Friday Night Lights - General Discussion

[scowl]

It's funny, because even from the pilot episode, I immediately got that Jason wasn't going to be the main protagonist of the show. He's too perfect and bland to be the one the audience all connected with.

 

Perfect and bland is exactly what people like in typical television dramas.

 

 

Hell, they even introduce Jason's lowly, never-gonna-play-a-game backup during the opening scenes. Who could have watched Matt and Landry talk about how pathetic he is without realising that this kid is going to be the one with all the pressure on him, really soon?

 

People expected Matt to become important several episodes later. For example some thought perfect bland Jason would slowly reveal that he is not perfect and has some major problems that would pull him off the team. Others thought that stammering Matt would somehow find some confidence and prove to be a better QB than Jason despite everyone in Dillon preferring their magnetic and bland QB. 

 

Lots of possibilities with these two characters. Like I said, lots of people didn't want to watch a major character sitting in a hospital bed week after week. A lot of people did connect to him in the pilot and gave up after it.

 

 

Even without being spoiled, I knew something bad was going to happen to him, at some point. Because if you've got this perfect kid, with his perfect life, playing great football and winning, then where's the drama?

 

One way is by revealing that he has major flaws and his perfection is nothing more than a facade. I'm sure television writers could come up with many more.

 

 

Jason's story isn't about football, it's about what you do after your life takes that unexpected, stunning, irreversible twist. How do you put yourself back together when all of your plans are just gone forever?

 

That's the story of nearly every kid in Dillon. How many football stars from Dillon were revealed to have gone on to play big time college football? I think Smash Williams was the only one. 

[absnow54]

My UO is that I actually like season 4, like it's probably my favorite. I really liked the way they rebuilt the East Dillon Lions and how exasperated Coach Taylor was trying to drum up sponsors and support. (There's that one scene where the team is parading through town pushing a car and collecting money, and the entire time Tim is running up the street ahead of them handing out money to strangers so they'll donate it.) It was also nice to see Eric face a new adversity. Before it was living up to the expectations of an entitled football town in order to keep his job, now it was garnering enough interest in the program to keep it afloat. My interest kind of waned in season 5, but I found season 4 to be refreshing and exciting. 

[patches403]

I thought that Tami was a bit of a hypocrite for saying she "couldn't leave the kids" and go to Austin with Eric and the end of season 1, but was determined to leave them and make Eric leave his kids behind at the end of season 5.

Seems like when Eric has a big career opportunity, "the kids come first", but when she gets one, it's "Screw the kids! It's MY turn!"

 

Overall, I love this show, but one of my biggest dislikes has to do with Tami's jobs and how they somehow always ended up being more important than Eric's jobs.  I'm only part way through season 3 and I can't begin to figure out how she ever even got hired as a school guidance counselor or as a school principal.  She said at one point early in season 3 something to the effect that she couldn't do it all with a career and family.  I got the impression during this conversation she had with Eric that she didn't work outside the home for a lot of Julie's life so I can't figure out how she would have had a chance to get the Masters degree, licensing, and work experience that would be required in order to be hired as a high school guidance counselor.  There's definitely no way she had the educational background and work experience to be hired as a principal at any public school anywhere in the country.  To become a high school principal, you need a Masters degree in administration, state certification, and many years of teaching/administration experience - none of which Tami seemed to have.  I could maybe buy the guidance counselor job, but to get promoted straight to principal within two years?  In my mind the show lost a lot of credibility at that point.  Why couldn't they give her a more realistic career path?

 

I have a advanced degree and a career and as a woman, I think all women should have some type of working career at some point in their lives, but I didn't see why Tami's career in this family's situation should be more important than Eric's.  Even though I have a professional career and would hate having to give up a job I really liked, if I were in Tami's shoes, Eric's career would always come first because he had so much more earning potential over his career than she did.  If he had kept the TMU job and did well enough to keep moving up to better coaching positions, within 15 years he likely would have had an opportunity at a head Division 1 coaching job or at the very least top assistant coaching positions.  Division 1 football coaches can easily make $2 million plus a year and the assistant coaches can make $200,000 to over $1 million.  If I had a spouse who had a real chance to advance far enough in his career to potentially make millions per year, you better believe I would be happy to follow him to where ever he needed to move to in order to advance his career.  The fact that Tami's far lower paying career seemed to come first throughout the show just seemed endlessly silly to me.

Edited December 12, 2015 by patches403

[Kazia]

I don't know if this counts, but I'm watching a Lifetime movie called "Hiding" and all of a sudden I was like "Hey! It's JD McCoy!"

