Friday Night Lights is an award winning American television serial drama adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book of the same name. The series details events surrounding the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team based out of fictional Dillon, Texas. The show uses this small town backdrop to address many of the issues that face contemporary Middle America.
Produced by NBC Universal Friday Night Lights initially received an order of 12 episodes and began airing on October 3, 2006 at 8:00pm on NBC. NBC increased this number on November 13, 2006 ordering a full season of 22 episodes. In addition to airing in the United States the program is also shown in Canada, The Philippines and the United Kingdom and is available from several online sources.
The show has met with much critical acclaim being the second highest rated new show on MetaCritic (behind The Nine which was cancelled midseason) but has not met with much ratings success having consistently placed below 50 in the Nielsen rankings. Because of this NBC is waiting until it reveals its new fall schedule in May to announce whether the show has been renewed for a second season though NBC President Kevin Reilly has both indicated that renewal is likely and directed producers to begin work on the first 6 scripts of Season 2.
Characters
Major Roles
Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) — The varsity football coach of the Dillon Panthers. Under immense pressure to succeed, he is constantly conflicted between what is right and what will win. He doesn't seem to approve of his daughter and Matt Saracen, the team quarterback, dating. He has accepted a coaching job in Austin at fictional Texas Methodist University (TMU), and the team gets the news right before the championship game.
Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) — The wife of Eric Taylor and mother of Julie Taylor and a guidance counselor at Dillon High. Often acts as the voice of reason to Coach Taylor, and has just found out she is pregnant. Does not want to move to Austin.
Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden) — Daughter of Eric and Tami Taylor. Also attends Dillon High School, but in the past, hasn't associated much with the team. Recently has been dating Matt Saracen. She is very smart. REALLY does not want to move to Austin.
Jason Street (Scott Porter) — #6 - The former starting quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Was one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, but suffered a severe spinal cord injury in the first game of the season while successfully tackling a defender in what would have been a game-ending touchdown. The C7-T1 injury left him with paralysis of his lower body and with limited use of his hands. Now must deal with rehab and life after football, his fiancée's past cheating on him with Tim Riggins, and Buddy Garrity's constant harassment over his current relationship with his daughter. Following the accident and several months of rehabilitation, Jason has now taken up the sport of wheelchair rugby, and tried out for the national team, but was not chosen because of his lack of experience with his wheelchair. He has recently joined the Dillon coaching staff and is acting as a mentor to QB Matt Saracen.
Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) — Former fiancée of Jason Street and former Panthers cheerleader. With Jason looking at extensive rehab after a catastrophic injury, Lyla must deal with emotional conflict between staying with Jason or moving on. Recently cheated on Jason with Tim Riggins, Jason's best friend. Her father is Buddy Garrity, owner of a car dealership, the Dillon Panthers' biggest booster, and recently tossed out by his wife for having a fling with Tyra Collette's mother.
Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) — Tim Riggins' on-again, off-again girlfriend and the town "vixen" of Dillon. She seems to be one of the only people in the town who doesn't follow football religiously, and is often disdainful of the way the Dillon Panthers are worshipped. She has expressed an interest in leaving Dillon, but currently still lives with her single mother, Angela. Has recently become friendly with Landry, after often showing her dislike of him. It seems their friendship will grow as Landry appeared to comfort and help her almost immediately after a man attempted to rape her.
Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) — #7 - The former backup, now starting quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Lacks the talent and polish of Jason Street but his passion and heart have led the Panthers to the state playoffs since taking over. Must deal with sudden fame and prominence after remaining aloof both on and off the field for years. Lives alone with his grandmother, who suffers from senile dementia. He has a poor relationship with his father, who is career military and serving in Iraq. His father recently came home on leave and caused many conflicts with Matt. It is suggested that his time in Iraq has changed him into a person Matt cannot get along with. Matt has been dating Julie Taylor, coach's daughter, at first in secret due to Matt's fear of what Coach Taylor would do if he found out, knowing that he doesn't approve. Recently, their relationship has stopped being hidden, and they now openly date, although Coach still does not seem happy about it and Matt is consistently nervous around him. Worried about how he will do against an upcoming opponent, he has started to take coaching from Jason Street. Saracen is the only known sophomore starter.
Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles) — #20 - The running back of the Dillon Panthers. The most talented player on the team, he is the most likely to succeed at the college level. His desperation to get to the next level leads him to take drastic measures such as using steroids. Smash's drive to be at the top stems partially from a sizeable ego, but also because he sees a football career as a "meal ticket" and a means for providing for his family. His father is deceased and he lives with his mother and two sisters. He is often shown praying with the team or attending church with his family. Prior to the championship game he is approached by Ray "Voodoo" Tatum to change schools. He dislocates his shoulder in the championship game but refuses to sit out, which leads to him scoring the winning touchdown to win the Texas state championship.
Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) — #33 - The fullback of the Dillon Panthers. Best friend to Jason Street, but was in love with Jason's girlfriend while the two had an affair. Sullen and morose, he is the silent backbone of the Dillon Panthers football team. Appears to have suffered from alcoholism. He has difficulty with schoolwork and there is a suggestion that he may be illiterate. Lives with his older brother Billy, as parents skipped out on them. Tim Riggins is one of the seniors on the team and hence will not be a member of the Panthers' team should the show be renewed for a second season.
Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons) - Best friend of Panthers quarterback Matt Saracen, but not on the football team, he often gives Matt advice and support, although his advice is often unhelpful. Front man of the Christian speed-metal band Crucifictorious. Recently, he was also Tim Riggins' personal literature tutor, at Mrs. Taylor's request. Landry provides many of the light-hearted comic moments on the show. Landry harbors a huge crush for Tyra, and has recently managed to form a friendship with her, despite her previous open dislike towards him.
Secondary Roles
Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland) - Owner of a popular Dillon car dealership and father of Lyla Garrity. Buddy always tries to be involved with the Dillon Panthers football team, doing whatever he can to bring talent to the Panthers and resolve any problems with the players or their families. Recently hired Tyra Collette's mother, Angela, and engaged in an affair with her. This affair was made public after Angela was fired and, subsequently, has caused quite a stir around Dillon.
Billy Riggins (Derek Phillips) — Brother to Tim Riggins, Billy is a semi-father figure to Tim acting as a peer most times but looking out for his interests like a father at others. Won a State Championship as a Dillon Panther during his own high school days.
Mac MacGill (Blue Deckert) — Lead Offensive Coach for the Dillon Panthers. Had hoped to be tapped for head coach position that went to Coach Taylor. He was almost forced to resign after inadvertently using a racial slur to describe certain players athletic abilities. Grew up with a racist father and has admitted to inadvertently allowing some of that to seep into his own psyche.
Lorraine “Grandma” Saracen (Louanne Stephens) — Grandmother to Matt Saracen, she often requires special care from Matt. She shows signs of early Alzheimer’s disease.
Corrina “Mama” Williams (Liz Mikel) — Mother to “Smash” Williams, she is very protective of all her children and worries particularly about the pressure Smash puts on himself. She often acts as the voice of reason to Smash when he's allowed his natural enthusiasm to rise to the point of being harmful.
Herc (Kevin Rankin) — Athlete with the same injury as Jason Street, member of the national quad rugby team who has taken Street under his wing.
Waverly Grady (Aasha Davis) — Girlfriend to “Smash” Williams and daughter of Reverend Grady, she is very politically-oriented and tends to incite people to act on issues she feels are important. Suffers from bipolar disorder which recently manifests itself when she stops taking her medication.
Ray “Voodoo” Tatum (Aldis Hodge) — Panthers Quarterback for 2 weeks brought to town by Buddy Garrity to replace Jason Street. He only played in one game in which he was removed at half time for calling his own plays, a strategy which gave his opponents a disastrous interception. Though originally said to have returned to his home of New Orleans, he ended up transferring within Texas and was the starting quarterback against the Panthers in the Texas State Championship game.
