TV Tuesday: Friday Night Lights
My favorite TV show currently airing is Friday Night Lights (FNL.) A spin-off of the movie by the same name, FNL expands on the characters of the small rural town of Dillon, TX, where football is everything.
Peter Berg was the director of the movie and adapted it for the small screen. One of the things I dig about Peter is that he is a big Redskins fan. One of the shows main characters is a fullback that drinks a lot of beer, lives in a trailer and is named…Riggins. The name of Peter’s production company that produces FNL is named 44Productions.
The writing and story lines in FNL are some of the best on TV today. The show is also blessed to have a group of great young actors who are given lots of freedom to ad-lib from the script. One particular actor, Zach Gilford, who plays Matt Saracen had one of the most amazing acting jobs I’ve seen on TV earlier this season. In an episode entitled “The Son,” Matt deals with losing a father he never really knew…and struggles with how he should remember and honor a man he didn’t like. Incredible job.
Other great young actors include Taylor Kitsch, Aimee Teegarden and Minka Kelly. The show has a lot of hot chicks pass thru it, which doesn’t hurt it’s standing with me. Coach Taylor is played by Kyle Chandler, when I hear some of his locker room speeches I want to go out and play.
FNL is currently running its 4th season on DirecTV. It will start airing on NBC in late April. I recommend you tune in to watch and get Seasons 1-3 on DVD to catch up.
Cheers and Hail