The movie is in 2012 and Jeremy Sumpter (the actor) is playing a high school student, so it looks like things haven't changed much for him after FNL ;)

[Kazia]

Overall, I love this show, but one of my biggest dislikes has to do with Tami's jobs and how they somehow always ended up being more important than Eric's jobs. I'm only part way through season 3 and I can't begin to figure out how she ever even got hired as a school guidance counselor or as a school principal. She said at one point early in season 3 something to the effect that she couldn't do it all with a career and family. I got the impression during this conversation she had with Eric that she didn't work outside the home for a lot of Julie's life so I can't figure out how she would have had a chance to get the Masters degree, licensing, and work experience that would be required in order to be hired as a high school guidance counselor. There's definitely no way she had the educational background and work experience to be hired as a principal at any public school anywhere in the country. To become a high school principal, you need a Masters degree in administration, state certification, and many years of teaching/administration experience - none of which Tami seemed to have. I could maybe buy the guidance counselor job, but to get promoted straight to principal within two years? In my mind the show lost a lot of credibility at that point. Why couldn't they give her a more realistic career path?

Yeah, this puzzled me as well, to be honest... I could see her getting a BA since Eric went to college and played football there, so it isn't unfeasible for her to have followed him there, too (although didn't she once tell Julie that she almost dropped out of high school? Then how would she have the grades to get into whatever university Eric went to?). Stemming from that, since counseling and psychology are popular fields, I could see her taking night classes or something to get her MA while she was raising Julie.

Also, I get her becoming the counselor because a.) She's certified and b.) She's the coach's wife. Maybe they *wink wink* hired her in (the show didn't talk about how she got hired, but since she hardly had any work experience, who knows?).

However, I agree with you that the principal job seems like a stretch, and WITHOUT QUESTION so is the Braemore job. I'm applying to pursue a graduate degree and eventual career in academia, and from my understanding, there's no WAY you can become a dean of admissions with only, like, 5 years of work experience. From what I've read and heard, deans in general are usually former professors who had some experience with administration during their time (like as the chair of their department or something), and I would think that they'd also have to have a PhD (and Tami could NOT possibly have a PhD).

So, even though I love Tami and supported her 100% on the show, I agree that her career advancements were a bit unrealistic. However, it's a TV show, so I have (and will continue to) suspend my disbelief.

[Mosik13]

I'm in the middle of researching FNL for the second time and one thing I cannot get over is the setup for season 4 (Luke Cafferty being made to attend East Dillion).

I say this because Julie is zoned for West Dillion yet is allowed to openly enroll to East Dillion. Why could Cafferty not do the same, being zoned for East Dillion but allowed to attend West Dillion?

There may be some completely logical and all encompassing explanation for this, yet watching I feel it is an artificial setup consider this overlooked detail.

[LeafontheWind]

I'm in the middle of researching FNL for the second time and one thing I cannot get over is the setup for season 4 (Luke Cafferty being made to attend East Dillion).

I say this because Julie is zoned for West Dillion yet is allowed to openly enroll to East Dillion. Why could Cafferty not do the same, being zoned for East Dillion but allowed to attend West Dillion?

There may be some completely logical and all encompassing explanation for this, yet watching I feel it is an artificial setup consider this overlooked detail.

There are two possible explanations for this:

1. Because Julie's parents both worked for the school district, they may have had more say in which school she would attend. In my district (which is in Texas), I am allowed to send my children to any school within the district because I am a teacher.

2. When a new school opens, a district very often allows students to choose to go there instead of going to the school they are zoned to attend. This allows the school to establish a larger first graduating class then they may otherwise have. However, students zoned to attend the new school are not allowed to choose to attend any other school in the district.

Of course, there is always option three- none of the writers cared enough to double check those details!

[Artsda]

I'm so excited for this! No cast list released yet.

'Friday Night Lights' 10-Year Cast Reunion Will Happen at ATX Festival

 

 

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't take it! The cast and crew of Friday Night Lights are reuniting at the 2016 ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, in June, Entertainment Weekly reports.

 

The event, which is sure to excite Panther football fans, comes 10 years after the beloved NBC series debuted in 2006.

 
The festival location is a special coincidence. The series was set in fictional Dillon, Texas, and filmed in Texas. The reunion will take place on a football field(!), and include live music, tailgating goodness, photo ops and a pep rally. It will be revealed at a later date which actors are expected to attend.

