Friday Night Lights - TV Series Review

A book that became a film that became a TV series. Friday Night Lights the TV Series is such a great show that I am now re-watching it as it has come to Netflix.

I watched it when it was first aired back in 2006 and tried to get my wife to watch it as well. She could not get over the camera/visual style that helped define and shape what the show was. So I watched this on the bus to work or when she was out. For a long time it was my favourite TV Show (but then I got a box set of the West Wing and that changed everything!).
It is shot in a documentary, free hand way that for me drew me into the action and into the world of characters. It's not all shaky and seems to follow the emotions and when it suits to get the closer shots of a scene.

While this is based around a High School (American) football team, not every episode contains actual football games and really does revolve around the lives of the characters in a small and highly pressurised community. It tracks the insane mentality that High School football coach can lose his job like a Premiership manager after a run of bad games.

The location of Dillon, Texas is football and that is all. It DNA is football and this is the reason for such a intense situations and why the story is fantastic all the way through.

From the very first episode, we see the fragility and expectations of the players trying to balance study, friends and football. Not being American, I have no idea how realistic the high school environment and football mentality really are, but it captivated me and keeps me wanting to watch more.

I have watched this show through about 3 times in its entirety, not always paying attention to each episode but always getting drawn into the world that it creates. I am a sucker for this genre of film and TV show. What many UK viewers might class as sappy American drama, the underdog story effect.

This example from Cool Runnings almost sums it up perfectly.

It's the fact I still get goose bumps and the sense of achievement that the characters are meant to be going through. The down by one point with 2 seconds to go cliche. You are drawn into each win and loss and feel for them every time. 

There are 5 seasons to this and while it does follow one team, it really follows a few characters and focuses on them through the show. Eric Taylor as played by Kyle Chandler and his family are arguably the main characters, the head coach of the team, and not wanting to spoil too much it's been off the air since 2011, he does not always stay in once place. It is the reasons though that make it interesting.

Saying that though it has made a few names like Taylor Kitsch, Micheal B. Jordan and Adrianne Palicki who have gone on to bigger and better ventures.

This is a great TV series that has heart, and that is what makes it so re-watchable. I think that it has a certain charm to it that makes you care for the people on screen. This is an example of where the film just could not deliver as much because of the time constraints. While this is based on the book that is based on true events, I am not sure when that starts to deviate and by how much. It is worth checking out if you Netflix, and it is one I am sure I will re-watch again one day when I have forgotten how much I enjoyed the 4th time around.