Cool News
Herc’s Seen NBC’s FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
It’s an hourlong, written and directed by Peter Berg (“Very Bad Things,” “The Rundown” and the movie version of “Friday Night Lights”), based on his yankee cousin’s book about high school football in small-town Texas. The series is about a team picked to win the state championship despite the hiring of a new head coach (“Early Edition” star Kyle Chandler).
I confess I’m a little perplexed by all the critical love heaped upon the pilot for “Friday Night Lights.” Maybe it’s because I grew up in a small, Jesus-happy football-crazy Texas shithole like Dillon and I remember it being a lot more like “Dazed and Confused” and “Freaks and Geeks” than “One Tree Hill” with shakier camerawork.
Is “Lights” how the blue states see the red? There are no stoners under the bleachers. Every Texas high school kid in the TV show is Hollywood skinny and most look like underwear models. There are no morbidly obese teens populating every corner barbeque shed. Not one is depicted rolling his eyes or masturbating the air when the coach tells the local NBC sportscaster, “You gotta feel blessed to spend your first year with a young man who’s got the talent and the moral strength this young man right here has.”
This may have something to do with series mastermind Berg being a ruggedly handsome actor who went to a private high school in Watertown, Connecticut. Or not.
The whole affair left me very shruggy and anxious to rewatch the pilots for “Kidnapped” and “Studio 60,” which arrived in the same fat NBC envelope.
This is not to say I won’t be tuning in the second and third episodes of “Friday Night Lights.” The great Jason Katims, who wrote for “My So-Called Life” before he went on to create ABC’s “Relativity” and the WB’s version of “Roswell,” was - subsequent to the pilot’s shoot – hired on as series showrunner.
But what matters Herc’s opinion?
Variety says:
… will have its fans but doesn't initially possess the addictive pull required to become a Tuesday-night game-changer. …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… there's a good chance you'll find yourself wanting to come back week after week. … Episodes unravel, day by day, building suspense as the big game approaches. Meanwhile, smaller personal dramas play out, deftly creating a colorful portrait of Lone Star life. …
USA Today gives it three and a half (out of four) stars and says:
… while the show is all the better for its specificity, it isn't limited by it. Lights will ring true with anyone who grew up where the high school is the focal point of city pride and the main provider of entertainment — the NFL, the NBA, Broadway, Hollywood and Carnegie Hall all wrapped in one. … The real joy of the show lies in its smaller moments. The show abounds with accurately observed, artfully rendered snippets of real life, from the obnoxious businessmen who cluster around the coach, to the nattering voices on radio, to the solidity of the churches and the faith they represent. …
The New York Times says:
… Lord, is “Friday Night Lights” good. In fact, if the season is anything like the pilot, this new drama about high school football could be great — and not just television great, but great in the way of a poem or painting, great in the way of art with a single obsessive creator who doesn’t have to consult with a committee and has months or years to go back and agonize over line breaks and the color red; it could belong in a league with art that doesn’t have to pause for commercials, or casually recap the post-commercial action, or sell viewers on the plot and characters in the first five minutes, or hew to a line-item budget, or answer to unions and studios, or avoid four-letter words and nudity. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… NBC's "Friday Night Lights" is like a small-town student-body presidential race financed by Hollywood money. It's a music video, really, twice removed from the backdrop that gave H.G. Bissinger the terrain for his 1988 book … Peter Berg, who directed the 2004 movie version, is co-executive producer of "Friday Night Lights" the series, and he seems to have decided that the show would only work if storytelling were pared down to quick-cutting iconography set to guitars. … "Friday Night Lights" the movie had this stylized, documentary feel too, but it also had the half-mad Billy Bob Thornton; you thought he might be capable of hitting a kid, or at least saying something incredibly mean. … The coach on "Friday Night Lights" is played by the handsome Kyle Chandler, who wears his weary, soulful gaze like a headset sponsored by the makers of an antidepressant. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… "Friday Night Lights" is not good. It's great. … Part of the reason "Friday Night Lights" works its magic on viewers is that Berg's documentary-style stamp gives the show a more mature feel -- it has none of the trappings of a teen drama, none of the sheen of a network series set in a small town. Dillon isn't some romantically reconsidered burg, peopled with whimsical characters and warm exchanges between residents. Nope, it's desolate, small and full of its own harshness. …
8 p.m. Tuesday. NBC.
Order Now!! Get Tuesday!! It’s A Cookbook!!
Cheapest Twilight Zone Ever!!
$453.95 All Five Seasons Purchased Separately
$224.99 The Complete Series
More Herctacular Series-Box Deals!!