Jackie Miller (Brooke Langton) - Single Mother to Bo Miller with a predilection for younger men. Developed small fling with Tim Riggins but chose to end it in order to preserve the friendship between Riggins and her son.
Henry Saracen (Brent Smiga) — Father to Matt Saracen and a member of the armed services, he is stationed in Iraq and has indicated he will remain there until the military mission in Iraq is complete. Having been absent for much of Matt's life, he struggles with being a father -- a situation that has led to tension between the two.
Angela Collette (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) — Mother to Tyra Collette and former mistress to Buddy Garrity, she has lived her life attached to a man, having only had one real job. She is extremely unsupportive of her daughter Tyra's attempts to better herself and get into college. She often creates or worsens Tyra's problems by treating her like a peer instead of a daughter.
Bobby “Bull” Reyes (Walter Perez) — Dillon Panther’s star defensive player before being kicked off the team for assaulting a fellow student.
Tony Dolia (Charon R. Arnold) — Panther Player #1, never shown outside of uniform but often highlighted during game play. He has been instrumental in several of the Panther’s on-field victories.
Plot
Friday Night Lights is the story of the Dillon Panthers, their Coach Eric Taylor and the fictional city of Dillon, TX, a town that lives and dies with every game their Panthers play. It is not a “sports show” in that the individual episodes tend to revolve around the personal lives of the Coach and his players and not around the actual playing of Football. Upcoming games are treated more like ever present specters in the background, influencing events while not being the focus of them.
Accordingly not every episode will show an actual game even though every game that is played by the Panthers is shown to some extent, often in cut scenes at the end of an episode.
The show puts special emphasis on dealing with social issues facing the various team members and their families. Episodes have addressed pertinent social issues such as infidelity, drug use, mental illness, racism, alcoholism and parental abandonment.
Production
Inspiration
Friday Night Lights takes its inspiration from a book titled Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream and the 2004 film based on it. The book, published in 1990 and written by H.G. “Buzz” Bissinger, details the 1988 season of the Permian Panthers, a high school football team in Odessa, Texas. The book itself was intended as a work of journalism and is assumed to be completely factual. The characters in the book are not renamed and the book makes no attempt to conceal their identity. The Universal Pictures film stars Billy Bob Thornton and was directed by Bissinger’s second cousin Peter Berg. The film's characters are again based on the real life residents of Odessa circa 1988. The film is known for staying almost completely true to the source material.
Conception
Once filming on the movie was completed, Berg turned his attention to adapting the story for television. Berg expressed in various interviews following the film how he regretted having to jettison many of the interpersonal topics covered in the book from the film because of the time constraints of a feature film. Creating a TV series, particularly one based on fictional characters, allowed many of those elements to be brought back in and addressed in-depth.
The show chose not to use Odessa as the setting and instead used it as inspiration for the fictionalized town of Dillon, Texas. The football team name did, however, retain the Panthers name. Berg made a number of these conscious choices in carrying elements from the film to the series and as such much of the work that went into the creation of the pilot was duplication of the work that was done on the movie. Other of these choices include casting Connie Britton and Brad Leland in similar roles, and using Explosions in the Sky, a band that wrote most of the film's soundtrack, for the theme song and situational music.
With this conception in hand, filming for the show's Austin, Texas-based pilot began in February 2006. Berg described filming the pilot and eventually the show in Texas as "a deal breaker" for his weekly participation in the project. Even so, the show features a number of homages to its Texas heritage. In filming the pilot, Berg ensured this homage by featuring Texas Longhorn coach Mack Brown as a Dillon booster and having a caller to the fictional “Panther Radio” compare Panthers' coach Eric Taylor to Brown.The pilot also incorporated much of the surrounding area. Football scenes for the pilot were filmed at Pflugerville High School's Kuempel Stadium and at the RRISD Complex. The Dillon Panther uniforms were based heavily on the uniforms of the real life Pflugerville Panthers.
