AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 03 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USTake Ten: ‘Friday Night’ Fanaticism
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We confess. We’re hooked. We can’t be fair and balanced. We’re confirmed ‘Friday Night’ Freaks. ‘FNL’ is beautifully filmed, well-acted, expertly written. It’s the football version of ‘Hoosiers,’ brought to the small screen. It’s got game. But it’s also got plenty of heart and thoughtfulness to spare. If you missed Tuesday night’s pilot episode, NBC is running an encore Wednesday, Oct. 4. Check your local listings.
So here are the Top Ten reasons to do as the fictional Dillon Panthers radio announcer says - “Lock up your daughters, sit down, shut up” - and book a standing Tuesday night date with ‘FNL.’
10: Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” played LOUD and PROUD during a hard-hitting montage segment. Can you not be pumped by this? If not, check to see if you have a pulse.
9: Kyle Chandler, who plays Coach Eric Taylor, is rocking a real Southern accent, y’all. He grew up in Loganville and matriculated at UGA.
8: The scene between starting QB/all-American good guy Jason Street and the Dillon, Tx., mayor is fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious. Check out Madame Mayor and then try telling us you don’t know where the term “Helmet Hair” may have come from.
7: Tyra! Tyra! Tyra!
6: You’ll be screaming for the Panthers to get it in gear against the Chaps. We won’t say why, but trust us on this one. Yeah, it’s just TV but you’ll root, root, root for the home team. The game looks so darn REAL.
5: “It’s only football,” followed by a knowing laugh. Right on, Coach. Keep smilin’.
4: YO! “Smash” raps.
3: If there’s a cooler TV wife/mom than Connie Britton’s character, Tami Taylor, clue us in. Because the phrases “Stuff it” and “His and Hers closets” will never sound the same to us after the ‘FNL’ pilot. Hee.
2: Backup QB Matt Saracen’s biggest fan is his grandma. Which is just as it should be.
1: ‘Friday Night Lights’ is on Tuesdays. And that means our own Fridays are freed up for… Friday night lights.
Pep Rally starts here: Friday Night Lights: Official site
Go on. Take Ten. Did you watch ‘Friday Night Lights’? What did you think?
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Take Ten
Comments
By Ponce
October 3, 2006 10:30 PM | Link to this
I’ll give it another try, but it seemed awfully sappy to me. This series would be better on HBO, where more controversal story lines could be tackled. On network TV, the “reality” of high school football won’t be very real.
By Nick
October 4, 2006 10:30 AM | Link to this
The football scenes were too fake. The QB got hurt at the 6 minute mark, but then they were haveing a captians meeting with under 2minutes. After the onside kick the Panthers ran a play to about the 20, but the next play the QB threw about a 50 yard pass to a wide open player at the 30 when the defense was in a prevent. Come on, think a little bit about making the game look real.
By matt
October 4, 2006 09:21 PM | Link to this
i hope the show is gone by the end of the month what a disgrace and total embarrasment to the only pure sport we have left.
By Daniel
October 5, 2006 01:26 AM | Link to this
The show was alright until the end. These people need to get some football consultants or something. The backup QB comes in with like :57 left on the clock. He throws a shovel pass to the RB, who takes it to about the 20 or 30 of the opposing team and clearly gets out of bounds. The next thing we know, the offense is scrabling to get a play off with about :06 left on the clock!! First off, a play would not take that long, and the clock clearly should have stopped! And on top of all that, the QB somehow scrambles back to his own 20 and throws a 60 yard bomb down the field for a TD??? Totally unrealistic and an insult to any fan of the game. An insult to any fan of the movie and especially the book! They changed everything. The name of the school isn’t even the same, not to mention the players or storyline.
By Daniel
October 5, 2006 01:37 AM | Link to this
The show was alright until it got to the actual football game. The team comes out on the field with :57 left on the clock. They run a shovel to the RB and he takes it to about the 20 or 30 of the opposing team and goes out of bounds. Next thing we’re shown, the offense is scrambling to run a play with :06 left on the clock when the clock should have stopped in the first place! And on top of that nonsense, the back up quarterback ends up scrambling back to his own 20 on the next play and lets loose a 60 yard bomb for a TD to win the game…yeah, right. What an insult to any fan of the game. An insult to any fan of the book or movie too. The school’s name isn’t even the same, much less the characters or storylines.
And who worte this review? Are they being paid by the network to say all of that? The wife was very annoying with her “his and her closets”. And the scene where “Smash” raps to a bunch of rich old white people has got to be one of the more awkward situations portrayed on TV this fall. And what is Mack Brown doing on a TV show, and why the heck does he care so much about this particular high school winning? Maybe I just missed that part. Either way, this show better start getting its football facts straight or it’s gonna alienate its intended audience.