-winning series is in the midst of a top-notch season.

In fact, after somewhat coming off the rails last season with Landry and Tyra's murder plot, Riggins and Street in Mexico, and Matt's involvement with Grandma's nurse, this year's shows are focused, complex and definitely back on track.

That starts with Tami and Eric. Coach Taylor remains as coiled as ever, only now the pressure to succeed seems even more intense because of the emergence of J.D. McCoy, the phenom freshman quarterback. J.D.'s pushy father and personal quarterback coach tick Eric off, but he likes the kid and has demoted Matt in order to give the more talented player a chance.

Underneath all that beard, Grizzly Adams is a good looking fellow. Last night, Dave Letterman did what I wanted to do during the entire Super Bowl game on Sunday: shave Ben Roethlisberger's beard. The 23-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is the youngest in NFL history to win a Super Bowl. He doesn't usually wear a beard, but he says it became his good luck charm after the Steelers lost to Cincinnati back in October. He told Dave, "I kind of went into a depression and didn't shave and we ended up winning the next game." It turns out, young Roethlisberger is a little bit superstitious so he kept the beard all the way through the Super Bowl.