In addition to physical locations, characters in the show were also inspired by Berg’s observation of local high schools students while preparing for filming the movie. For example, Jason Street, the character whose promising football career is ended by a spinal injury in the pilot, was inspired by a real life incident in which David Edwards, a player from San Antonio’s Madison High, was paralyzed during a November 2003 game. Berg was at the game when the incident took place and it had a profound effect on him, leading him to base the pilot around a similar incident.
Performances
The show’s producers decided at the outset to allow their performers leeway in what they say and do on the show. Though scripted like any hour-long television drama performers are given great leeway in the delivery of their lines and the blocking of each scene. If actors feel that something is not true to their character or that a mode of delivery doesn’t work they are free to change it provided they still hit the vital plot points.
The freedom that producers have extended to the performers is complemented by the fact that the show is taped without rehearsal and without extensive blocking. Camera operators on the show are trained to follow the actors rather than actors standing in one place and having cameras fixed around them. This allows performers to not only feel free to make changes but to feel safe in making those changes because the infrastructure will work around them. Executive producer Jeffrey Reiner described this method as “no rehearsal, no blocking, just three cameras and we shoot.”
Working in this fashion has had a profound influence on everyone involved with the show with series star Kyle Chandler going so far as to say “When I look back at my life, I'm going to say, "Wow, [executive producer] Peter Berg really changed my life."” Executive producer and head writer Jason Katims echoes this sentiment saying “When I first came on [the ‘FNL’] set, I thought, it’s interesting — this is what I imagined filmmaking would be, before I saw what filmmaking was.”
Filming
Both seasons of Friday Night Lights have been filmed in and around Austin, Texas, despite discussions at the close of the first season about a possible move to New Mexico or Arizona. Representing roughly $33 million a year in revenue for the area in which its filmed, both were aggressive in courting the production company following Texas not paying all of the rebates they promised the show's producers. The show remained in Austin, however, as a result of Texas passing legislation to match the offers of other states and the production company having a preference to stay in the Austin area.
Friday Night Lights is unusual in its use of actual locations as opposed to prefabricated stage sets and its lack of any sound stage for filming. This, along with the production team using hundreds of locals as extras, gives the series a uniquely authentic look.
The drive towards authenticity continues in the show’s documentary style filming technique which employs three cameras for each shoot and shoots entire scenes in one take. This differs from most productions in that most productions will film scenes from each angle repeating an average scene several times and readjusting lighting to accommodate each shot. The show is mostly improvised and scenes in the show are usually the first takes. By filming a scene all at once, the producers have tried to create an environment for the actors that is more organic and allows for the best performances.
This desire for authenticity in the production extends to the football games as well with the series making heavy use of the uniforms, cheerleaders, fans, and the stadium of the real life Pflugerville Panthers. Producers even go so far as to video Pflugerville games and use them as game footage in the show. Added to that are real life University of Southern California football announcers Peter Arbogast and Paul McDonald who provide off-screen commentary during the football game sequences. The facilities, colors, and bobcat logos of Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas serve as the setting and creative inspiration for the fictional Texas Methodist University.
Marketing
Initial marketing of the show was targeted at the youth market and focused heavily on the football element. NBC teamed with social networking site Bebo.com to create a site that allowed students to upload video and photos as well as create blogs about their local football teams. Students who participated were eligible for one of ten $5,000 scholarships. The focus of this promotion was a deal that would provide NBC and the show promotion on Bebo’s network of youth oriented sites including Piczo, hi5, Tickle, Ringo and FastWeb.
To complement this promotion NBC sent out “School Spirit” kits to 1,000 high schools around the country. These kits included posters, pop-poms, mini-footballs and disposable cameras all bearing the show’s logo. The kits also contained copies of the show’s Pilot episode on DVD. This promotional trick is something the network would return to for its second season promotion when it teamed with HouseParty.com to send out 1,000 "Party Kits" which contained advance copies of the Season 2 opener along with other promotional material.
