Starring Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton (PBA), Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Minka Kelly, Taylor Kitsch, Adrianne Palicki, Scott Porter, Aimee Teegarden
Arguably the best drama on network television. Why are you not watching it? It was - thankfully - renewed for a second season and will actually air on Friday nights this year beginning October 5.
That wasn't an automatic decision: Friday Night Lights has languished in its timeslot. To its credit, NBC really believes in this show. So much so that it has released this complete season DVD set at the unheard of price of $19.99 - with a money-back guarantee if you don't like it. They really want the word to spread and keep it afloat. I do, too.
Many fans of the show admit that they initially avoided it because they thought it was only about football. But it's not about football. It's about life. It's about high school anxieties, high-pressure jobs, modern-day parenting, the fragility of trust, preserving a marriage, conflicting priorities, sexual morality, physical disabilities, dysfunctional families, reaching out to the children of dysfunctional families and a million other things that pull us all in multiple directions at once. As in life, each time a character recovers from one blow another comes right behind it. Fortunately, things are balanced - as in life - with a healthy dash of perspective and humor.
Some parents will object to the fact that most of the older players are sexually active and drink frequently. Realistically, most junior and senior jocks ARE sexually active and drinking frequently. One kid is depicted as an alcoholic but the rest seem to suffer no consequences from their drinking. Sexually, there is no depiction of the act but there is some before and after imagery. There are plenty of emotional and relational consequences to their "hook-ups." And there are some frank, impassioned, positively-portrayed parental stands made on the subject. Of course, that doesn't mean the kids always listen. Here, mother Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) confronts her daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) after spotting her boyfriend buying "protection" at the drugstore.
Britton was robbed of an Emmy nomination this year. Just so you know.
On quality points alone, I'd give this series a full-fledged A. But there is one element that bothers me. Two junior students (one guy and one gal, both the troubled black sheep of the show) have dalliances with adults. Neither story has a happy ending but they are not treated as particularly worse than any other liaison, either. It is not addressed on the show but technically it could all be legal since 17 is the age of consent in Texas. The actors playing the teens are 26 and 24, FYI. But it is still rather creepy.
Final score: A minus
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