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The holy ghost.

It’s just not the same. And I know you can’t ask for something to never change. Change is inevitable. All things change but that doesn’t mean we have to like it. Coca-Cola changed to Coke and got Billy Joel so ticked he wrote a song about it and got the company to change it back (at least I think that’s how it went down… I was only five). That being said, Burger King changed the recipe to their fries a decade ago and have yet to change it back despite all the songs I’ve written. I guess what I’m saying is Friday Night Lights isn’t the same show this season that it was last season and now we’re all going to have to decide what we want to do about it. Should I get the guitar? More after the jump…

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I’m suppose to be on a bus to D.C. in about five hours and thanks to the literal dozens of hours of television I’ve watched this week am about to pass out any minute. That being said, I feel like it’s my civic obligation to write something, anything about the often-beautiful and occasionally troubling season premiere to Friday Night Lights. Bear with me if this doesn’t end up making any sense, and feel free to hit the comments for those moments I might have skipped in my current haze of cathode ray pixels, pizza crusts and dry eyes. More after the jump…

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Ever blow through $20 and think, “Man, that was stupid”? You’re sitting there, holding your new copy of Shooter starring Mark Walberg and suddenly you realize, “I’m never going to watch this.” Or you walk into a Barnes and Nobel and pick up that new best-seller that everyone is talking about only to have it sit on your shelf for eight months before you finally opt to sell it on Half.com. It’s frustrating because it was a poor decision, but it was also just twenty bucks and is hard to get worked up over it’s loss. What’s $20? Twenty dollars is what you spend on a random Tuesday out with your friends. Twenty dollars is what you might find on the street. Twenty dollars is enough money to look like it can solve problems, but not enough money to actually do anything.

I present to you: Friday Night Lights on DVD. It came out yesterday. This week both Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com all had the box set available for the NICE PRICE of $19.99. Huh, twenty bucks. Who knew?

Again, this is the best show on network television. If you didn’t watch last season NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO CATCH UP. The series returns to NBC on Friday October 5th. That gives you more than a month to watch the first season’s twenty-two episodes, and if by some crazy alignment of the stars you didn’t happen to enjoy it, NBC is willing to give you your money back.

Enough dilly-dally. Just click the link. You’ve certainly spent way more money on stupider things (college, anyone?).

Dillon Football is coming back in a month!

One of the best pieces of information to come out of Press-Tour this year was that NBC is going to be releasing the Friday Night Lights DVD box set on August 28th (probably a month before the second season starts) and that it will be priced in a way to get even the cheapest television watchers on board and caught up by the fall (MSRP: $29.99).

Some light detective work shows you can pre-order the DVDs through Amazon for the low-low price of $19.99 (I’m not paid to say this, but I should be, right?). That works out to be 2¢ a minute, which is probably cheaper than most long-distance plans.

Look, if you have any interest whatsoever in watching really great television, this is a purchase you can’t afford not to make (remember, coffee is for closers only).

As the network upfronts are set to get underway, information has started to leak, and minds can be put at ease. Take for example this bit of news: Friday Night Lights is going to get a second season. In an unofficial announcement by NBC, the network has given the go-ahead to the brilliant series as well as early word on four other dramas that will be making the fall schedule (The Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life).

Last month NBC went ahead and ordered six new scripts for Nights, a sign things looked promising. Looks like the writers are now slightly ahead of the game.

Now we’re just holding out hope for Veronica Mars and How I Met Your Mother. Is it possible we score a hat trick?

“Variety” reports more on the NBC pickup.

Whoo! We did it! We did it!

As the 2006/2007 TV season winds to a close, it’s kind of interesting/sobering to look at the network schedule and see which of those “highly toted” new shows from last fall actually made it all the way. Even more interesting is to try to figure out which of those shows impressed people enough to get second seasons.

According to my count the following were clearly strong enough (or at least received well enough by critics) to make it from the fall to the spring mostly intact: Jericho, Shark, Ugly Betty, Heroes, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, ‘Til Death and The Game. Of those, you can really only grant the distinction of being a “hit new show” to Heroes, Ugly Betty and Shark — all of which are expected to return next fall.