In addition to the Bebo.com partnership, NBC paired with Toyota to create what they called the “Hometown Sweepstakes” in which students could earn cash grants of up to $50,000 for their school’s athletic program. This contest was open to high school students age 14 to 18 and was designed to draw people to the show’s official web site where they could download AOL Instant Messenger Icons, screensavers, and desktop wallpaper from the show. In addition, students that registered could download free movie theatre passes to special early screenings of the show’s Pilot episode. These movie theatre screenings took place in 50 cities nationwide and ran until a week before the show premiered on NBC.
This early strategy caused several marketing problems for the long term the most notable of which is the lack of women viewers. The early marketing campaign created an audience of almost exclusively young men and all but repelled women with its football heavy slant. This in turn deprived the show of a large audience who would enjoy the more character-driven soap elements.
Given this dilemma NBC chose to aggressively switch course and pursue the female demographic in the later part of the season. The network designed a strategy based around accentuating the personal elements of the show even going so far as to rechristen the show with the tagline “It’s about life”. NBC Marketing President Vince Manze stresses that their goal was to let people know it was not just about football but about family and relationships as well.
The network even chose to once again take their case to movie theatres by running 30 second spots featuring both cast members and fans being interviewed about the show.
Season One
Season one revolves around two main events, the ascension of Coach Eric Taylor to the position of head coach and the injury and eventual paralysis of star Quarterback Jason Street. These two events set off a chain reaction that leads the series through its first season, a season that largely revolves around a few basic themes.
The first of these themes is the overcoming of adversity. This is most evident in the juxtaposition of the team's new quarterback Matt Saracen and Jason Street who is now paralyzed from the waist down. Both these characters must struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds as Street learns to live without the use of his legs and Saracen must rise to be worthy of the position he has now inherited. Both struggle mightily against their respective challenges and their journeys largely parallel each other as each eventually conquers those challenges.
At the same time, a theme that repeats itself throughout the first season is the struggle Coach Taylor must face trying to balance the need to do the right thing with the need to appease a town whose hopes and dreams are inseparably intertwined with their high school football team. At several points Taylor must risk his team's success and consequently his job to do the right thing.
Finally, the first season's overarching theme is that even seemingly stereotypical people have unknown depth; once that depth is revealed people generally aren’t as different as they believe themselves to be. Nowhere is this made clearer than in one of the season’s most volatile relationships, that of “Smash” Williams with Tim Riggins. Williams is a driven athlete, obviously college bound, with a good family, while Riggins is an unfocused alcoholic with absentee parents and no prospects beyond high school. When the season opens both characters despise each other but as it progresses they become more and more dependent on each other eventually forming a friendship. In doing so they realize that they aren't as different as they had once thought.
Each character is touched in some way by this theme as most were introduced as stereotypes of a small Texas town in the Pilot. Gradually, as the season progressed, the audience began to see each character's depth and to discover the similarities among them.
Season two
Season two begins with Coach Taylor in Austin with a new college-coaching job at fictional TMU while Tami is in Dillon with their new-born baby. However, as the Panthers begin to lose games with a new coach, and as Tami forges a new relationship with her replacement counselor at the school, Eric decides to return to Dillon. Even with his return, his daughter Julie begins to frustrate her mother, as she ends her romantic relationship with Matt and begins one with an older man. This trend continues as she begins a relationship with a teacher that her mother feels is inappropriate.
Meanwhile, Taylor begins to attempt to win games with Panthers but faces a number of issues. Tim is banned from the team as a result of missing a game to convince Jason to not have stem-cell surgery in Mexico. This leads to difficulties for Tim, who eventually ends up homeless before being taken back onto the team and returning to live with his brother. At the same time, Smash is courted by a number of college recruiters, leading to tension between him and his mother. Matt, on the other hand, begins a relationship with a cheerleader, before leaving her for his grandmother's new live-in nurse.
Additionally, the early season follows an arc where Landry murders and hides the body of a man who attempts to rape Tyra, leading to a romance between the two. Eventually, guilt builds within Landry and he confesses. Charges are not pressed, however, although tension between him and Tyra remain.
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