I can’t believe there isn’t a thread yet for this great show (which just won a Peabody, hurray)!
Tonight’s episode was fantastic, which isn’t really that surprising as nearly all the episodes I’ve seen have been top-notch. The actors who play Tyra and Landry really impressed me in this one: you could see exactly when Tyra figured out what he was talking about at the roast, and – well, all the actors have so far been amazing at conveying exactly what the characters are thinking and feeling but are unable to say.
The only weak spot for me at the moment is the plot with Tim Riggins and the single mom, which feels a little too heavy-handed. I like Tim, so I hope he’ll get back on track with a good plot.
I wonder if the Taylors will move to Austin for the season finale? Does anyone know when we’ll have word if it’s renewed or not?
With Rome now off the air, Friday Night Lights is by far the best show on television. There are two reasons you never see threads about it. Firstly, anything sports related is automatically ignored by most posters around here. Second, of the relative few who aren’t antagonistic toward sports in general, many are driven to the point of distraction by the jittery camera work.
I read that the shaky camera movement isn’t a complete affectation. They shoot it “gorilla-style”, with just a couple guys walking around holding cameras and no marks or blocking for the actors to hit. Their mantra is “just act the scene; the cameras will find you.” Some of the more veteran actors were joking about how the (many) newcomers were getting spoiled by not having to worry about hitting their marks. It’s a shame that more people aren’t watching, both here on the SDMB and in the country in general. I agree that every single episode is fantastic.
When you say you can easily see the moment that Tyra realizes what Landry is talking about, what do you mean specifically? That he’s saying she deserves someone like him?
Story-wise, I can accept the Riggins affair with the hot single mom (don’t shoplift that booty!) way more than any storyline where coach doesn’t take the TMU job. The only conceivable justification is job security, which is much higher in highschool than college, but given the climate of Texas HS football I doubt there’s much job-security there anyway.
If coach does take the TMU job it really gives the writers a lot to work with relationship wise next year (I am hopeful for a second season as they called next weeks episode a season finale as opposed to simply finale like they did last week). Plus, taking the job allows for another character. The problem you have is what do you do with Ron Livingston? I assume he would stay on but do you completely ignore TMU’s season? You can’t really focus on it a great deal b/c there isn’t enough story to go around I don’t think; the writers would spread things awfully thin. I have a lot of trust in the writers, they’ve done their work so far - they probably have a plan.
The show does a great job of creating believable characters. That is what keeps me watching a show when all is said and done. I can’t think of a single character that I’m not happy with. I’m really pulling for a second season.
The camera work has improved considerably. I’ve never objected to documentary style shakey camera, but in the early going, you have to admit it was ridiculous. I mean, two people sitting quietly in a room talking, and all I could see were close-ups of their nasal hair — in wide-screen high definition, no less — and feeling like I, as a viewer, was having an epileptic seizure. In a setting like that, hold the damn camera at least relatively still, and pull back enough to get the whole head. Like I say, they’ve improved that a lot. Unfortunately, I’ve now missed a lot of backstory.
I only started watching recently, catching up by watching past episodes on NBC’s website. They have the entire season up there if anyone else missed some episodes. I am crazy in love with the show though. I hope it gets renewed.
I wasn’t calling anyone out about that. I agree that the show started off ridiculously over the top with the shaky camera and also that it’s gotten much better in recent episodes. I think the series started off using it as an affectation as tribute to the way the movie was shot, but when the negative feedback started rolling in they toned it down.
I have two fervent hopes for this series. First, I want a second season. Second, I want the first season to be rebroadcast at some point between now and then. It’s not jam-packed with stuff you miss the first time around; rather it’s just so damn good I want to see it again.
I agree, FNL is the best drama on TV right now. There are so many useful life lessons and the writers don’t beat us over the head with them. This is how you talk to your daughter about sex, this is how you treat your partner, this is how you make someone feel better about themselves and encourage them.
I’m okay with it if Eric goes to Austin. I’d like to see how Eric and Tami handle a long distance relationship.
The downside is that Dillon characters would have to share time with new Austin characters. The upside is that the writers could drop the “will they win or lose this week’s game” aspect of the show. I don’t think anyone watches FNL for the football games.
The only negative for me is the character of Lyla. I don’t think the writers like her either, or know what to do with her. She’s the least fleshed out.
I lost interest in the show after the first few episodes. Instead of a gritty expose like the book and movie were, it’s turned into a schmaltzy teen melodrama. The acting isn’t very good (the guy who plays the coach doesn’t hold a candle to Billy Bob Thornton). Instead of a unsparing show about high school football in Texas, it’s just One Tree Hill in football pads. The cutesy-poo teen romance between the quarterback and the coach’s daughter eventually made the show unwatchable for me. That and the coach’s wife’s godawful fake southern accent.
She grew up in Virginia, so her accent isn’t fake. I’m usually the one to gripe about bad Southern accents in films and television, and I find that the ones in this show are pretty good. There’s obviously some coaching going on because the usual Southern Georgia affectations are missing. It really does feel like Texas. I noticed in Tami’s speech last night that she said, “Thank y’all.” That’s something that a Yankee just wouldn’t even think about.
I think you’re missing out. I haven’t seen the movie so can’t compare, but FNL has shown the dirty underside of high school football. Steroid use, recruiting violations, local boosters giving money to players, players getting breaks with their grades, the “Rally Girls”, etc.
I haven’t watched any of the teen melodramas so can’t compare those either, but FNL has some of the most realistic relationships I’ve ever seen on TV. And except for Lyla, I think all the actors are hitting it out of the park. Or between the goalposts.
Dio and I will just have to agree to disagree! I think the show knocks it out of the park with verisimilitude and emotional honesty. My family’s from the South, and there’s times at the Taylors I swear I’ve had those exact conversations with my parents.
I came to the show mid-season – the first episode I saw was the one where Julie and Matt Saracen were deciding whether or not to sleep together, and the scene where she and her mother talk about it was what sold me on the show absolutely – so I didn’t get the worst of the shaky camera-work.
I’m also with AuntiePam that Lyla is my least favorite character. She doesn’t seem to have a function, and she’s not very sympathetic.
Just that you can clearly watch Tyra connecting the dots from “Landry’s talking about a guy who respects, wants and likes me” to “Landry is the guy who respects, wants and likes me”, and how pleased and flattered she was about that. The actress was telegraphing her emotions amazingly, even though she didn’t say a word and her expressions weren’t very big at all.
I’ll have to watch that scene again with Tyra and Landry. I think she knew that Landry was crushing on her but she was surprised at how he expressed it. Here’s a guy who’s thinking about her future, not about getting in her pants. Or not just that.
Do you think Landry has BO? She apologized for calling him a geek but not for calling him stinky. “You’re not a geek.”
Oh I’ve had a little thing for Kyle Chandler since Homefront. Nothing against Livingston (and I’ll admit they look similar), but he just doesn’t have the boyish charm. Chandler is why I even gave this “football” show a chance.
Fair enough, to be perfectly honest I never even knew kyle chandler existed until I couldn’t figure out why Ron Livingston wasn’t in the credits a few months ago. Then I looked at his IMDb listing and half the crap I thought Ron Livingston was in was actually Kyle Chandler. It’s kind of an embarrassing thing to admit considering I want to be a producer…