Also interesting is that Heroes is the only true serial (perhaps Ugly Betty to a lesser degree) that caught viewer’s attention this year despite “the serialized drama” being the hot genre going into the fall of 2006 (The Nine, Six Degrees, Other Number Based Drama anyone?). Apparently people who are not myself only have so much tolerance for interweaving storylines.

As for those shows that didn’t make it out alive, they’re numbers are too plentiful to count. Not like we’re really missing anything too significant. Outside of Friday Night Lights, which made it from start to finish despite still being on the bubble for a season two, there really weren’t that many new shows this season that broke any significant ground artistically. Are there people out there still wiping away tears because Kidnapped didn’t make it past its fourth week? Probably, but we didn’t really want to be friends with those people anyway, did we? Look, at least they’re got a DVD release, which is more than I can say for fans of Andy Richter Controls the Universe.

I feel like all comments about this episode have to be filtered through the result of whatever happens next year. If the show gets cancelled, last night’s episode means something completely different than if the show gets picked up for a second season.

I feel like the writers did a good job of making a resolute ending and yet leaving enough room to stretch things out into another season. Given that, I have to admit that this wasn’t my favorite episode. Of any time this season, last night’s finale seemed to fall into the standard TV traps: enemies become friends, the team wins the big game, the coach realizes he made a mistake and decides to stay in the small town and live amongst the people who love him… and slow claps (at least two of them). More after the break…

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Hey, how ’bout Saracen sleeping with the coach’s daughter! … … …

This is it sports fans. One week until the big game! Possibly the last game of our career, not just of our season. So let’s just take a moment, clear our heads, and thank the lord on high that this week’s episode was so damn good. Of course, they’re all good.

Again Tami Taylor proves she’s the pants wearer of the Taylor family (and Connie Britton proves that she’s the best actress on television). The way that speech was delivered during the football banquet was a thing of beauty. Beauty in the writing, the acting, and especially in the emotional resonance the viewer takes away having seen the character in such an intense argument with her husband for much of the episode.

Add that to Landry’s surprisingly heart-felt, honest scenes with both Tyra and Saracen, and the unbelievably hilarious dialogue double-team with Coach Taylor and Jason Street berating Saracen about having to jump off a cliff, and brother… you got yourself a stew going on.

Look, the show could be coming to a close and I’ve been writing about it for 21 weeks, basically screaming that its the best thing on network television and presenting my case that YES! this is something you should be watching, this is why television is great medium, why good narrative story-telling needs hours upon hours to unfold, so if you’re reading this now and you’re not watching this show, I have to say, television might not be a form for you… … either that or you’re soulless. Probably one or the other.

One week to go!

The winners of the 2006 Peabody Awards have been anounced, highlighting the best of television and radio from the previous year. As the Emmy voters continues to prove how out of touch they are with what is actually great on television, the Peabodys have established themselves as the true symbol of greatness (though it should be noted that The Wire did not win this year, but has in the past [2003]).

Here are some of the highlights:

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts — Spike Lee’s remarkable poem of rage about Hurricane Katrina and the governement’s negligence in protecting its citizens. I can’t think of piece of television I watched last year that was more powerful and elicited such an emotional reaction. This one was a no-brainer for the Peabody committee.

Boondocks: Return of the King — One of the biggest surprises on the list, Boondocks is one of those absolutely fantastic series that you completely forget about once the season ends. Perhaps that statement is more damning to the viewers than the series itself. “Return of the King” is an episode that imagines Martin Luther King Jr. waking up from a 30 year coma and seeing what his American Dream had actually accomplished. It’s a pretty bold half-hour of television, especially for a time-slot that often houses a talking piece of meat. Bully for you Aaron McGruder.

Friday Night Lights — In what I hope to be the first of many awards (and the first in a series of justifications for bringing the show back in the fall), Friday Night Lights was recognized for accurately portraying a reality shared by most people in America. Sadly, most people in America still don’t know this is even a television show. Hopefully this award can convince a few more people to tune in (its a shame advertisers aren’t particularly interested in the 25-42 year old television critic demographic. If they were Friday Night Lights would easily be a top-ten show).

Other highlights in the entertainment category include the category defyinging Ugly Betty, The Office for a season in which it really came into its own and separated itself from its British counterpart (which was also a Peabody winner), Showtime’s Brotherhood, a series I have never seen, but now would like to, and Scrubs, for what I have to assume is a recognition of their last good season.

