Friday Night Lights the TV show…the Movie…? Sure Why Not

Looks like we just cannot let you go Coach Taylor.

Several outlets, including IGN, EW.com, and E! Online are reporting that Peter Berg, director of the first Friday Night Lights movie and Executive Producer of the awesome just ended series is moving forward with a movie. While promoting his new series Prime Suspect, Berg says in regards to the FNL flick to E!Online, “We’re writing a script. We’ve been meeting with Jason Katims, the last couple of weeks. We have a real good script idea. We want to do it. We’re very serious about doing it and we intend to do it.” Jason Katims in case you forgot, was the showrunner of Friday Night Lights during it’s five season run on the peacock. More quotes? Okay, here Katims elaborating to EW.com, “It is something that we had talked about for a couple of years, almost in a half-kidding way. And then a few months ago, (exec producter) Brian Grazer and Pete called me saying they really wanted to do this. We had some meetings and we came up with a direction that we really loved. The trick was to figure out a way to both honor the series and not move away from that, but still find something that would be a satisfying movie in and of itself. It’s still very early — I’m just beginning to plot out the story for the script — but it’s something that we’re all excited about.”

Critics Choice TV Awards: Results Don’t Lend Same Credibility Nominations Did…

A couple weeks ago I got excited and told you about the quality of nominations from the first ever ‘Critics Choice TV Awards’. Representation for Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny, and Justified made me think someone had finally gotten it right. Then the winners were announced. Most of the good-will they had built with me has since disappeared. Let’s take a look…

BEST DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Justified
– Predicted Winner: Boardwalk Empire
– Actual Winner: Mad Men

This is about the least inspired choice possible. Way to distinguish yourselves by picking the show that has won this award 3 years running from the Emmy committee. I feel like they mailed this one in for a bid to be taken seriously, and in that bid I think they lose credibility.

It’s nice to see Justified nominated, but it looks like this one was over before it started. Mad Men is obviously not a terrible pick as all the shows were good, just seems uninspired.

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Kyle Chandler, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: William H. Macy, “Shameless”
– Actual Winner: Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

This is again predictable. I really like Jon Hamm, but so far this looks just the same as every other awards show out there, giving gold to maybe the most over-rated show on television.

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Connie Britton, “Friday Night Lights”
– Predicted Winner: Elisabeth Moss, “Mad Men”
– Actual Winner: Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

This is a show that I admit to have not watched, so I can say anything against the pick, but can’t speak for it either. Julianna Margulies is a solid actress and I’ve heard only good things about this show, so I’ll just give them the benifit of doubt and assume this was the right pick, but it’s too bad FNL didn’t get any love from the voters. This is the spot I thought Mad Men would get it’s statue, but obviously they still cleaned up without it…

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Walton Goggins, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: John Noble, “Fringe”

Normally I wouldn’t have any problem with the greatly under-rated Fringe collecting some accolades, except in this case where it costs Goggins a much deserved victory here. Noble is great, I just thought it was Boyd Crowder’s year is all…

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

– Desired Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Predicted Winner: Margo Martindale, “Justified”
– Actual Winner: TIE: Margo Martindale, “Justified”/Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”

Well HOLY SHIT, I almost called one right! Justified almost took the spotlight, but instead had to share it with – You Guessed It – Mad Men. Now I love Hendricks from her days on Firefly, but come on. This is a sham. A tie? BOOO. Martindale should’ve had this one to herself.

BEST COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: “Parks and Recreation”
– Predicted Winner: “Modern Family”
– Actual Winner: “Modern Family”

I really have no issue here. Parks and Rec I thought deserved it, but Modern Family is a great show. And to be honest, with the quality of nominees here, so long as it didn’t go to Glee or The Big Bang Theory I was gonna be ok with it. That being said, Modern Family would’ve been 3rd on my list, behind Community at 2nd. Anyhow, who can complain about a show that stars Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, with Al Bundy to boot?

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Charlie Day, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”
– Predicted Winner: Steve Carell, “The Office”
– Actual Winner: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

This is without a doubt the biggest issue I have with this list. The Big Bang Theory is unbelievably stupid and keeps getting rewarded for it’s formulaic CBS assembly line style of comedy. Nothing against Parsons personally, but this just seems to be a show about who non-nerd imagine real nerds act. And his character is annoying. I hate this show. And when you take into account the other 4 nominees, this decision makes even less sense…

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Martha Plimpton, “Raising Hope”
– Predicted Winner: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
– Actual Winner: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”

Not it’s not unusual to hear me praise Tina Fey, I’m a huge fan of her’s. The problem I have here is that this was easily the weakest season of 30 Rock to date, while Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation really took off this season and I just don’t get the choice. Sure, in 2009 – Fey over Poehler is a no-brainier, but this one just seems like a reputation win…

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Predicted Winner: Nick Offerman, “Parks & Rec”
– Actual Winner: NPH, “How I Met Your Mother”

If Jim Parson’s won is my #1 issue, this is my #1B issue. I like NPH, but as we’ve talked about in the past HIMYM isn’t what it once was, and this was without a doubt Nick Offerman’s award. Offerman’s ‘Ron Swanson’ is the best character on television and he was absolutely robbed here. It makes me wonder if the voters even watched Parks and Rec this season. As much as I like Harris, he actually would’ve been last on my list of the 5 nominees…

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

– Desired Winner: Julie Bowen, “Modern Family”
– Predicted Winner: Jane Lynch, “Glee”
– Actual Winner: Busy Philipps, “Cougar Town”

I was rooting for Bowen because I think she gets overlooked, but I can’t badmouth Busy Phillips. I don’t watch Cougar Town, but she was a principal character on Freaks and Geeks, and was in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles so she’s ok in my book…

This could’ve gone anyway really, all the nominees were deserving.

