Friday Night Lights (TV series)

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Friday Night Lights

Genre	Drama
Running time	1 Hour
Creator(s)	Peter Berg Brian Grazer David Nevins
Starring	Kyle Chandler Connie Britton Zach Gilford Adrianne Palicki Jesse Plemons Minka Kelly Scott Porter Aimee Teegarden Gaius Charles Taylor Kitsch
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	NBC
Original run	October 3, 2006–present
No. of episodes	10
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Friday Night Lights is a television drama airing on NBC. The series debuted on October 3rd, 2006^[1]and airs on Tuesday nights. NBC ordered an initial 12 episodes before picking it up for a full-season order on November 13th, 2006, despite relatively low ratings. ^[2]. The program will also air on both Global and CH in Canada.

Starting January 3, 2007 Friday Night Lights moves to Wednesdays at 8:00 P.M. on NBC.

1 Synopsis
2 Characters
3 Filming
4 Episodes
5 Critical response
6 Episodes and U.S. Television Ratings
7 Trivia
8 International Broadcasters
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Synopsis

The series is "inspired by" the book and the movie Friday Night Lights, not based on it. Set in current times, the action takes place in fictional Dillon, Texas. The actual city of filming is Pflugerville, Texas, a close suburb of Austin. The fictional Dillon football field and Dillon High are the main settings, but Friday Night Lights also will be about families, friendships, dreams, hardships, and heartbreaks. The story is originally inspired by the book Friday Night Lights about the Permian High School Panthers of Odessa, Texas.

[edit] Characters

Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) — The first-year coach of the Dillon Panthers. Under immense pressure to succeed, he constantly is conflicted between what is right and what will win.

Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) — The wife of Eric Taylor and mother of Julie Taylor and a guidance counselor at Dillon High. Often acts as the voice of reason to Coach Taylor.

Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) — Daughter of Eric and Tami Taylor. Also attends Dillon High School, but in the past, hasn't associated much with the team. Recently has been dating Matt Saracen.

Jason Street (Scott Porter) — The former starting quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Was one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, but suffered a severe spinal injury in the first game of the season that left him crippled and with limited use of his hands. Now must deal with rehab and life after football.

Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) — Girlfriend of Jason Street and Panthers cheerleader. With Jason looking at extensive rehab after a catastrophic injury, Lyla must deal with emotional conflict between staying with Jason or moving on. Recently cheated on Jason with Tim Riggins.

Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) — Father of Lyla Garrity and a leading Panthers booster.

Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) — Tim Riggins' on-again, off-again girlfriend. The town "vixen" of Dillon.

Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) — The former backup, now starting quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Lacks the talent and polish of Jason Street but his passion and heart have led the Panthers to a winning season since taking over. Must deal with sudden fame and prominence after remaining aloof both on and off the field for years. Lives with his grandmother.

Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles) — The running back of the Dillon Panthers. The most talented player on the team and is most likely to succeed in at the college level. His desperation to get to the next level leads him to take drastic measures.

Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) — The fullback of the Dillon Panthers. Best friend to Jason Street, but is in love with his girlfriend, and recently had an affair with her. Sullen and morose, he is the silent backbone of the Dillon Panthers football team. Appears to suffer from alcoholism. Lives alone with his brother.

[edit] Filming

The City of Austin, Texas, announced in a news conference that Friday Night Lights will be filmed in and around Austin. "The impact will be great, and the potential for more will be great," said Gary Bond, director of the Austin Film Commission. "It's going to mean better than $1.5 million in new cash per episode coming into cash registers all over town." The production will gear up in early August 2006 and continue into December 2006. The network expects to hire hundreds of local professionals, from set building carpenters to production people to extras who will play ordinary citizens. The total cash infusion to the city is expected to be more than $20 million. Peter Berg, who directed the 2004 movie based on H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger's 1990 book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, about Odessa's fabled Permian High School football team, filmed the pilot in Austin in February 2006. The pilot, with football scenes filmed at Pflugerville High School's Kuempel Stadium and at McNeil High School's RRISD Complex, features guest appearances by Longhorns coach Mack Brown and Westlake High School coach Derek Long.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Friday Night Lights episodes

[edit] Critical response

The series debuted to strong critical reviews. Virginia Heffernan wrote for the New York Times that "if the season is anything like the pilot, this new drama about high school football could be great — and not just television great, but great in the way of a poem or painting..."^[3] The Washington Post similarly praised the series as "[e]xtraordinary in just about every conceivable way."^[4]

In a strong endorsement of the show, the American Film Institute named it one of the ten best television programs of the 2006-2007 season during its annual awards, with the show joining established critical favorites such as The West Wing, 24, The Wire, The Office, and Battlestar Galactica.

[edit] Episodes and U.S. Television Ratings

This is ratings information for the series. "Rating" is the estimated percentage of all televisions tuned to the show, and "share" is the percentage of all televisions in use that are tuned in. "Viewers" is the estimated number of actual people watching, in millions, while "ranking" is the approximate ranking of the show against all prime-time TV shows for the week.

Unless otherwise cited, the overnight rating and share information comes from Zap2It^[5] and viewer and ranking information comes from CalendarLive.^[6] The following week, the numbers are updated with the final Nielsen numbers from TVWeek.com.^[7]

Week	Episode	Air Date	Rating	Share	18-49	Viewers (m)	Rank (#)
1	"Pilot"	October 3, 2006	4.7	8	2.7	n/a	n/a
2	"Eyes Wide Open"	October 10, 2006	4.1	7	2.4	n/a	n/a
3	"Wind Sprints"	October 17, 2006	4.2	7	2.7	n/a	n/a
4	"Who's Your Daddy"	October 24, 2006	4.0	7	2.6	n/a	n/a
5	"Git 'Er Done"	** October 30, 2006	5.3	9	3.5	n/a	91
6	"El Accidente"	November 7, 2006	4.0	6	n/a	5.9	67
7	"Homecoming"	November 14, 2006	3.5	5	2.3	n/a	n/a
8	"Crossing the Line"	November 28, 2006	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
9	"Full Hearts"	December 5, 2006	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

** - Special Monday night airing (temporarily taking Studio 60's timeslot).

[edit] Trivia

The song playing during the opening and end sequences in the pilot episode is "Remember Me as a Time of Day" by Explosions in the Sky, the same band that wrote most of the soundtrack for the film version of Friday Night Lights. Many other Explosions in the Sky songs have been used in subsequent episodes.

University of Southern California football announcers Peter Arbogast and Paul McDonald will be the off-screen voices during the football game sequences. It is the first true television project for both Arbogast and McDonald.

Early in the pilot, a resident is heard to say "Who does he think he is? He ain't no Mack Brown." Later in the pilot, the real Mack Brown has a cameo appearance, where he plays the role of a local football booster quizzing Eric Taylor on his pre-game preparation.^[8]^[9]^[10] Mack Brown coached the 2005 Texas Longhorn football team to the national championship.

Songs used in promotional spots for the series have included Fort Minor's "Remember the Name", Howie Day's "Collide" and Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough".

The show features game footage from the Pflugerville Panthers, as well as the teams and the fans of their opponents.

[edit] International Broadcasters

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States	NBC	October 3, 2006	Tuesdays 8:00pm ET
United States	NBC	December 27, 2006	Wednesdays 8:00pm ET
Canada	Global Television Network	October 3, 2006 - December 4, 2006 †
United Kingdom	ITV4