"Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose." - Panthers motto
Friday Night Lights: The First Season DVD Review
By Jude Clement
You might have a few misconceptions about Friday Night Lights: The First Season. The first is that, as its title implies, it played on Friday nights. It didn't, although NBC is moving the series to Fridays for its second season. The second-and probably biggest-misconception is that the series is all about football. It isn't-it's about family, friends, community, religion, and small town life where football becomes intertwined with everything.
Dillon is a small Texas town and home to the Dillon High Panthers, the number one rated high school football team in the state. Businesses in town literally shut down on Friday nights so that they can support their boys. At the start of a new academic year, there's some doubt that Dillon can stay number one, especially with new, unproven coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler, Homefront). Still, the team should be fine with star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter), a talented but humble country boy, and his cocky teammate Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles). The team is sent into turmoil during the first game of the season, however, when Street suffers a devastating injury, leaving him partially paralyzed. Can the team rally behind raw, inexperience second string quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford)?
I know, I know. You're thinking, "Not about football!?" Friday Night Lights sounds like a fictionalized version of the MTV reality hit Two-A-Days: Hoover High." Yes, it does, but the sport is mainly used as the backdrop for small town drama. As Street struggles to regain control of his body, he loses both his steady girlfriend, perky cheerleader Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly), and hard-partying football player Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch). Tim drinks to relieve the pain of seeing his best friend suffer and because it's just about the only thing his absentee parents taught him with any efficiency. Smash's showboating personality derives, in part, from a misguided attempt to make his dead father proud. Town chippie Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) is terrified of turning into her unlucky-in-love mother, but seems destined to follow in her footsteps. Not only does Matt have to live up to the pressure of leading the team to victory, but he is forced to provide for his grandmother (Louanne Stephens) who suffers from dementia while his dad serves in Iraq. Coach Taylor has a family of his own-his wife Tami (Connie Britton) is the school's guidance counselor and their daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) is an underclassman-but he is also father to all of the young men on the team, helping guide them through substance abuse problems, family demands, heartbreak, and more.
The series is executive produced by Peter Berg, who adapted the series from a book of the same name and directed both the pilot episode and a 2004 big screen version. Jason Katims is another executive producer and writer on the series. Katims' past credits include My So-Called Life, Relativity, and Roswell.
The series is entertaining and the characters are likeable. In their zeal to get viewers to watch this severely ratings-challenged series, critics might be overselling it a bit. It is good, solid entertainment, but no, it's not the greatest thing on TV. Still, it is definitely quality programming that will have definite appeal...even those who aren't interested in football.
The twenty-two episodes that make up season one are divided onto five discs. The discs are housed in a specially designed foldout case in which two panels hold two discs apiece book-style and a third panel holds a single disc. The back of the case features episode titles and brief synopses. The case slides into a cardboard outer sleeve.