Alias
$223.73 All Five Seasons Purchased Separately
$139.99 The Complete Series
Andromeda
$269.37 All Six Seasons Purchased Separately
$127.49 The Complete Series
Friends
$291.54 All Ten Seasons Purchased Separately
$194.87 The Complete Series
>
Homicide: Life on the Street
$505.94 All Seven Seasons Purchased Separately
$209.99 The Complete Series
M*A*S*H
$335.67 All Eleven Seasons Purchased Separately
$139.99 The Complete Series (includes the Robert Altman Movie!!)
Six Feet Under
$382.27 All Five Seasons Purchased Separately
$195.99: The Complete Series
The West Wing
$296.91 All Seven Seasons Purchased Separately
$209.99 The Complete Series
-
+ Expand All
-
Wow...
-
a show like this with 1993's short lived "Against The Grain" starring Jack Shepard's pop on Lost (John Terry), and to my surprise (I just checked IMDB) "Panckae Head" himself, Ben Affleck!I'm guessing this may do better, given it's movie tie-in.At one time, I was lookin' forward to this, but given the fact that it's not a realistic potrayal of high school kids, but another WB fest, I think I'll pass.
-
And could these reviews be any more schizophrenic? I guess I'll have to tune in and see for myself.
-
It was nothing like this or the movie. When I saw the movie, I was secretly loving every ounce of pain those assholes went through and I was especially fond of watching that one asshole get his ass whipped by his dad. Fuck this show, fuck the movie and fuck anything that tries to make High School Football in Texas look like anything other than the big cirlejerk the adults obsess over to forget how they have no lives at all that it is.
-
Comcast has had it onDemand for the past week or so. I'd say it's 50-50 good/bad. The first half of it is a lot of background stuff that isn't too interesting but it's all necessary so I can forgive them. Once gametime comes, the pilot hits its stride, although 3 quarters of football elapse in practically 7 minutes. Sure, the ending seems cliche (I won't ruin in) but it had me glued to the TV. I'm looking forward to next week.
-
it'd be best for the show to try to be more Varsity Blues the series and less total glorification. i mean, i'll still check it out tonight, being a football fan and a fan of the book/movie...but i, too, was hoping for the football players to be more Varsity Blues/Dazed and Confused...
-
Generally I stay away from Sports movies. But i gave this one a try. I was impressed with a what i saw for a while anyway. I thought it got repeitive after a while. What it did well though was it showed you no matter what sport you do the build up is intense and the pressure is unabearable on everyone. I live in Ireland and we our sport called GAA. It is divided into to games Hurling and Football. The football final was between Kerry(who have won the title 35 times) and Mayo(who havent won since 1951) and the pressure was immense and Mayo were pulled apart and beaten in the first half and they came and levelled the game. But Kerry won the day. They are all ireland champions again. Kerry are winners from birth and from the day they can walk winning is bred into them.
-
I'm definitely watchin it tonight. I thought it was funny in an ad for it. I quote "the best pilot I've ever seen." That made me laugh.
-
I'm not remotely athletic but sure I think it'll be interesting to watch what these guys go through even though I can't personally relate to it. Gilmore Girls ain't exactly a realistic depiction of a small town in Connecticut!
-
Heros...Friday Night Lights...What laughable crap aimed at Gen Y/Z. I swear the whole GE television family is fucked up in the head by making the most stupid decisions ever. Sci-Fi greenlights ECW Wrestling and cancels SG-1. NBC greenlights Heros and FNL. Who the fuck are these idiots... ___KNEEL___
-
Picking that up, wasn't a idiotic move on Sci-Fi's part.
-
What could this possibly offer week after week concerning material that movie only did a passable job with? If they can't make a 2 hour movie compelling, they don't have a fucking shot to make it a decent series.
-
People would not tune in and watch if it was a bunch of teenage fatties hanging out at gas stations/barbeque huts. Every looks like a model because they are pretty boy actors.
-
I'll be checking this teen football show out just because Peter Berg wrote and directed one of the best pilots I've ever seen. "Wonderland". I think they only aired one episode, but I still remember loving it. That is all.
-
What idiot TV executive took a show called Friday Night Lights, and put it on TV on a Tuesday! Nothing like helping the Marketing Department out huh.
-
The movie was great and very realistic. I am very suspicious of the series.
-
Is that an original piece of music, or is it from a band/composer/dj? It sounds nice and like a piece from Phillip Glass's albums when he was covering David Bowie tracks! Much help appreciated.
-
Heroes, Smith, Six Degrees, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Studio 60, The Office, and now Friday Night Lights. All this good TV makes my head hurt.
