"Friday Night Lights" on ESPN Classic

ESPN Classic is showing "Friday Night Lights" from the beginning. They showed the first two episodes Tuesday night and are continuing tonight with a marathon. I'm watching for the first time and wanted to see if anyone else was. It would be cool if we could get a spoiler-free thread going, but I really just wanted to let people know.

 

You want a spoiler-free thread on a show that started five years ago and just aired its series finale?

 

I just thought it would be cool to discuss it if anyone else was watching it for the first time.

 

The series isn't ending, ESPN has picked it up.

 

For new episodes, or reruns?

 

reruns.

show is over

 

If I had any advice for someone watching the show for the first time - don't screw around on your computer or anything else while watching it. Some of the best moments on the show are sideways glances, facial expressions and moments the actors didn't even realize the cameras caught.

 

A lot of the stars have gone on to better things (no, not another Jeter thread) and I doubt a new cast could recreate anything close to what we've seen the last five years.

 

Anytime a watcher needs a bathroom break, feel free to duck out during game footage. Just assume the most cliched result, and you'll likely belatedly discover that's exactly what happened.

Other than that, there's much about the show that's admirable, and anyone who hasn't taken a look, probably should.

 

Agreed. The show was great, but they needed someone on that set to write and direct the football scenes. How do you screw up the football scenes in a series — at least originally — about football?

Multiple hail mary victories...30 second full-field game-winning drives...

It would be as if Aaron Sorkin had the President ducking assassination attempts in every episode of "The West Wing."

A blemish on an otherwise spotless series.

 

folks have to cut 'em slack on the ridiculous, 'dramatic,' hail marys that pockmarked the football action scenes. 'fnl' never found a tv audience worth a spit but producers felt they had to go the over-the-top, dramatic route to build whatever they could from the non-football (primarily female) audience it needed to keep it going.

and even that didn't work. but just the fact it was able to cut-and-paste its way through seasons was an extrordinary, unheard of achievement for a 'sports' drama. i never understood those leatherheads among us who allowed it to hinder their enjoyment of the show. 'cause it wasn't a 'football' show. it was a show/film about the people it was depicting in a football-crazed texas town.

sadly, i still haven't purchased (or been gifted) the full dvd set. hoping all five seasons with commentaries is available by xmas.

but damn straight i'm loving revisiting season 1 on espnclassics this week. for those who have never checked it out, i couldn't urge you more to do so. except for the unfortunate tyra/landry '90210-one tree hill-styled' drama in season 2, this series stayed true to its mission and characters 'til the end.

and as our man sepinwall has said for years, coach and mrs. coach might be the best-written/played married couple in television history.

for veteran fans of the series (NEWBIES BEWARE: THIS PIECE IS CHOCK-FULL OF SPOILERS SO DO NOT NOT NOT LOOK AT IT!!!, i give you alan's look-back at 'fnl':

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/friday-night-lights-a-look-back-at-its-greatness-and-its-greatest-moments

 

I'd like to see how they are going to continue it considering that terrorist attack at the state championship game that happeed at the end of the series finale and killed most of the main characters.