It is, in my not-so-humble estimation, the best hour-long show to ever appear on network television. Ever. Season 1 was better than season 2 of ER or Grey’s Anatomy. Better than the third season of The Practice, the second season of NYPD Blue, or the debut season of The West Wing. No season – no episode – of Law & Order is even in the same ballpark. And I LOVE Law & Order. And while 24 and Lost can generate more adrenaline due to their core premises, they aren’t better shows. This show is better written, better acted, more artfully shot. The characters are more complex, more fully formed, and far more real.You probably have no idea that I’m talking about Friday Night Lights, because if you’re like most Americans, you barely even know this show exists. In terms of life experience, I relate approximately 0.000000% (I did the math on that one, and double-checked, thank you very much) to the high school football crazy residents of Dillon, Texas, but I’ve never seen a show this real.
Its drama isn’t about “are we in purgatory on a science-lab experiment island?” or “a guy comes into the hospital with a bomb lodged inside his body” or “you’re hooked up to a lie detector - if your ex-boyfriend would take you back, would you leave your husband?” Friday Night Lights was (at least until NBC forced a few absurd plotlines down its throat this year) completely organic, and it showed that everyday life can be the most compelling drama of all. It’s all in the details.I could go on and on about the show, but like all art, it’s a disservice to talk about it. You just have to see for yourself.
But I don’t think you will, because by all accounts, Friday Night Lights is going to be cancelled. And I (and Vish, Sara, Allison, George, Bill Simmons, and every paid TV critic and every person who ever gave it an honest chance) will be somewhere between massively disappointed and completely despondent.If you get the Season 1 DVD later (which you by all means must), please don’t come up to me and say, “wow, this is a great show – why did it get cancelled?” A lot of you did that to me with “Arrested Development.” It’s the same reason anything gets cancelled – because nobody fucking watched it. So don’t say it for “Friday Night Lights.” Just watch it and enjoy. And then we can talk about how awesome it is. And then become depressed.
I gotta go. I think “Deal or No Deal” is on again. There’s like, 13 $1 million dollar amounts. WILL THIS BE THE EPISODE?!?!?!
6 comments:
If I watched it, I wouldn't have helped the ratings.
You should have gotten my friend with the Nielson box to.
friday night lights might still make it to season 3
altho apparently
how i met your mother may not...
That's interesting, I wasn't aware "How I Met Your Mother" had such lousy overall ratings, I know a ton of people (including myself) who watch that show.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's more of a negotiating ploy by CBS than anything else. CBS comedies don't do well in the 18-35 demo, I'd be really surprised if they let go of one of the few shows they have that does okay there.
...This is tragic :(
are you referring to meeeee?
Why, yes, I am referring to you
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