Coach Eric Taylor leads the Dillon Panthers to State.
In the aftermath of the complete implosion of The OC, I was waiting for the next great teen drama to come along and bless us with some good old-fashioned boyfriend stealing and fist fights. Little did I know that as Taylor Townsend was torching Orange County to the ground, the heir to The OC’s was already among us. The first season of Friday Night Lights came and went without much fanfare. Part of this was due to the constant flip-flopping of its time slot, and part of it was due to the fact that the odds of a sports-theme drama based off a movie had about a 0.06% chance of not getting cancelled by November. What was the point of getting invested in a show that was destined to go off the air?
Yet just like Jason Street, Friday Night Lights refused to stay down. It not only made it past November, it made it to a second season, albeit barely. Even though it struggled in the ratings, there’s no denying that Friday Night Lights is one of the most well-written and unique shows on television. It would have been an absolute sin for NBC to pull the plug on this series after only one go-round. After all, what are they possibly going to put on at 9pm on a Friday that’s going to be better than FNL?
As things currently stand, my TV show rankings have it pegged third, with only Lost and Survivor beating it out. That’s some pretty lofty competition for a show that could be taken off the air any day now. But the few of us who watch the show know that in the world of Friday Night Lights, it’s not the numbers that make a difference, it’s the size of your heart. And no show has more than FNL.
Season 1 Cast:
|
|
Kyle Chandler (Eric Taylor) Like Sandy Cohen before him, Eric Taylor is the guy with the golden heart who’s there to fix all the kids’ problems. Turns out, he’s not so bad at the coaching thing either. I think if there’s one thing that the creators of this show did right, it was making Eric Taylor into somebody that everyone would want to have as their coach. It might have caused more drama to have him be your typical “win at all costs” type of guy, kind of like the coach on ESPN’s short-lived “Gamebreakers”, but the show would have ultimately suffered. Eric and his wife |
| provide the stable foundation that all the chaos in Dillon rests upon. Without them, this show degenerates into a “Varsity Blues”-esque tale of teenage debauchery that belongs on MTV and not prime time network television.
Yup, Sandy Cohen would be proud… |
|
 |
Zach Gilford (Matt Saracen)
Matt Saracen is the teen drama version of Tom Brady, minus the supermodel girlfriends, of course. After the Panthers’ star quarterback goes down for the season, it’s up to backup Matt to assume the role of QB1 and lead Dillon to State. And wouldn’t you know, just like Brady, Matt gets the job done. If there’s one thing the writers for this show know how to do, it’s to pile on the cheesy stereotypes. When you look over this cast of characters, you’ll find surprisingly little creativity in their backgrounds. For example, Matt is the backup quarterback, who |
| dirt poor, has to work dishing out ice cream to make ends meat, has a father in Iraq, and lives with his grandmother. Could you come up with a more stereotypical underdog than that? But this doesn’t mean that I don’t think the writers are doing a good job. If anything, the fact that they’ve managed to turn such a cheesy premise into a quality show is a testament to their abilities. Because despite all the worn-out and predictable roles, the characters display an amazing amount of depth and complexity. | |
|
|
Scott Porter (Jason Street)If Matt Saracen is Tom Brady, then Jason Street is, unfortunately, Drew Bledsoe. When Jason’s spinal cord was severed in the season opener, the collective gasp heard from the crowd was not an “Oh my, I hope he’s ok!”, it was an “Oh my, I can’t believe this show is attempting to rip off every single football movie ever made!” Looks like the creators remembered the Titans a little too well… However, the fact that Jason Street’s story didn’t end with him being carted away in an ambulance, was one of the best |
| parts of Season 1. His struggles to come to grips with his newfound handicap was one of the storylines that made this show about “more” than football. When everything was said and done, the biggest victory of this season wasn’t the state championship, it was a guy like Jason learning conquering life without legs. That’s what makes this show worth watching. | |
|
|
|
|
|
Gaius Charles (Brian “Smash” Williams) Meet “The Smash”, the latest player in a long and illustrious line of loud mouths that includes Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Warren Sapp, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, and Michael Irvin. If there’s one character the writers failed to break out of the mold, it’s Smash Williams. The guy is just a walking stereotype. Sure there was an attempt to make |
| him a more complex individual when he had to stand up against a racist comment made by one of the assistant coaches, but that storyline felt forced. At the end of the day, I fail to see any real difference Smash and the real-life players I listed above. With him, it’s still all about the fame, fortune, and most importantly, himself. | |
|
|
Taylor Kitsch (Tim Riggins) The stereotypical drunkard and brawler, who’s father abandoned him is Tim Riggins. I never really liked Tim until Season 1 began to draw to a close. I don’t know what it was about him, but he just always made me want to jump through the TV and punch him in the face. Maybe it was the way he was wasting his life and talent, or how he could stab his newly-crippled best friend in the back. But whatever it was, Tim was not on my good side. Then towards the end of the season, he began to show |
| there was more too him than a loser who didn’t give a crap about anyone. He started helping out the kid who moved in next door and even mended fences with Jason. When I talk about the writers giving the characters “depth”, Tim Riggins is perfect example of what I’m talking about. When the season started out, I couldn’t stand the guy, but by the end of the year they had me not only liking him, but even understanding where he was coming from.
