Aimee Teegarden

FNL's Teegarden Signs On to 90210 -- What Does It All Mean?

• Dec 2, 2008 11:33 AM ET
• by Mickey O'Connor
• 11 Comments

Aimee Teegarden

Friday Night Lights fans, get ready to have an irrational tantrum!

Aimee Teegarden -- who plays Coach Taylor's wholesome-but-rebellious daughter Julie on the beloved, ratings-challenged football drama -- has signed on to a guest spot on the CW's 90210. Taylor will play Rhonda, a West Bev student who crosses paths with BMOC Ethan Ward.

The big question: Does this mean anything for the future of Friday Night Lights?

VIDEO: Will FNL's Julie & Tyra Cook Up Trouble?

• Jul 22, 2008 02:11 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

Body art! A new/old boyfriend! And a job... at Applebee's... with Tyra! That's just some of what Aimee Teegarden says is in store for Friday Night Lights' Julie. Watch this video for more Season 3 preview. read more

A Can't-Miss Friday Night Lights

• Feb 1, 2008 07:13 PM ET
• by Matt Roush

Zach Gilford in Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo

You want to know why we fans of Friday Night Lights go on and on about this show, despite its sad ratings and aggravating lack of presence on the various clueless awards show? I’ll tell you why we go on and on about it. Tonight’s episode is why.This hour is on par with the best of the first season, and that’s saying something. It’s some of the finest TV you’re likely to see all year. I’ve watched certain parts of this episode several times, and each time it takes my breath away with its emotional power. Friday Night Lights is one of those rare series that breaks your heart and lifts your spirit all at once.Even one of TV’s most familiar subplots, a parent preparing a child for a driving test, has unexpected depth—thanks to the subtext of the relationship between Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) and daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), which has been fraught with conflict all season. The distracted mom and the rebellious teen: seen it before, but rare... read more

"Let's Get It On"

• Nov 3, 2007 03:51 AM ET
• by leahfriedman

You mean Landry? Jesse Plemons, Kyle Chandler by Bill Records/NBC

Guest blogger Casey Marsella (Heroes) here! Leah couldn't make it tonight, but I'll do my best to recap this amazing show!Landry! Landry! Landry!Jesse Plemons made Dillon (and FNL fans) stand up and cheer tonight. His performance is what I love about this show. I’ve always noticed that the people who seem "out of place" are usually the ones most comfortable in their own skin. Landry used to be the goofy, one-liner sidekick, but he was always sure of himself. Tonight he proved that. His halftime speech was the highlight of the episode: "We can win together or lose alone." It was the perfect lead-in to: Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose!So, who’s together and who’s alone?Let’s start with the Taylors. Tami is thrilled to have her husband back, but not enough to give him the "green light." Coach was gently shot down and forced to sleep on the couch so Tami could finally get a good night’s sleep. The next day, the bags under his eyes initiated an unwanted ... read more

He's Back, Baby!

• Oct 27, 2007 02:41 AM ET
• by leahfriedman

MacGregor is out and Taylor is in. Chris Mulkey by Bill Records/NBC

Episode Recap: "Backfire"Who didn't have a little flutter in his (or her) heart when Coach Taylor, back in his Dillon Panther blues, stood up in front of that room like nothing had changed and said, "Let's go. Let's have some fun today"? What a way to end an episode that already just seemed to fly by.Aside from that weird, Mafia-like threat from Coach MacGregor ("I have a family, too, and you just remember that. I'll be seeing you again"), Eric's homecoming was nothing less than joyous. Julie and Tami are well on their way to patching things up, especially now that it looks like the grungy Swede might be out of the picture. Matt Saracen has someone back on his side again, and Buddy should probably be considered the town hero.Ah, Buddy. We may have just been witness to the only game in Panther history that Buddy honestly wanted his beloved team to lose. It was quite a sight to watch him hold back a grin as Smash got blocked again and again, leaving Dillon with a humiliating loss on t... read more

Brawls On and Off the Field

• Oct 20, 2007 02:05 AM ET
• by leahfriedman

Eric hopes he can get his old job back. Kyle Chandler by Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Episode Recap: "Are You Ready for Friday Night?"Is this show about football or hockey? There was so many smackdowns (verbal and physical) tonight, that I think I'm forming bruises in sympathy. What does it say about a show when the characters who are doing the best at the moment are the ones who recently committed murder?That's right, you Tyra and Landry fans — the deed has been done, is probably going to be done again. And it seems like they're genuinely in love. Dillon's former bad girl — who seems to have passed on her particular brand of anger to Julie, but more on which later — is in a relationship with a guy that respects her and won't take advantage, so it's just too bad that the entire foundation of their love is that they killed someone. Their watch-shopping scene was the sweetest and lightest of the night ("it really doesn't look anything like [the old watch] except that they are both watches and have hands and tell time"). Definitely a welcome respite fro... read more

