TV Flashback #1: Friday Night Lights Series Review

 

Looking for one of the best TV Shows you probably haven't seen before? Well I've got you one. 

Developed by Peter Berg, Friday Night Lights first debuted in 2006 on NBC Network. Inspired by the 1990 nonfiction novel written by H.G. Bissinger (which was also previously made into a 2004 film starring Billy Bob Thornton), the TV Show launched to strong critical acclaim and developed a nice cult following over the five seasons it was on air for (2006-2011). Me personally, I only finally caught on board with this excellent series a few years ago when it was still on Netflix where I binged through the first season. And I was absolutely taken back, and enamored with that rousing first season of a really inspiring underdog story. But, I admittedly typically struggle to invest a lot of time in television series, so I never managed to actually go back and finish the four other seasons before it was unfortunately taken down from Netflix. Recently though, I finally managed to go back and finish every single one of the thrilling five seasons of this show. And not only am I thrilled to report that this series deserves every bit of the praise it has received over the years, I believe it absolutely is worthy of being ranked amongst some of the best TV Dramas of all-time, because it is that good. And I don't mean just the best shows revolving around a sport, because this series certainly goes much deeper than that.

The basic premise of Friday Night Lights through its five seasons largely chronicles around, High School Football Coach Eric Taylor (played by Kyle Chandler), and his family, wife Tami (played by Connie Britton), and teenage daughter Julie (played by Aimee Teegarden) as they live in the fictional small town of Dillon Texas. Many predominant characters come and go, but the Taylor family and the town of Dillon always remain the anchors of the show.

Obviously one of the defining factors that will draw many people towards this show is the football setting. The football moments themselves are often rousing, fun, and even sometimes unpredictable, but those moments in this series were always the backdrop to the surprising grounded realism and the fully three dimensional characters that inhabitant this world. Because of this, I think even non football fanatics can find a lot to latch onto here. This series very much captures the feel of a small rural Middle American town with so much authenticity, while also diving into many heavy themes such as social class, family values, race, drugs, abortion, and of course high school drama & romance through many of its compelling young characters. At many times throughout this series, it doesn't even feel like I'm watching fictional characters, rather I'm a fly on the wall watching real people go through everyday real world human drama. And the show beautifully does this without ever truly reaching absurd soap opera territory. But, while Friday Night Lights is never afraid to tackle some darker subject matters, it's certainly never without some great laughs and many, many heartfelt crowd pleasing moments. I'm not going to lie, I did in fact get quite emotion through many memorable moments of this series. In particular, the Season 4 episode "The Son" is one of the most beautifully moving, but even emotionally draining episodes of TV I've truthfully ever seen. Also the show contains far and away one of my favorite opening credits music to any show of all-time. I can easily listen to that wonderful score composed by W.G. Snuffy Walden on a never ending loop. 

The cast members all throughout all five seasons across the board are just excellent, and bringing many nuances to make for a very memorable cast of characters. For at least anyone that has already experience this series, I don't think it's crazy to say that Kyle Chandler as Coach Eric Taylor makes for one of the most memorable characters in TV history. Chandler has always been such a great screen presence in whatever film or tv show he appears in, and with him here being the consistent anchor of the show, it's no surprise that this led to him receiving so many more film roles. Connie Britton is also equally dynamite as Tami Taylor, and together the two make for one of the most realistic portrayals of marriage that I've seen on screen from any form of media. Of the younger cast members we get also great work from Aimee Teegarden as the Taylor's daughter Julie, as well as Adrianne Palicki, Gaius Charles, Scott Porter, and Minka Kelly. Easily two of my absolute favorite characters of the entire series would go towards Zach Gilford's earnest work as the lovable & easily empathic Matt Saracen, and Taylor Kitsch wonderfully playing off the typical charismatic bad boy persona with a heart of gold of the Tim Riggins character. But I also need to give a shoutout to the always great Jesse Plemons, Michael B. Jordan, and Jurnee Smollet who certainly bring a lot to this series as a cohesive whole with their respective character arcs. It was great fun going back to this older series and seeing how far these three have come with so many big film roles in recent years.  

If there's any real complaints to be had with this series as a whole, I'm struggling to find much in all honestly. I'll echo other fans in saying that Season 2 can be singled out as the weakest of the lot, due to a few weaker storylines that I do feel slightly took out some of the great realism from the rest of the series. This slight dip in quality could most likely be contributed to the Hollywood writers strike that occurred during 2007-2008. But even with that, the quality still remains more than solid enough to make you want to keep going with still many memorable standout moments and I promise you the series only continues to get better from there on. 

Through its five seasons run, Friday Night Lights clearly captured the hearts of many critics and fans alike with a passionate fan base that still lingers very much so to this day. But, it did unfortunately still struggle to capture stronger ratings to the point that it's basically a blessing that they managed to get as much as five seasons. I'm so thankful that they did though, because it was certainly such a rewarding treat binging this series in the span of just two weeks. And, while I would have loved if they were able to have squeezed out another season or two, they could not have capped the show off with a more emotionally satisfying series finale. We've seen even many of the greatest shows not quite stick the landing with their finales, but with Friday Night Lights, that is most certainly not the case here as I'd go as far to say that it's easily one of the greatest finales I've ever had the pleasure of watching. The show has been off the air for a good 10 years now, but its themes and storylines still feel as timely as ever.  For that reason alone, I couldn't possibly recommend this rousing, heartfelt, and emotionally satisfying series enough. Peter Berg & showrunner Jason Katims certainly created a knockout of a show with this one that sadly still seems to go a bit under the radar over the years, even compared to many other older shows. Regardless of how long it's been off the air, it is still very much worth the investment I'd say, and though it's sadly no longer on Netflix, you can still find it through streaming apps such as Hulu, Amazon, or NBC's Peacock. 

Final Grade: A

I'll have many other not just film, but TV reviews as well coming in the near future.