Read about some of the other honorees over at Aaron Barnhart’s TV Barn

It was a flawless episode before the climax. Since I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone (especially this week), I’d like to invite you to join the rest of this post by clicking below.

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Yeah, but have you been to Carhenge?

All right kids, we’re first and goal. Three more episodes left this season (possibly forever). Tonight’s entry, though uneven at times, was still amazing. Before I get into specifics I need to call foul on my earlier declaration that The Riches was the best thing airing on television. While at the time Friday Night Lights was, technically, still on hiatus, that comment was completely out of line.

Now that that’s settled…

One aspect that really struck me in this week’s episode was how both Jason and Tim were put in similar positions of temptation with similar consequences and that they both reacted the exact same way. The difference being Suzy was clearly into Jason but “the kid’s mom” (what’s her name?) was obviously more apprehensive (though eventually gave in). It was kind of a brilliant device because its essentially what brought Tim and Jason back together (that and a 12 pack of Lone Star). Plus, with Jason not getting on the Quad team (he’s only been in a chair for about four months, right?) their friendship sets things up perfectly for Mr. Street to work his way into the coaching offices of Dillon.

Back a the Taylor household we were given a myriad scenes of CLASSIC coach Taylor and Tami. The highlights being the discussion on the merits of Eric’s “award winning chili” and his pitch to Julie about Austin. “It’s an arty kinda town. You’re arty.”

I love Buddy Garitty’s complete obliviousness to the damage he has done. At the end of the episode you could see he was on the verge of tears, but you had to wonder if those tears were coming from the right place. Likewise, Layla’s Albie Singer-influenced bumper-car rampage was an excellent change of pace for a girl so previously infatuated with the storybook life. I wonder if this is the beginning of a downward spiral.

And hey, speaking of Suzy, I wonder if she’ll be back… she was quite the looker.

Listen to “Steady As She Goes” by Lil’ Cap’n Travis [who you may know as the band in the Austin bar]

“Is that a whale?”

I finally sat down and watched some television last night. It was a pleasurable experience. Enjoyed some Heroes, a little Friday Night Lights, some Lost, Knights of Prosperity, and even managed to formulate some thoughts on the shows, which I’d like to share with you right after the break…

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On Saturday I was talking to a friend about Veronica Mars. Her feelings about this season have been lukewarm at best. I found this moderately shocking as most people I’ve talked to have felt the past half-dozen or so episodes have been as good as any. Granted things started off slow. I blame the writers trying to figure out how to play the whole “college” angle, the misguided decision to have the preliminary arc deal with the pursuit of a serial rapist (haven’t we all ready done that?), and having a mostly neutered Logan moping around the first six episodes. Since the winter hiatus, however, the show has been nothing shy of tip-top. My friend didn’t really agree. In fact, she went as far as saying that she hopes the show ends this year so she doesn’t have to watch it anymore. Bold.

An interesting point was raised during our discussion. She said that perhaps one of the reasons Veronica Mars has been leaving her cold is because she’s watching it after she watches the increasingly disastrous Gilmore Girls. Can the bad taste of one show ruin one’s appreciation for another? I think it can. I’ll explain further after the break…

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A few brief words on Lost before I get to the more pressing matters: kinda boring episode, no? Oh well, what can you do?

The good news is (at least for the next few weeks) if Lost doesn’t deliver, we can always fall back on the shockingly rock-solid goodness of Friday Night Lights. What’s interesting is the difference between a mediocre episode of Lost and a mediocre episode of Friday Night Lights. The latter is still going to be the best thing you watch all day, even if it isn’t the best in its own series.

Most of the story lines this week were good if not especially riveting. The gold came from Matt and Julie and Julie’s attempt to lose her virginity in the most emotionless and scientific of ways. There was great tension and comedy between the two, not the least of which being the visual of two moderately horny high schoolers trying to get it on under the watchful eyes of what seemed like dozens of mounted deer heads.

Conversely the scene with Mrs. Taylor trying to talk her daughter out of sex was heartbreaking. There really isn’t much a parent can say in instances like this that could honestly change the mind of a child who has all ready made a decision and Mrs. Taylor’s attempt seemed to say this as much as she would have liked to have said, “Look, I’ve mistakes.” Connie Britton is a fantastic actor.

Comments on last night’s television selections coming up after the jump…

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