 

[Jillybean]

Now that I've seen the show over and over (thanks, Pivot), Julie was horribly unlikeable pretty much throughout the series. Bratty, ungrateful, etc. and perhaps that is normal teen behavior, but she had great parents. Most annoying to me, however, was the weird fake stammer Aimee T constantly used in her portrayal. For example  "yeah...y-yeah" all the freaking time. Takes me right out of the scene. I also thought Julie had severe psychological problems by the end of the series (deliberately crashing her car!) that an engagement/marriage at age 18 wasn't going to resolve. In the end, she was completely incapable of independence, and I'm not sure how Tami Taylor's daughter ended up that way.

 

I also hated Gracie Belle's mullet.

[nara]

I liked Julie because she seemed the most realistic of the teen characters (until the TA storyline), and I could relate to her. I also liked Aimee's portrayal. Julie has been sheltered by her parents, so she's a little spoiled, innocent, and unaware of the harsh realities of life. However, she inherently has her mother's wildness. The combination of her innate rebellious behavior and her sheltered life was surprisingly combustible and made her rather bratty . In all fairness, her father was somewhat ridiculous about her relationship with Matt, so I don't completely blame her for rebelling. Getting to know Matt was good for her because he's so mature and unfailingly kind for someone his age. It made her appreciate her own parents more and she learned to be more generous too. When she visits him in Chicago, he calls her on using him to escape from her life. Eric and Tami really should have noticed the good influence he had on her.

[nara]

Lots of excellent moments mentioned above!

My additions:

In season one, when Coach tells Matt to get a girl in the back seat of his car, the look on Matt's face was priceless. Plus, when Coach realized that Matt liked Julie and said, "I think I just told that kid to get our daughter in the back seat of his car. "

When Matt puts on his grandfather's voice and sings Mr. Sandman to calm his grandmother.

When Tyra tells her mom that if they cannot figure out how to change the car themselves (without the help of a man) they are done for.

Tyra playing powder puff football. That's when I realized that in a town not obsessed with football, she could have been an athlete too. She's got natural ability, but no one ever noticed anything other than her looks.

Tami's complaints about her sister turns to genuine delight when she arrives.

Tim Riggins protecting Julie with his body during the tornado.

When we saw that the much ballyhooed JD Mccoy was an innocent 14 year old boy who spent every second being forced to think about football. Too bad he became more of jerk later.

When Julie shows up at Matt's doorstep in Chicago. It was such a relief that she chose to see him instead of her ex-lover, and the smile on his face said everything.

Tinker helping with Luke's fence and telling Luke's father how great his son is.

Tami's screeching voice when she and Coach are arguing. I think that only showed up in the finale.

[nara]

I think that's what bothered me about it--the focus became Mac and generating sympathy for him and his "well-meaning" ways. How the heck did a story about an assistant coach making racist comments become a story about how the black kid learns a lesson?? At least, that's how I remember it. I'll have to come back and rewatch, but I just remember thinking that this was such a missed opportunity for the show to critically deal with race. 

 

And then there's Voodoo. Talk about missed opportunity. Here was a kid who had survived Katrina but had basically lost everything. What does the show do? Turn him into an angry, racist, "thug" stereotype with no other qualities. I thought that the Katrina background was such an interesting addition, but the show did absolutely nothing with it. Why couldn't Coach work harder to mentor and reach out to Voodoo like he had done with other troubled players? Why couldn't we see another side to Voodoo and deal with the obvious pain he was feeling regarding having to leave his school due to a natural disaster. And what made it worse is that the show painted him as a villain because he was replacing "angelic" Saracen as QB. Consider the respective races of these two individuals, and you will see why it is problematic. (Which is another reason I never fell for the "OMG how adorable is Saracen!!!11!1" thing)

RE: Mac story, I think Smash learned a lesson because he's a main character and Mac is not. Also, Smash didn't initially take issue with the comment--he had to be coached into having concerns by Waverley. Smash did not seem to feel discriminated against or treated unfairly on the team or by Mac in particular. Smash learns repeatedly in the series that race issues are not handled fairly--like when he had to apologize for fighting the guy insulting his sister and when he lost his scholarship. It's not fair, but those are accurate storylines.

Agree that Voodoo was entirely wasted. He should not have been introduced at the time, or he should have been awesome and just recruited away by another school that was willing to do more for his family. However, he could not really stay as quarterback, because Matt's arc was to be the everyman who was not super gifted, but worked hard to achieve success.

  

This might be unpopular, but I hated Landry/Tyra. It was just all of the worst Nice Guy tropes lumped into one unwatchable mess. He went from being one of my favourite minor characters to being someone I dreaded seeing on the screen, with his self righteous insistence that he was 'better' than other guys, and his shaming of Tyra for not wanting to date him, or not being happy with him. 

