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What You Need To Know
First things first, it’s not a continuation of the movie “Friday Night Lights.” It’s so much better. Kyle Chandler’s Eric Taylor runs laps around Billy Bob Thornton’s Gary Gaines, and I love Gary Gaines. Imagine if “One Tree Hill” and “Varsity Blues” had a baby. That’s what FNL is.
The show hits you right in the mouth in the first episode. I was damn near in tears by the end of the first episode. The characters and corresponding story arcs are highly dramatic, but the show still manages to stay realistic. Coach Eric Taylor’s relationship with his wife, Tami, steals the show (WARNING: You will fall in love with Connie Britton). There’s heartbreak and triumph in every episode. It’s not just a show about sports–it’s a show about life. Horrible, disgusting, hopeful, soul-crushing life. The show treats you like an emotional yo-yo and you will find yourself running through entire seasons in less than a week’s time.
Recommended Binge Partner: Your significant other
Where You Can Get It: Netflix, Amazon Instant
Seasons: 5
Episodes: 76
Emmys Won: 2. Kyle Chandler, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2011). Jason Katims, Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (2011).
Ranking The Characters
1. Tami Taylor
2. Coach Eric Taylor
3. Matt Saracen
4. Tim Riggins
5. Buddy Garrity
6. Lyla Garrity
7. Landry Clarke
8. Jason Street
9. Tyra Collette
10. Brian “Smash” Williams
Can’t Miss Episodes
“Pilot” (Season 1) – They hit you over the head with a hammer right out of the gate. Jason Street is a five-star recruit with a smoking hot girlfriend (Minka Kelly). He gets paralyzed in the first 30 minutes of the show. Gut. Punch.
“State” (Season 1) – The Dillon Panthers make it all the way to the Texas State High School Football Championship at Texas Stadium. Probably one of the greatest hours of television you’ll ever watch.
“Always” (Season 5) – The finale wraps up “FNL” beautifully. You may have never set foot in the Lone Star State, but you won’t be able to help welling up when Tim Riggins says “Texas forever” for the last time.
“Hello, Goodbye” (Season 3) – Smash Williams finally gets his shot after rehabbing his injury and Coach Taylor’s true heart shines through when he begs with a Texas A&M coach to let Smash try out.
“Mud Bowl” (Season 1) – After a chemical spill renders the Panthers’ home field unplayable, Coach Taylor gets creative and hosts a state playoff game in the middle of a field against a Texas powerhouse.
“East Of Dillon” (Season 4) – The season four premiere thrusts Coach Taylor into the unfamiliar “urban” (read: predominantly black and poor neighborhood) surroundings of East Dillon, where he’s tasked with building the reborn East Dillon Lions football team. A once proud Texas juggernaut, East Dillon’s team is now a joke and it’s up to Taylor to restore their former glory with the deck stacked against him. Season four introduces an almost entirely new cast of characters and gives the show another element that wasn’t seen in the first three seasons.
“Underdogs” (Season 3) – Tyra Collette’s college entrance essay will make you sob.
How Many Episodes You Can Watch In One Sitting
Like I said before, the show can get heavy and absolutely crush your soul. Watching Matt Saracen try to juggle taking care of his grandma, deal with his dad being deployed over and over again, and date the coach’s daughter all while dealing with the pressure of being the starting quarterback is enough to sap every last ounce of optimism in your soul. So, how many should you watch at a time? No more than five.
Recommended Food
The show is based in Texas, so go barbecue or go home: brisket, beans, slaw, and potato salad. Don’t get crap from a grocery store. You want meat right out of the smoker and beans that have been slow-cooking for hours.
Most Underrated Character
Buddy Garrity
Most Overrated Character
Brian “Smash” Williams
Most Annoying Character
Julie Taylor
Ranking The Seasons
1. Season 1
2. Season 3
3. Season 4
4. Season 5
5. Season 2
Start To Finish
If you’re gainfully employed, four weeks. That’s three episodes a night for roughly 25 days. If you factor in a few nights where you actually have shit to do, you’ll come in closer to a full 30 days to knock this one out. The show only has 76 episodes, which is a crime in and of itself, but the amount of story they manage to fit into those 76 episodes will have you hanging onto every scene.
Respond
Brian McGannon
What do I love? I love happy hour, a good golf tan, and getting moderately drunk during dinner.
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Coach Taylor being Coach Taylor.
I’d love to have a beer (or 12) with Riggins.
I notice you didn’t recommend any episodes from season 2.
… That’s definitely for the best… Its saving grace was that the Writer’s Strike happened and so it ended earlier than it should have, giving everyone enough time to realize the big mistake they were making and readjust accordingly.
Season 4, Episode 5 is another can’t miss. I won’t spoil it, but I thought it was one of the most emotional and powerful 30 minutes of TV I had ever watched.
Best episode of the series, I think.
Dude… the feels….
Agreed 100%
NBC should be ashamed of themselves for how they treated this show. Not for the number of seasons (I’d prefer 5 great seasons to 9 drawn out seasons), but for the little respect they gave it. The fact that it only won 2 Emmys just proves what little they did to promote their best product. It’s now no surprise why NBC is headed where it is, and HBO, AMC, Netflix, etc… are headed where they are. Assholes.
This show was hit hard by the writers strike. That cut short season three (I think), which ultimately led to it getting cancelled, before DirecTV channel 101 picked it up. It was a shame.
Another big mistake that NBC made was changing the time slot from 8 PM Tuesday (watch this, an hour break, then SVU at 10) to 9 PM (I think) on Friday night (quite literally Friday Night Lights). Anybody who wanted to watch a show about Friday night football in the Fall was already at a Friday night football game. Sure, you could DVR it, but it wasn’t the same.
But do yourself a favor and skip season 2. My God, was this season awful.
Life goal: be Tami Taylor.
Tami Taylor is in no way the #1 character. She is nothing but the nagging wife who constantly gets in Coach Taylor’s way. She also made him move from Texas to some bumfuck state on the east coast so she could be some counselor.
J.D. McCoy is by far the #1 character. He is the chosen one from the first time he steps foot in Dillon. Starts as a freshman and sits Saracen’s pussy ass on the bench where it belongs. The only person who even competes with McCoy is Ray “Voodoo” Tatum.
I think we need to show some love for the best supporting character of the show, Mrs. Williams, Smash’s mother. She was awesome.
This was a beaut mcgannon. FNL is hands down my favorite show of all time.
I def agree with Buddy being the most underrated character, though Landry (read Lance) is a close second. I love Buddy’s signature quote “Everybody loves football.” One of my friend’s dad looked and acted exactly like Buddy, and was coincidentally our leading high school golf booster, always buying shit our team didn’t need and planning ridiculous things.
If you add a “most recurring annoying moment” category, I would say whenever Vince makes that stupid fucking half-grin/smirk whenever he is conflicted between doing what he knows is right and what he thinks is expected of him.
Vince will always be Wallace to me after The Wire.