-
I did NOT see that comming. My goodness. Talk about catching someone off guard!! Whew. Oh boy. Look out now. I hope they plan on suprising me every show. WOW. I just can't get over how wonderful a comeback that was. Wowidy wow wow. I just hope the new quarterback can step up to the plate. And can you imagine if the coach can bring this team to first place!!!!!! I just might cream in my, cream in my, cream in my pants. (anybody get that reference?) Keep it coming NBC. Whew. Thanks for filling your 7:00pm Tuesday night slot with jocks, slutty girfriends, under-estimated coaches, over zealous parents and unpredictable story lines.
-
I dont know about the end song but the band explosion in the sky does the soundtrack for the movie.
-
That was GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPORER!
A great band from Montreal!
They will kick your ass! -
Is there a name for the track that was played or an album I can buy it off if it isn't on iTunes?
-
I have to give Mack Brown credit for appearing on the show and making fun of himself. Everyone not obsessed with the Longhorns knows Vince Young was the one and only reason Texas won the national championship. It was fun to see Mack Brown give a little credit to that. It helps beleive that at the end of the day, they do realize football is just a game.
-
and I'm not a huge football fan or anything, but ... sweet baby Jesus, I thought the pilot for this show was great. So poetic. Maybe that rubs some people the wrong way ... I dug it a lot. Plus I give them props for shooting in Texas. I hope this show does well.
-
The days of the week unfold leading up to the "show." The leader is burdened by great expectations and could fold at any time. I never thought I'd say this, but Kyle Chandler wears the weight of the world better than Matthew Perry. And there is a multitude of outside forces surrounding the team's success. FNL's dialogue is more realistic than S60's walk-and-talks though.
-
A theatrical feel, awesome performances by people who at least LOOK like they could be in high school, and a pretty much guaranteed slot on my ReplayTV until House comes back. Amazing.
-
The pilot was essentially the film squeezed into a 40min episode. I suppose there is a lot to build on and the characters definitely show potential, but I didn't see anything spectacular in the pilot. I would rather just watch the film again if thats all the show is gonna be.
-
i agree with Herc. i grew up in a small texas football town myself. and i played football. not to mention was on a team with high expectations that eventually captured the state championship. normally i let stuff slide on its realism, but i guess when it hits close to home i take things a little more seriously. i worked as an extra whilst they filmed around austin. it did feel like the whole thing was contrived by someone who didn't grow up around this sort of stuff and is mainly a filmmaker. the funniest thing was when they were trying to get more people to work as football players, picking people who didn't look like they could even make the B-team, they virtually laughed me away. being the same size and shape that i was in high school, making varsity as a freshman on a state semi-final team, i was a little perturbed. does that make me bitter? of course it does. but there's tons of things i don't like about this tv show going into it. first of all, why 'friday night lights'? well, other than already having the creative license to the name and banking on the moderate success of the film of the same name, they could have very well called it 'generic football town with sexy high school kids'. i mean, we all know thats what studio heads and advertisers blow their loads over. actors who look like real people working on a show with quality writing... now how many of those do you see on these days? oh well. i guess its because society as a whole is just a bunch of fucking morons and tools who watch what they're told to. blah. enough of this rant. its just making me angry.
-
I believe the song was "Sleep" from the album "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven", or it could be "Storm" from that same album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godspeed_You!_Black_Emperor -
An amazing pilot. Don't listen to the haters. Yes, this show is about the pretty people and the jocks. (The "others" are hanging out under the bleachers.) But so what. It's the best pilot of the season--haven't seen "The Nine" yet. I love this show and want to see it survive so I'm gonna do a bit of politicking and implore you to go check out the pilot at nbc.com. Not a plant. Just a fan who wants to see this show survive.
-
is because the main demographic NBC is going after is actually at the high school football games this show is based on. Since you guys are so smart, wouldn't you think this is what they thought of first? Anyway, I thought it was a good pilot (AND I say that generously for a television show that was based off of a decent movie). There are some things I did like and some things I didn't. One thing I liked was that the quarterback got REALLY injured and you could smell the devastation in the air from the whole town. Not to mention, you really felt for the kid coming in as backup. Looking forward to the great tension that was developed and could play out during the season. However, there are a couple of nitpicks I had too. I played football in high school and I always have a problem with how dramatic they make hits. I understand that it is a Hollywood structure here, but this show was made with the intention of making it realistic(hence the shaky-cam doc. feel). So, that being said, I always think they should let high school kids actually play to create that not too good and clumsy feel to the field. I hate the hits where they jump in mid-air and flip six different ways. All hits in football are not absolutely bone-crunching. They are sloppy and awkward, especially in football. Also, the actor who plays the coach sucks and I really hope they get his character beefed up in the next couple of episodes. Not too bad of a pilot though.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 171 total posts 169 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 157 total posts 111 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 138 total posts 75 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 479 total posts 62 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 59 total posts 59 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 62 total posts 59 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 48 total posts 45 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 116 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 181 total posts 30 posts