 

I recall one instance that really, really rubbed me up the wrong way, near the end of the first season. At the Panthers Roast, Landry said some rather unpleasant stuff about Riggins (not to Riggins of course), because Tyra had the gall to attend the event with him. I can't remember the exact comments, but along the lines of him being a worthless drunk who wasn't good enough for her. And this was just a few of episodes after Riggins and Landry had bonded a little over Of Mice and Men, and Riggins had willingly gone to a Crucifictorious gig (which not even Matt and Julie were seen to attend). And Landry was so quick to just spew venom about Riggins just to make himself feel better and to make Tyra feel worse. And then Riggins even greeted Landry affectionately in that same scene, to rub salt in the wound even more.

 

So yeah, Landry was pure Nice Guy for me, from that point onwards. Jackass.

 

I also felt almost nothing for the East Dillon Lions, and the players on that team. They weren't my team, and no amount of Coach Taylor and his hair, frowning on the sidelines, would change that. I remember Smash's words at the end of season 1, "I'm a Panther", and they were true for me. I hated that the show did that, just to give them some underdog story and the villainous Joe McCoy and spawn to fight against. And I was so happy to see the Lions' signage being taken down and their field being used as a car park, while the Panthers grew strong again, at the end of the show. Buddy got his team back, and so did I.

I think Landry's jerk behavior was important. With the possible exception of Matt, no one on the show is completely good. And by the way, lots of guys feel entitled to date the girl they want, so I think it was very realistic.

I liked the move to East Dillon. Working with the same team and going back to the championship year after year would have gotten old.

  

I loved Tim all the way through, but I was also annoyed at the Tim/Tyra hints at the end. Because I agree, I don't think their relationship was healthy or pleasant at all. Like they themselves admitted, they cheated whenever they felt like it, treated each other like crap, and were generally toxic together. I did enjoy them as friends, later in season 1, and thought they had a nice, semi-antagonistic relationship then,

 

And speaking of Tim, here's another unpopular opinion from me: They should have written him out of the show at the end of season 3. Sent him off to San Antonio State and had him actually make something of himself, rather than show him failing without really trying, and crawling back to Dillon to fix cars and commit crimes. I held off on watching season 4 for the longest time, because I just didn't want to accept that that was Tim's future.

  

The changing ages of the kids annoyed me completely. In the first season, Matt, Landry, Tim, Tyra, and Lyla were all driving. To be 16 in fall season usually means you are a junior (with some exceptions of course for people born September to December). Also a big deal is made out of Matt being a sophomore, but then they changed things so that Tim was also a sophomore in season 1, so why wasn't that a big deal that he had been starting on the football team since he was a freshman? For Landry to graduate a year after Matt was even more ridiculous because that meant he was driving at 14 or 15. For any high school shows, they really should establish ages and live with them, even if it means losing popular characters.

 

Is it not traditional for a man to use a woman's full name when proposing? Seems like it is on television, at least. Buddy's use of her full name in that instance felt to me like he was emphasising her social standing as being above Jason's (now that Jason has fallen, of course). 'She's a Garrity, my daughter. Why should she waste her time with someone like you?'

Thanks for the explanation of why Buddy would use his daughter's full name. I found it jarring at the time, but your explanation is plausible.

[ToxicUnicorn]

Minka Kelly (Lyla) just showed up on The Path.

 

Now, I wish I would see Buddy (her dad) show up somewhere.

[Artsda]

Friday Night Lights' Cast to Reunite for 10-Year Anniversary for Spartan Race

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose! Ten years after Friday Night Lights began, ET exclusively reveals that the cast of the hit football drama will reunite to team up with Marriott Rewards for a special Spartan Race.

Stars Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins), Minka Kelly (Lyla Garrity), Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen) and Aimee Teegarden (Julie Taylor) will reunite for the special event, which will take place on June 11 outside of Chicago (what, not Dillion?). 

Kelly, who played cheerleader Lyla on the hit series, told ET, "I'm really looking forward to running on the Marriott Rewards team at the Spartan Race in Chicago and catching up with my former cast mates from the show."

The cast members will join forces with Marriott Rewards members to complete the challenging eight to 10-mile obstacle course. Fans of the series can even sign up to run with their favorite stars. 

Friday Night Lights ran for five seasons from 2006 to 2011. It also stared Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton as Eric and Julie Taylor.

The FNL crew aren’t the first cast to team up for a challenging race. ET was in California in April when the Grey’s Anatomy cast completed a Tough Mudder race together. Watch the video below to see the ABC stars compete.