Note: After looking back at this article, I’d like to apologize for the extreme amount of overly-emotional talk and analysis thus far. I realize that this is a far cry from the usual mockery that you find in my season reviews, and I’m starting to feel like I’m writing about a “very special” episode of Oprah. The thing is, FNL has given me very little to make fun of, and as corny as it may sound, it is a bit of an emotional show. With that being said, let’s move onto some of the ladies… |
|
|
|
Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly)
How could a girl with a face like that become irritating? It’s a question that may never be answered, but “irritating” is the only way to describe Lyla Garrity throughout most of Season 1. She constantly tried to play the role of the victim after shacking up with Riggins while her “future husband” Jason lied paralyzed in a hospital bed. Sorry, but you’re just not going to get any sympathy from me after pulling off that kind of stunt. And that my friends, basically sums up Season 1 of Lyla Garrity. That, and the |
| unquestionable fact that Minka Kelly is an atrocious actress. Watching my fiancé’s reaction to her must’ve been what it was like with Jennifer Love Hewitt on Party of Five back in the 90’s. Nothing drives women crazy more than gorgeous girls who can’t act. It’s hilarious!
|
|
|
|
Aimee Teegarden (Julie Taylor) Julie Taylor is the (once again) stereotypical coach’s daughter who hates football and prefers the finer things in life. So of course she ends up falling for the star quarterback, who’s also a sensitive soul underneath his helmet and shoulder pads. The thing about Julie that really bugged me was that she was basically the reverse Tim Riggins, in that I thought she was a great character in the beginning, but ended the season not liking her at all. I guess the writers were trying to stir up some drama in the |
| Taylor household by turning Julie into a “rebellious” teenager, but all they ended up doing was turning Matt Saracen’s dream girl into someone you were rooting for him to dump. | |
|
|
Connie Britton (Tami Taylor)
Jim and Cindy Walsh. Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Eric and Tami Taylor. Perhaps no ingredient is more important to a successful teen drama than a pair of parents for the kids to depend on. However, unlike the other two couples, the Taylor household is clearly run by the woman. Somehow, Tami manages to be the one who takes charge and acts as the sounding board for the kids, while still maintaining the role of a supportive and loving wife. She comes across as strong, smart, and confident, while never giving the impression that she’s neutering Eric. That’s |
| quite a delicate balance to maintain, but Tami does it perfectly. Let’s just hope the writer’s don’t mess it up with a tired storyline of potential infidelity that none of these show can seem to resist.
|
|
|
|
Adrianne Palicki (Tyra Collette) When Season 1 kicked off, it was clear that Tyra was supposed to be the town hoochie, while Lyla and Julie were the “good girls”. Things certainly changed by the end of the year as the other two had submarined themselves and Tyra looked like the girl you wanted to take home to meet your mom. She blossomed from trailer trash without a purpose into a girl with a real shot at making something of herself. Tyra is just yet another example of how the writers managed to take a tired angle and turn it into something “more”.
|
|
|
Jesse Plemons (Landry Clarke) I wanted to end with Landry, because he’s probably the best example of why Friday Night Lights is an incredible show. I’ve spent a lot of time talking about how FNL first appeared to be a cheap gimmick with no shot of staying on the air and eventually ended up becoming one of my favorite shows. In many ways that same theme of looking past initial appearances has come up multiple times throughout Season 1, whether it be Matt Saracen, Tim Riggins, Lyla Garrity, or Julie Taylor. But I think that Landry is the prime example of them all. |
| You see, if you had told me after the first episode that Tyra the beautiful, yet trashy town hoochie, and Landry, the uber geek with his pathetic Crucifictorious band, would almost be an item by the end of the season, I either wouldn’t have believed you or would have stopped watching because I have no desire to waste time on a show that’s so unrealistic. These two were as polar opposite as you can get on the surface. Yet over the course of 22 episodes, as the layers were slowly peeled away, it became clear that Tyra and Landry were most compatible pair of all. I never saw that coming or thought it would be possible, but the writers of Friday Night Lights not only got those two together, but they did so in an incredibly believable fashion. It just goes to show that you can’t always judge a show by it’s title. |
|
