A year ago, I would have never thought I would be writing this blog post. Having seen the pilot for NBC’s Friday Night Lights, I felt like I had seen everything I needed to of the Dillon Panthers: I thought it was just a football version of The O.C. and nothing more. I am more than willing to admit that I was horribly wrong.
Today, mere hours from the show’s much-anticipated second season premiere, I want to make something clear: Friday Night Lights is the drama in which I have the greatest amount of faith at this present moment. Jason Katims took a premise and sent it in directions that could have been disastrous. However, what was made clear as I rewatched the first season on the (Amazingly priced, Money Back Guaranteed) DVD is that it never let me down.
I remember every single time when I groaned or rolled my eyes when the show began to address issues that I worried they were not capable of. When the show approached the issue of racism, and where it delved into Smash’s use of steroids, red flags went up: these were incredibly sensitive subjects, something that doesn’t quite mesh with high school football. What Katims and Co. proved, however, is that nothing could distract them from the purpose at hand. They followed the motto of the Panthers:
“Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”
Believing in their devotion to the show’s continued quality, I head into its second season fully believing that no matter what storylines they may encounter, the people of Dillon, Texas will continue to present the most realistic drama on television.
Thus, as the show starts its second season, I have faith that things will stay on track. The show is about family, love, devotion, community, change, rebirth, race, abuse, and a certain game played with a pigskin. I’ll still likely flinch when I see things like the NBC commercials which promote “Murder” as one of the show’s newest developments, but I won’t doubt that they’ll get the job done.
I could write about what makes the show so very fantastic, but Cynthia Littleton at Variety’s On the Air blog has already done it in intricate detail. If you haven’t seen the show yet, I’d almost suggest you skip Cynthia’s great article and pick up the ludicrously cheap DVD set or watch the episodes on NBC.com in streaming video. This is a series worth money, time and energy, but catching up requires very little of all of them.
C’mon: Show us some Panther pride, America. I’ll have a full recap/reaction tonight, as well as a ratings report tomorrow.
Cultural Learnings 