[Artsda]

Taylor Kitsch Takes a Trip Down Memory Lane to Talk Friday Night Lights and His Former Co-Stars

http://www.popsugar.com.au/celebrity/Taylor-Kitsch-Interview-About-Friday-Night-Lights-41606628#opening-slide

 

Friday Night Lights reunion at ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas. http://www.eonline.com/news/772023/these-friday-night-lights-10-year-reunion-photos-will-make-you-cry

[Artsda]

Minka, Taylor, Aimee and Zach reunite at Marriott Spartan Race.

Minka posted this on Instagram. 

The ‘Friday Night Lights’ Cast Had A Muddy Reunion At The Spartan Race This Weekend

How The “Friday Night Lights” Cast Fared at Their Spartan Race Reunion

The 'Friday Night Lights' couples reunited and yes, they still love each other like family

Vanity Fair - Taylor Kitsch and Minka Kelly Reflect on Where Their Friday Night Lights Characters Would Be Now

 

 

Edited June 18, 2016 by Artsda

[whiporee]

I caught the pilot again yesterday, and I realized I never picked up on how good Jason was at playing quarterback. What a real leader he was.  That was cool to see. 

FNL was always plagued by we're-cancelled-itis, and that made it hard to develop characters the way they should have/would have. Jason is a perfect example. Had the show been cancelled at the end of season one -- like they thought it had been -- his arc would have been great. he's hurt, he suffers, he finds his abilities and his strengths and ends up coaching. Eric leaves, Tammy has her baby and they're end up at the University of Florida and I'm happy (I made that last part up). 

If you want to extrapolate, there's no way Notre Dame doesn't honor Street's scholarship after he got hurt, and if he got into Notre Dame, there's no way he doesn't get into any college anywhere, especially with his backstory. Bringing back Street -- as much as I loved the character -- was a bigger mistake that Tyra/Landry. 

Also didn't make sense that Riggins was two years younger. None of that group -- Tim, Jason, Tyra or Lyla would have been hanging around with Jason if he was a senior and them sophomores. At latest maybe juniors, but in all likleyhood they would have all been classmates (at least Riggins and Street would have been). But they got renewed and needed to have Riggins back on the team. Just didn't fit. I could see Smash as a sophomore, because he didn't really hang with those guys, and I could see him being pals with Matt. But that's as far as I can see that. 

They had the same issue during season three. They laid great groundwork for an interesting storyline -- the next Jason Street, and to see how the team and how Eric worked with a kid who was a) so talented b) so young and c) had parents like the McCoys. That could have been awesome -- Saracen adapting to being something other than the star, but finding his way. But they were getting cancelled and needed to wrap it up, so Eric gets fired and starts a new program, and because he's Eric we know he'll do fine. 

And then we're in season four -- and then we got a guaranteed five -- and they got to stretch it out more. We got to see characters develop over an arc. Luke, Vince, Tinker all made more sense than the originally cast did because they knew how long they had to work with them. I liked the original cast -- and the original premise -- of season 1 more than season 4, but I think the characters in season 4-5 were more developed than the first cast.

[Eeksquire]

I just finished watching the show for the first time (I know! I don't know what took me so long either, although I admit that I had to take a loooong break while trying to slog through the Tyra/Landry mess in Season 2.)

I love Tim Riggins and the show would have been poorer without him, but it is kind of suspect that he was supposed to be so much younger than his best friend Jason.  I can kind of fanwank that he perhaps had been held back because of his terrible academic performance - and then it does make sense that Lyla and Jason would be dating with her as a sophomore and him as a senior, but not the "they've been together for years and years" way it was portrayed in Season 1.  And there's no way she'd have been captain of the cheerleading squad as a sophomore.

That said, none of these things bothered me on my first watch, because the show was so great otherwise and did so many things right.

[Eyes High]

I was watching an episode of State of Play about football injuries which featured the story of David Edwards, a San Antonio high school football player who broke his neck during a game (during a similar block to the one that injured Jason Street) and was rendered quadriplegic. I thought that Peter Berg may have been inspired by this story, so I started looking up interviews with Peter Berg. Apparently, when they were filming Friday Night Lights (the movie), they would film local football games to get footage for the movie, and one of the games they filmed was the one where David Edwards got hurt. That moment found its way into the pilot, and no wonder it was so harrowing and powerful in that episode: Peter Berg had witnessed it happen firsthand.

Unfortunately, David Edwards, the real Jason Street, died of pneumonia at the age of 20.