Where I will give them credit is that they awarded the first Critics’ Choice Television Icon Award to Danny Devito, star of Taxi and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

More Posters: Hunger Games, The Hobbit, MIB 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Lots, Lots More!!

The other day I showed you three two posters, one of which came out of Las Vegas’s 2011 Licensing International Expo. Basically a huge event where you can get people to spend money on your product, and in a lot of cases, that means a look at a whole bunch of movies. You know how Transformers had a lot of Mountain Dew references, or Thor and Iron Man featured some Dr. Pepper products? This is where that happens.

Keep in mind these are mainly marketing posters, so don’t expect more than a logo or a teaser. But even then, it’s a cool look at some of these upcoming movies. This first batch is from Collider.

Friday Night Lights: Series Recap…or, Why I Love FNL and You Should Too

Victory laps are usually reserved for the revered, the celebrated or the most popular. We are just going to have to settle for the best in this case. As Friday Night Lights made its final season debut on April 15^th to tie for last place in the ratings, we must think whether they deserved such an awful way to end its run. DirecTV viewers have been done with the season for months, heck , this fifth season is already out on DVD right now. From a television executive standpoint, you have to wonder, why does this show, the little show that could, even bother? Well, it is the same reason why I was asked to do this article: Friday Night Lights was one of the best damn shows on television in the last decade.

I have been an avid watcher of this show when it first launched back in 2006 to mediocre ratings. I had seen the movie and thought it was worthwhile enough to give the show a shot. Obviously no Billy Bob but hey, life is not meant to be perfect. I remember the pre-launch of the show, and that it had garnered the best reviews, some even declaring the pilot to be one of the best ever made. Granted, critics and opinions do not mean much in the world today of bloggers, or just people who troll IMDB message boards (right boss?), but it was something that had to be seen and watched. I figured, if it is a show about football, it has got to be at least watchable right?

I remember the pilot being easily being unforgettable. It had several moments of intensity, sincerity, levity and just pure fun that pulled me into its grasp. Although it had the same principle plot of the movie, (powerhouse team becomes underdog after horrible injury with a twist), the episode was very well constructed and kept the pace original and fresh to make the idea seem less stale.

That and Matt Saracen (Zack Gilford) is my boy.

Now, I admit, I have a soft spot for dramas. Not only stuff  like 24 or Boardwalk Empire or anything dealing with action and HBO, but I love The O.C. I get crapped on about it every once in a while, because let’s face it, it is not something someone would readily admit out loud. The reason I mention this was because for the most part (effin’ Oliver), the first season of the The O.C. was brilliant. They captured the dynamics of friendship, comedy, relationships so well that I wanted to hang with Seth Cohen, crush on Summer Roberts, and have awesome benefactors like Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. The humanity of people was prominent during the season, and the one thing I always noted was the dynamics of the parents relationship. Sandy and Kirsten acted like adults. They had their issues, ups and downs but they got through it because they did not have their heads up their asses. Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) are that couple.

They keep the show, and everyone involved, as grounded as possible. I give the writers a lot of credit. They threw obstacles at them, but there was not an ex, or a ridiculous plot in order drive a wedge in between the two. It was bigger houses, money , jobs…things real couples argue about in life. They were not perfect, they had their flaws. But they were perfect for that show and for each other.

Watching the first season made me come to the conclusion that it was so good, it probably would not last more than two or three seasons. This came out around the same time that Arrested Development was still struggling to find audiences despite the perfection of that show. No one gave any hope to the critical darlings that kept people entertained, or at least those that watched it. They wanted the low-concept projects that the A.D.D generation did not have to think too much about. Which is fine, I am not here to preach about peoples’ television watching habits or their tastes. I am just happy that this show was able to last five seasons after going down to wire like the Dillon Panthers and the end of every game.

Coach yelling at Riggins. Classic.

The characters drove this show, obviously being led by the Taylors (Chandler, Britton, and Aimee Teegarden) but as with any ensemble show, they are only as good as the surrounding parts. You had Jason Street (Scott Porter), Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki), Smash Williams (Gaius Charles), the Lyla and Buddy Garrity (Minka Kelly and Brad Leland), Kronner’s boy Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons – Paul), and even Grandma Saracen (Louanne Stephens) in the first season that clicked together.

Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki, and Amiee Teegarden.

As the seasons progressed, they added more characters such as Luke Cafferty (Matt Lauria – The Chicago Code), Vince Howard (Michael B. Jordan), Jess Merriweather (Jurnee Smollett), and Becky Sproles (Madison Burge) for the last two seasons but it was always the Taylors that took center stage.

They responded to situations in the most human way possible, whether to compromising, arguing, and not doing overly stupid things. They were the moral compass of the show and their impact showed through the last five years in the growth of everyone, even themselves.

The second season had its hiccups with a plot to build new viewership that was just unnecessary and stupid, but we still had the same base. They rebounded the next few seasons and still helped build a consistent and entertaining show to watch.  It is interesting to think that people did not watch the show because it was about football. Or maybe, because it was not about football at all. This is a show about courage, compromise, family, and growing up. Football was just the backdrop. This could have been about basketball, baseball, badminton, whatever, it was just there to help get from point A to point B.

I truly believe that if you give this show a chance, you will walk away impressed and wanting more. There may not be explosions, Kiefer, vampires, or a mysterious island – and the concept may be boring to some, but it truly is one of the best shows on television. There is just something about hearing, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”, that just makes me smile. Give it shot and it may make you smile too.

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Images: NBC, Universal, DirecTV