Friday Night Lights season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

[Karl_Luph]

I had never seen the movie "Friday Night Lights" ,so I bought the dvd and ended up watching it late last night.Growing up in Texas all my life,high school football in texas is HUGE folks, more so in the smaller towns and cities,maily because of fewer other options of recreation and entertainment,plus pride for your community. I thought the movie was done very,very well,but you know what? I actually find the TV series more entertaining and appealing. I find the gritiness and raw emotions adds to the realism of this series, it's what makes it different from the other milquetoast series out there. I agree with Andy,the Lyla/Tim soap opera is just wrong__.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Good episode, as usual, but I am not sure what the Tyra subplot was doing here. It wasn't bad television. I didn't check my watch. But, I would have rather that time have been spent with Matt and how he was dealing with the big decision. We saw his reaction, but it was like he was on the periphery the whole night. I think Tyra was there to show that not everyone in town cares about football, and are longing to get away from the small town life. But, smaller doses, perhaps. I'm glad Garrity realized Voodoo was his screwup. Of course, Coach will have to shoulder the responsibility and take the blame.

 

[JediFonger]

well, tyra just an example of life outside of football; it doesn't exist. so it's either you're in or you're out.

 

[Rob P S]

Some of these kids are really good actors, compared to the mannequins on the WB.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Julie looked like she hoped Matt was there to see her. I deliberate skipped the "next on," but I think she's his date for homecoming if he just asks.

Glad Matt and Coach did the right thing.

 

[SteveJKo]

Greg, I got the exact same impression about Julie that you did. Try as she might to stick to her "no dates with football players" rule, I think you're right that she'll be Matt's date for homecoming.

Was it just me or was Coach showing some major emotion in his face when Matt made the comment about confusing what's right for the team with what's right? I got the impression that Coach wished he had been more honest about Voodoo.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Most every successful sports movie has followed a predictable formula of either a team with high expectations is dealt a blow through injury or a team of misfits learns to come together. Then they win the big game, big fight, etc. There are some exceptions, but most sports movies follow this formula. I doubted it could work for a series. Who wants to see the team come from behind every week to win? I'm glad to see that FNL is breaking from the formula somewhat. They need to keep certain elements from the formula (we need wins/losses, heroes/villains in our sports drama) but I've had the feeling all season and especially last night that they are making a concerted effort to break from it.

They set up the Voodoo storyline and he looks like a typical me first character that is only truly successful when he learns to play for the team and for the love of the game (Major League - Dorn; Jerry Maguire - Tidwell; Remember the Titans - the black defensive end). But he plays the same position as our geeky qb in waiting (Varsity Blues - James van der Beek). So we are left to wonder which of our cliches is going to win out. Just when it looks like everything is resolved - Voodoo is declared eligible, Saracen wins the game and looks good in practice while standing up for his longtime friends, Voodoo is making plays on defense - we learn that Voodoo has jumped ship and is ready to take the coach and the program down. I am really interested to see how they get out of this one.

Another example of breaking from the formula is how they treated the Reyes storyline. Kicking him off the team was a bit unexpected. Not as much of a surprise as Voodoo, but still, something was different. I liked how they wove the coach's wife into that storyline. She had an important role.

We also got some hints about where they are going with the Riggins/Lyla/Street storyline. That one seemed forced early on, but once we got a window into what kind of friendship the two players had, it seemed to make a lot more sense.

They still need to clean up why the Tyra storyline is in the show (other than just first rate eye candy), but it may stand on its own as the small town girl trying to get out of town by hitching herself to a football player, visiting analyst, etc. (shades of Ali Larter's character in Varsity Blues). She may be more relevant when we meet the defensive end she is going to start dating.

I can't mention eye candy without mentioning Lyla in a halter top.

This is a good show.

 

[JediFonger]

i don't mind tyra as eye candy one bit =).

BTW have you guys went on imdb.com to double check the age of the chics in the show? i believe only the coach's daughter is really underage.

really makes you feel like a dirty old man

 

[Greg_S_H]

I don't know about this one. It looked like maternity clothes. I thought maybe she and Tim were a little less than careful.

It wouldn't be too difficult for Tim and Lyla to talk their way out of the hug--"She was thanking me for what I did for you, man. That's it!"--but I get the feeling this show won't cop out that easily. I think they both care about Jason enough that it truly is over and out of their systems, but it may be too late for that.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Given the promos, as soon as they showed the Reyes kid, I knew he was a goner, it was just a matter of the execution of how to get there given the circumstance.

I was puzzled as to when Reyes went public with how events went down, there was too many eyeswitnesses to Voodoo's racial slurs towards Reyes (but not before he was provoked by Smash, mainly because he didn't like how the question of Voodoo's eligibility would impact last week's win). There's no way his story would withstand scrutiny, but Saracen came up doing the right thing after his pal went after Reyes and understanding that doing the right thing in the bigger picture outweighs doing right by a "team".

It did look like coach was proud of Saracen owning up to the Reyes situation and setting the record straight, considering coach wasn't strong enough to also do the right thing and walk away from Voodoo and placing his program in jeopardy.

Jason's "one good day" had a sour ending. It's only a matter of time before he confronts them, and Jason will had to move on without a girlfriend by his side as he continues towards the road of living the life he now has.

 

[Bob_S]

Does it drive anyone else nuts that the show is sponsored by AppleBees, and they always go to applebees in the show, Tyra even works there! I don't know why but things like this bug me, I hate blatant product placement....

 

[Patrick Sun]

Now that you mention it, I've never paid attention to that detail, perhaps I'll check next week.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Normally I don't like product placement but Applebees is such a typical middle-brow place to eat in a small town that I think it's actually pretty charming and realistic that the characters eat there

 

[Charlie Campisi]

I saw Gatorade as a paid sponsor in the credits. Nobody else. It looks like UnderArmour may be one as well. They are a local company so it's nice to see them on the screen.

 

[JediFonger]

applesbeeds is huge in the south.

PS is it just me or is Sareson's best friend look like matt damon?

 

[Patrick Sun]

FYI: FNL got the full season pick-up order today, even with the low ratings, NBC is sticking with the show.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Great, great news. It's been a bad day, so I needed that. Thanks for the word.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Here's the link to the good news of the pick-up.

 

[JediFonger]

there is HOPE for humanity after all

 

[Patrick Sun]

All I know is that we get more Lyla with this news.