I loved the crazy sturm und drang of the Tim/Jason/Lyla love triangle in the first season, not least because I bought that Tim and Jason loved each other (platonically) as much as they loved Lyla. That was some good drama.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Eyes High

[Earmuffs Mom]

Entertainment Weekly is doing a podcast series on Binge that goes through each season of the show with interviews from the stars.  I've only listened to the first episode, which focused on the pilot, but it was entertaining.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Minka Kelly reflects on FNL:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Dylan O'Brien, Taylor Kitsch, & Michael Cuesta discuss "American Assassin" on Build:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Adrianne Palicki discusses her new show The Orville on Build:

 

If you don't want to watch the entire interview, this is the clip where she talks about FNL:

Edited October 11, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[caitmcg]

8 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

If you don't want to watch the entire interview, this is the clip where she talks about FNL:

I loved how, when he brings up the murder storyline, her response is, "We don't talk about that. That never happened." They're all pretty open now about what was obvious in later seasons, that the show just kind of pretended that the ill-conceived S2 (or at least its worst aspects, like the murder and Matt/Rita) never happened.
 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Taylor Kitsch and the cast of Only the Brave discuss their movie on Build:

 

Taylor discusses being the comedic relief in the movie:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Taylor Kitsch, Michael Shannon, Paul Sparks, Melissa Benoist, David Thibodeau, Gary Noesner, Drew Dowdle & John Dowdle discuss Waco:

[break21]

FNL is streaming on amazon prime!

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, break21 said:

FNL is streaming on amazon prime!

Hallelujah! I've been waiting for it to show up somewhere, since Netflix ditched it. Just added to my watchlist.

[scowl]

Great! Now I can once again wonder what they were thinking in season two.

[wingster55]

On 2/15/2017 at 12:20 PM, Eyes High said:

I loved the crazy sturm und drang of the Tim/Jason/Lyla love triangle in the first season, not least because I bought that Tim and Jason loved each other (platonically) as much as they loved Lyla. That was some good drama.

More, I'd say imo. 

That reminds me of the almost-three way in Mexico. It's one of my favorites because of just how much is going on in it. Street finally and fully accepting Riggins and Lyla, and Tim's little look to Jason for permission before dancing with her. Love it. 

[hurrrz]

I am in season 4 of the show, and while I really enjoy it, it's sometimes laughably lazy in writing. Characters are together for the sake of setting up plot lines (like Tara all of a sudden hanging out at Julie's and just so happens to be tall enough to put chips over the fridge resulting in her making it on the Volleyball team).

I felt the murder in S2 was rushed and went nowhere. There were no real stakes - hell nobody in town seemed to know anything about this murder. Landry and Tara just resumed back to normal.

Dillon in Season 1-3 feels very different to Dillon in Season 4. 1-3 made it out to look like a small town. Where were East Dillon (and their student body) prior to season 4? It feels very forced (like a lot of things on this show). Like how the hell is Landry not in the same year as Matt? It always seemed like they were, but we needed a familiar face at East Dillon (one with a GPA of 4.2 btw...).

As someone stated above - it seems like they really painted themselves in a corner on this show - setting this in a small town in high-school inevitably results in characters leaving after a few seasons, which can be an issue. I think there were some character decisions that were unfortunate (granted I am not through the whole show yet).

 

This show has many good things about it - but there are glaring issues with it, too.

Edited June 18, 2018 by hurrrz
More thoughts

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Issa Rae and Michael B. Jordan in Variety's actors on actors series:

[TheCoaxer]

I’m in the middle of my fourth rewatch and still consider most of the series to be total gold (with minor quibbles).  

 

That said, for whatever reason, it bugs me that Grey Damon got a starring credit in the latter seasons when he was barely in the show.  Yet Derek Phillips never did. 

Edited August 5, 2018 by TheCoaxer

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Connie Britton is starring in the new Bravo series Dirty John. Juno Temple and Julia Garner play her daughters, and Eric Bana plays the title character. It's based on a podcast which is based on a true story. Only two episodes have aired so far so you have time to catch up easily. Bonus: in the first scene of the first episode, they did a great shot of her glorious Tami Taylor hair.