A Plague of Consequences Strikes Dillon

• Oct 13, 2007 02:05 AM ET
• by leahfriedman

Matt tries to figure out how to deal with the women in his life. Zach Gilford by Bill Records/NBC

Episode Recap: "Bad Things"Regular readers of this blog know that this show make me cry on a pretty regular basis. Tonight's episode was no exception, though I'm not sure what part was most affecting. You'd think it would be Jason still coming to terms with his paralysis after recovering some muscle function, but that's really just par for the course on this show. As usual, Connie Britton's flawless portrayal of a new mother with a crumbling psyche was wrenching to watch. Was there any scene in which she wasn't desperately trying to swallow her sobs? And the thing is, it all seemed so completely organic — there was no screaming or a melodramatic "Why me?" moment. It's hard not to love a show that allows its characters to fully comprehend the ridiculousness of their choices, and when Glenn (the guidance counselor in need of guidance) asked Tami why exactly she and Eric were living apart, her acknowledgement of, "I don't know, that was just my idea, it was just a stupid idea," wa... read more

A New Job, a New Coach and a New Baby

• Oct 6, 2007 02:01 AM ET
• by leahfriedman

The Taylors adjust to their new situation. Connie Britton, Aimee Teegarden, Kyle Chandler by Bill Records/NBC

Episode Recap: "Last Days of Summer""Welcome back to another glorious year of Panther football." I'm not ready to classify the football as glorious just yet, what with this new Coach McGregor (the anti-Eric Taylor) and all, but the show itself is certainly back and in sublime form.Let us first welcome into the world Miss Grace Taylor, second daughter of Eric and Tami, sister to suddenly moody teen, Julie. Now Eric has another daughter to defend against football players and Swedes; too bad he's a plane ride away in Austin. His new coaching job at TMU is having a deleterious effect on his family and (I'm not even being dramatic when I say this) the entire football-loving community in Dillon, but more about that in a bit. Julie won't talk to him because she considers him to have been an absentee father for the last 8 months, and Tami — Connie Britton, proving yet again how wrong the Emmy voters got it with her incredible performance tonight — is absolutely destroyed that he c... read more

It's Friday. Keep the Lights On.

• Oct 5, 2007 05:13 PM ET
• by Matt Roush

Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton in Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo

What more can its devoted critics say about NBC’s Friday Night Lights except to celebrate the fact that it’s back for a second season, which means it has already beaten the odds, at least for now. Not that the odds aren’t still incredibly steep for this eternal underdog in its new Friday time period: 9 pm/ET, when many of those who might savor this wonderful drama’s small-town football backdrop are out enjoying their own high school football matches this time of year. No matter how you watch it — in real time, in your own time via recording or online viewing — you really don’t want to miss it.Friday Night Lights is powerfully entertaining drama, and returning to Dillon, Texas, is like going home again. The characters are instantly familiar as they recapture your heart, especially the Taylors. That would be Coach Eric and wife Tami, unhappily maintaining a long-distance relationship as he adjusts to a new college job while Tami copes with a new baby... read more

Friday Night Lights Location Crisis Averted

• Aug 24, 2007 08:51 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

Aimee Teegarden by Virginia Sherwood/NBC Photo

It came thisclose to a move out of the Lone Star State for Year 2 of NBC's critical darling Friday Night Lights. "Texas didn't follow through on the rebates promised when we based the production in Austin," says Aimee Teegarden, who plays the coach's daughter Julie. "NBC said, 'We're going to move.' It was talks about money. Arizona and New Mexico were both anxious to have us and offered incentives, so I was expecting our show to leave Austin.""Aimee's right," says executive producer Jason Katims. "We were scouting new location bases and were courted by the other states' film commissions, but the network and the appropriate people in Texas settled things. I can't provide specifics, but it worked out so we could remain in Austin."And what did Teegarden get out of this? "I got a new apartment in Austin," replies the Southern California native. "There was no reason to keep my original place when I heard we might move to New Mexico or Arizona."Teegarden celebrates her milestone 18th bir... read more