Yes, yes, many times yes.

jam2 | September 14, 06:58 CET

The show is incredible. And I have little-to-no-interest in football, Texas or high school. But seriously - its first season is one of the great seasons of television. Check it out.

crossoverman | September 14, 07:15 CET

Right on!

zeitgeist | September 14, 07:47 CET

I'm with crossoverman. I would never have checked this show out if it hadn't been the for the rave review by Goodman in the San Francisco Chronicle. For me, it's a visit to an alien culture. Friday Night Lights (first season, anyway) is fundamentally about the moral problems of growing from adolescence to adulthood, and how the behavior of adults shapes teenagers' character. But it's not preachy. Considering that most people in the TV industry share the same coastal-liberal-urban-hipster-secular-humanist cultural biases, it's amazing that this show is so accurate and uncondescending.

janef | September 14, 08:14 CET

If it's keeping company with The Wire and Battlestar Galactica, I better add this one to my netflix queue, stat.

I think I remember Jane Espenson singing the show's praises at some point last year, too.

orphea | September 14, 11:46 CET

Probably the best drama on network TV right now. Very well written and acted, if you're into that sort of thing.

Dirk | September 14, 12:12 CET

Not into football so I've never checked this one out. But as someone born and raised in the L.A. area and having spent most of the first twenty-five years of my life there, as well as still having friends and family in the area, I have to take issue with janef's statement about the coastal-liberal-urban-hipster-secular humanist cultural bias of "most people in the TV industry".

I am a proud liberal .... especially proud, considering the mess the conservatives have made of the U.S. .... as well as a secular humanist and a feminist as well. Not sure what the "urban-hipster" is supposed to mean, but you want to talk about bias? I can't imagine a more biased statement than the one I just quoted.
I'm not sure in what way the TV industry would be expected to be "culturally biased" and "condescending" toward Texas highschoolers/football players, but that was a really offensive
little tirade.

Shey | September 14, 13:36 CET

I sort of agree with Shey, as I'm one of those coastal-liberal-urban-secular humanists (not a hipster though). However, I think TV does have a bias toward creating shows set in New York or LA just because that's where the production facilities and actors are and they do tend towards a liberal-secular POV because 1) it's what they think, and write what you know; 2) it's correct :)

So Friday Night Lights bucks that trend and shows us something different in a way that does not condescend to those differences nor does it put the characters on a moral high horse that belittles the liberal-secular-blah-blah. All good.

So in closing: Friday Night Lights = good, being condescending towards those that don't share your socio-political POV or being overly sensitive about same = bad.

But that's just my opinion, of course.

Cris | September 14, 15:04 CET

Well deserved.
I don't understand american football, and it took a few reviews to convince me that it's not a show about american football, and check it out.
Once you're in the first couple episodes, is easy to really understand what this show really is about.

Numfar PTB | September 14, 16:05 CET

Let's not stray too far here; Cris pretty much said it so I won't repeat. Its a well written and acted show that treats its characters as real people, for good and bad and its a striking example of the art that the flickering lights on the telly are capable of presenting.

zeitgeist | September 14, 16:22 CET

This was my favourite show last season and I was biting my nails waiting for it to get renewed. Can't wait for the new season.

Caroline | September 14, 17:19 CET

This is a show - along with 'The Wire' - that i've been meaning to check out just from positive recommendations (either on here or from blogs I read).

The premise holds basically no interest for me at all but it's different to what I know at least and good is good I guess, it transcends subject matter. Will very likely have a look now that it's been renewed (and released on DVD).

Considering that most people in the TV industry share the same coastal-liberal-urban-hipster-secular-humanist cultural biases, it's amazing that this show is so accurate and uncondescending.

Arguable to begin with but the key point is surely, a lot of those coast dwelling hipsters don't originate in LA/New York they travel there for work, from small mid-western, high-school football playing towns as much as anywhere else i'd imagine.

Saje | September 14, 17:32 CET

Woo! It's the best show on television. It deserves it.

MindPieces | September 14, 19:04 CET

FNL is an "American football show" in the same way that Angel was a crime procedural. (Add your own Dick Wolf/Oz joke here). Get past the premise and the creamy middle has riches beyond imagination. To echo Dirk, it's very well written and acted, and if you aren't into that sort of thing why are you on the 'esque? :)

holeintheworld | September 14, 21:34 CET

Becuase Joss is hot. I thought that's why we were all on here.

Seriously, I love FNL and not just for the amazing acting. I'm on a marching band staff of a Midwest high school, and it's crazy how real they get some of the details in this show...

El Diablo Robotico | September 14, 21:51 CET

Great summation, holeintheworld. FNL is in my current top three of shows on the air right now, since my beloved VM is gone. It's right up there with Lost and Battlestar Galactica for consistent quality.

I don't think there was even one episode during the first season that didn't give me a lump in my throat at some point. IMO, the realism is just so true, and never panders to a certain audience. The show is just like slices of these people's lives in Dillon, TX.

clarkkent179 | September 14, 23:11 CET

Based on everyone's rave reviews here I picked up the first season on DVD this afternoon at Borders. (On sale for $19.99!) That way I can get caught up before the second season starts on October 5.

As I was checking the second season premiere date on NBC's web site, I just saw that the entire first season is available for online viewing. (I assume it's for US internet connections only.)

[ edited by karosurly on 2007-09-14 21:36 ]

karosurly | September 15, 00:33 CET

Wow. I would never have thought of looking at this show. I mean, football? But you all have me convinced. It's going into the Neflix queue right now.

another west-coast-liberal--(but hopelessly un-hip) secular humanist

jcs | September 15, 02:11 CET

FNL is absolutely the best drama on tv and quite possibly the best show period. Football is incidental to the show's genius.

themayor | September 15, 04:06 CET

This is a show - along with 'The Wire' - that i've been meaning to check out just from positive recommendations (either on here or from blogs I read).

Both are excellent shows (Friday Night Lights is only $19.99 a lot of places with a money back guarantee), but grab The Wire first. Last twenty years or so have been phenomenal for the development of television. The Wire gets a ton of "best show ever" type praise and it's entirely deserved. You rarely see shows as well plotted, or with characters that are so perfectly written and developed (everything feels earned and never contrived), or that are actually important. You never see all those things in one show. It's the closest a TV series has ever come to being perfect. I don't even feel like a fanboy saying that, because it's true. Seriously, for people who have even the vaguest interest in it, pick it up as soon as you can. Still time to catch up before Season 5, too.

Dirk | September 15, 05:35 CET