Connie has received a Golden Globe nomination for her role:

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Connie Britton (“Dirty John”)

Edited December 7, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[isiscloud]

On 4/3/2014 at 10:24 AM, pithy said:

Hi, Y'all.  I am driving myself crazy trying to find one particular scene from FNL.  It involves Tami going to what I remember as a booster breakfast (lunch?) uninvited and doing the sweetest bit of smiling while skewering you ever did see.  I cannot remember if it was during the Jumbotron era or if it was in the Luke Cafferty-had-a-fake-address era, but I KNOW this scene exists and I feel like I am getting nowhere looking at old TWoP recaps and episode descriptions. Does this ring a bell for anyone?  

i don't remember the name of the episode but in Season 3, Tami gave in to the Jumbotron, but in the announcement, she said that Buddy had volunteered to have the team party, putting him on the spot. Never did see the Jumbotron later on.

[AttackTurtle]

I watched this show religiously from the original airing of the pilot.   I decided to rewatch the series in its entirety.   Coach Taylor is my hall pass of all hall passes.   

I guess I’m in the minority, but I loved the East Dillon crew.   Becky was lawful thru most of season four (calling Riggins at the wake was beyond awful), but she grew on me and I always liked Luke. 

Season one one is my favorite, but Season 5 comes close to beating our Season 3 for me.   

Generally, I liked Tami, but damn I didn’t like the shit she gave coach so she could take the position in Philadelphia.   He had worked his whole adult life to be a coach, and she’d been a school counselor for a whopping 2-3 years?   The idea that his career was derailed just stunk to high hell for me.  

On the flip side the scene where she tells him she’s pregnant in Season one had to be one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen on t.v..   

Riggins was never Tyra’s soul mate or vice versa.   Lyla was Riggins soul mate and while she was off to bigger and better things, I always wondered , “how do you follow up with someone (physically) after Riggins?”

I loved this show and it’s definitely in my top 3 shows of all time. 

[cherbitrary]

On 2/22/2019 at 3:21 PM, AttackTurtle said:

Generally, I liked Tami, but damn I didn’t like the shit she gave coach so she could take the position in Philadelphia.   He had worked his whole adult life to be a coach, and she’d been a school counselor for a whopping 2-3 years?   The idea that his career was derailed just stunk to high hell for me.

I just rewatched it all, too. Pretty much agree with your whole post, but the quoted part so so much. Not even a mention of the Season 2 stuff...where she insisted on staying in Dillon despite his protests, can't handle it alone and he gives up his college coaching dream to go back and pick up the pieces. I am fine that he let her have Braemore and walked away from Dillon. Just didn't like how she was about all of it. Was reminiscent of when she wanted that big house that he said they couldn't afford. Which they couldn't, but she still made him go see it again so they could decide "together".  But other than those things, loved her (more on rewatch than first run) and loved them.

I find my southern accent coming out more after spending so much time "in Dillon". Heh. All those Hey Y'all's have an effect.

I liked Buddy Garrity a lot more on rewatch. Guess it helps knowing how he is later.  

One of my favorite scenes is the Lions beating the Panthers and the look on Joe McCoy's face. Yeah, bub, that's what Eric Taylor does. Deal with it! I liked JD his first season. Thought he had a chance of being a decent person with Eric as his coach. All that disappeared when they fired Eric.

Kyle Chandler is pretty much my perfect man. Coach Taylor even moreso. Watched Bloodline right before my FNL rewatch. Not sure what I'll watch next. 

[Bryce Lynch]

On 1/5/2019 at 5:32 PM, isiscloud said:

i don't remember the name of the episode but in Season 3, Tami gave in to the Jumbotron, but in the announcement, she said that Buddy had volunteered to have the team party, putting him on the spot. Never did see the Jumbotron later on.

Buddy's "Jumbo Tron" can be seen several times in the Season 4 Finale, above the scoreboard, every time they show the score and in the background when Lance kicks the game winning field goal.

[loiswests]

Some of the cast reunited to watch the Pilot. 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

A Collette-Riggins family reunion!

 

[cleo]

Just starting a rewatch. I feel like the pilot is a perfect hour of television. 

A lot of character things I notice now that I didn't in my first or maybe even second run through. Mainly Saracen- I didn't realize he was a rookie that never really played. 

Love Saracen, Landry, and his grandmother. 

I also always liked Riggins.

[auntiemel]

On 11/23/2020 at 6:01 PM, cleo said:

Just starting a rewatch. I feel like the pilot is a perfect hour of television. 

A lot of character things I notice now that I didn't in my first or maybe even second run through. Mainly Saracen- I didn't realize he was a rookie that never really played. 

Love Saracen, Landry, and his grandmother. 

I also always liked Riggins.

I haven't done a rewatch in a couple of years. I might start a new one now. I'm going through a phase of not watching anything new. Just rewatching old favorites. I think the uncertainty of the world has made me crave stability and comfort. FNL would be a PERFECT show to address those needs! 🙂

[cleo]

Yeah it is nice to watch something familiar, but I find FNL very emotional, I'm such a softie lol. I can only watch one ep at a time. Just watched ep3. Still find the episodes very good. I like the whole first season. 

[GodsBeloved]

I'm doing a rewatch now. Still in season 1 but I keep thinking this show still has my heart. I miss these characters and I can honestly say I loved the show from beginning to the end.

I still shake my head though at the idea that I'm suppose to believe Tim, Tyra and Lyla were Julie's age (Tami flat out says she's a sophomore/15, though yeah they retconned that later and suddenly she's a year behind Matt). I liked the new characters in season 4 and still wish we could have met them earlier instead of wasting time on Tim, Tyra and Lyla. They should have been gone or at least out of high school! LOL

Lyla was my least favorite and I think it was mostly due to the actress but the one story I enjoyed was It's Different for Girls. I really liked Lyla in that episode but I could do without every other Lyla story in the series LOL 

OK let me get back to season 1 before I start rambling even more.

Edited January 22, 2021 by GodsBeloved

[Hava]

Anyone also not like Saracen? Bueller? Bueller?

[GodsBeloved]

Season 2 here we go.

Slimeball Swede uck! uck! uck! Murdering Landry uck! Statutory Raping Carlotta uck! uck! uck!

[Magnumfangirl]

On 1/21/2021 at 10:36 PM, Hava said:

Anyone also not like Saracen? Bueller? Bueller?

Matt was probably my favorite of the kids.  The ones I couldn't stand were Landry and Tyra.  Didn't care about their separate stories nor their together stories.

[GodsBeloved]

I’m on season 5 now and have concluded that Tim Riggins overstayed his welcome by 3 seasons 😂

I grew to like Becky and was happy that she and Luke ended up together. Knowing this and watching season 4 now makes Tim Riggins’ presence, which was entirely too much for me, even more irritating. I really wish Luke was in Becky’s story beyond the pregnancy. Instead we got Tim Riggins in it because, well I have no glue why he needed to be in Becky’s to the extent he was. A lot of that time could have been used to build Becky and Luke’s relationship.

Smash’s exit is probably my favorite of the original kids and while I missed him, he was out of HS and it was time to say goodbye. When Matt, who was my favorite, left I was still satisfied because again he was out of HS and it was time to say goodbye.

But Tim Riggins, good lord he would not leave! It may not sound like it but I liked Tim Riggins. I was happy with his ending. I just wish there was a lot less of him after season 2 (I still hold to Tim, Lyla and Tyra should have been gone after season 1 😂).

And to be fair, Landry should have been gone after season 3 and Julie too. They should have graduated with Matt and time could have been spent on the new kids.

Now I’m off to continue season 5.

[Magnumfangirl]

On 2/22/2019 at 2:21 PM, AttackTurtle said:

Generally, I liked Tami, but damn I didn’t like the shit she gave coach so she could take the position in Philadelphia.   He had worked his whole adult life to be a coach, and she’d been a school counselor for a whopping 2-3 years?   The idea that his career was derailed just stunk to high hell for me.  

So glad to know I'm not the only one that feels this way.  I just finished a rewatch and I posted almost the exact same thing on another message board and you'd would have thought I said something sacreligious!  Eric Taylor absolutely deserved a promotion and the show should have ended with him taking the head coaching job in Florida.  It would have been a nice way to show that his players wanted good things for him too; since Street put Shane State in contact with him.  

[AttackTurtle]

22 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

So glad to know I'm not the only one that feels this way.  I just finished a rewatch and I posted almost the exact same thing on another message board and you'd would have thought I said something sacreligious!  Eric Taylor absolutely deserved a promotion and the show should have ended with him taking the head coaching job in Florida.  It would have been a nice way to show that his players wanted good things for him too; since Street put Shane State in contact with him.  

I love Tami Taylor, but yeah, the notion that she was always sacrificing for Coach just wasn’t what we witnessed.  

This show has too damn many great moments to count.  The whole story arch with Coach and  Vince is pretty darn hard to beat (when Coach tells Vince how proud he is and Vince says that Coach changed his life....just perfection).  I loved how Smash exited.  The scene with Coach and Street in Season 2 where he tells Street that he’s the one that made him went to Coach...gets me every damn time.

 I guess the Tami storyline just annoyed me because it kind of undermined the fact that Coach was and had been affecting the positive change that she aspired to and she just expected him to walk away from all of that.  Eric Taylor was so much more than football.  Other than this aspect of her storyline. I loved Tami.