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
Just think of each of the following as exhibition games:The first-season DVD goes on sale this Tuesday, Aug. 28, and if you order it through Amazon.com, it'll be only $19.99. (Buy one for a friend — or 12, while you're at it.) For all those who've wondered what would happen if Connie Britton and Zach Gilford were together in a horror film, their movie, The Last Winter, comes on out Sept. 19. Finally, show some love for IHOP because Miss Julie Taylor herself (Aimee Teegarden) appears in one of their commercials.Season 2 premieres Friday, Oct. 5, at 9pm/ET. Order some wings, drink a beer, and pray that Buddy Garrity doesn't show up with the word "Panthers" painted across his chest.
read more
Question: I've got to say I'm disappointed over the lack of nominations for Friday Night Lights, which is one of the best shows on TV right now. That Boston Legal is nominated over FNL is wrong on many levels. First of all, BL is more of a comedy. It's also wildly uneven in tone, jumping from drama to absurdist comedy to breaking the fourth wall (which I always find so forced). Despite these faults, I actually like BL quite a bit; I just don't think it's one of the best shows on TV, and certainly not one of the best dramas. I can't help but wonder if the left-leaning Emmy voters were prejudiced against a show that takes place in small-town Texas (FNL) and more inclined to make a statement by nominating one that wears its liberal heart on its sleeve (BL), despite its questionable quality. It's nominations like these that make it really hard to take the Emmys seriously. Oh, and I think Connie Britton was robbed, too, as well as Lost.
Answer: I do sometimes wonder if the pandering nature
...
read more
Alec Baldwin courtesy NBC Photo
No awards system is perfect, and the TCA Awards is no exception. But arriving two days after the often-inexplicable results of the Emmy nominations, Saturday night's low-key, good-time TCA Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton was a welcome course correction to several especially egregious Emmy oversights. (And, lo and behold, nary a mention of Boston Legal anywhere.)First up: Michael C. Hall, ignored by the Emmys but cited by the TCA for “Individual Achievement in Drama,” for his mesmerizing performance in Showtime's Dexter as a serial killer targeting Miami's lowest forms of criminal life. (Other contenders in this category included Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton, also shamefully snubbed at the Emmys.)Friday Night Lights, a near shutout at the Emmys despite its status as a first-year critics’ darling (and recipient of Peabody and AFI awards), was later named Outstanding New Program. (The field also included 30 Rock, Dexter, Heroes and Ugly Bet...
read more
Question: I hope you enjoyed your vacation. You probably accumulated a lot of questions about the Emmys since you've been gone. I read TV Guide's Dream Ballot as well as other critics' wish lists and keep seeing Friday Night Lights, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton. You've mentioned in an earlier column that it will show the Emmys getting it wrong once again if FNL doesn't get some major nominations this year, but I have to ask, do you seriously think that will happen? I like the show enough but hardly expect it to be nominated much at all. I won't be too upset, though. I fully expect FNL to join Buffy, Gilmore Girls, The Wire, Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica on the should-have-been-nominated list. However, I would be mad if a subpar 24, the uneven Heroes or the soft-porn-esque The Tudors got nominations over FNL. But why would this year's Emmys be any different from other past infractions against great but not greatly watched shows?
Answer: Friday Night Lights does have the
...
read more
Question: What Emmy nomination do you most hope to see this year?
Answer: Kyle Chandler for best actor. Next up is Connie Britton for best actress. Finishing a close third is Friday Night Lights for best drama. See a trend here?
OK, that's a wrap. No housekeeping notes this week; they're taking a much-deserved vacation. Happy Independence Day! See you back here next week. — Additional reporting by Megan Cherkezian
read more
Zach Gilford, Friday Night Lights
Question: I have to admit that despite the critical accolades, I avoided watching Friday Night Lights during the season. I'm not a football fan and when I hear the words "family drama," I tend to think of useless tripe like 7th Heaven, so I really didn't think the show would appeal to me. I finally decided to give it a shot, and all I can say is: wow! I'm happy to admit that I was completely wrong in my assumptions. My question is about the show's Emmy chances. I think that a best-drama nod would give the show the type of exposure that could really help it in the ratings department, but do you think any of the cast members have a shot at being nominated? Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton would seem the most likely, but I'd love to see Zach Gilford or Scott Porter nominated. Their characters are truly the heart of the show, but I worry that because they're younger, their performances will go completely overlooked. Then again, as screwy as the Emmys are, I guess I'll be happy if the ...
read more
Question: If you could pick one pair of costars from any show on television that you would say has the best on-screen chemistry, who would you pick and why? My choice, not to influence a great critic or anything, would be Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Matthew Fox as Jack on Lost.
Answer: From Lost, that's a great choice. She's the best thing to happen to that show since Season 1. (By the way, any discussion of the Lost finale in Ask Matt will have to wait until next Friday's column, because of the holiday and other deadlines.) Also from Lost, I'd have to nominate Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim as Jin and Sun. They glow in their scenes together. But my No. 1 couple with chemistry this season, without hesitation, is Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton as the coach and his wife on Friday Night Lights. The most believable, the sexiest, the most intimately in-tune married couple I may ever have seen on TV. Once again, they can do no wrong ...
read more
Stars Break for RetailOn the first day of upfronts in New York City, a slew of celebs spent some time at the poshest place in town, the Lucky Club, a gift suite at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. While Hayden Panettiere and her mom got blinged out with Lia Sophia baubles, the Heroes boys picked up some sunglasses. Though each star stopped by on his own, they all scooped up the same pair of Dolce & Gabbana aviator shades. Another popular guy pick was True Religion "Joey" jeans with white stitching. Mutual Admiration SocietyAs 30 Rock's Tina Fey was being whisked out of the NBC party, she spotted Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton across the room and screamed, "You're awesome!" Britton — who got the call that FNL had been picked up while she was editing her documentary about Ethiopian orphans — replied, "I think you're awesome!"Incredible Shrinking HeroWhile walking the red carpet, Greg Grunberg shared his secret for staying svelte: Weight Watchers. "I'm loving it. I'm los...
read more
Question: The April 11 episode of Lost was so good it actually made me upset because Elizabeth Mitchell's phenomenal performance might just take the Emmy away from Connie Britton of Friday Night Lights. Connie would be lead actress, of course, so wouldn't it be perfect if Mitchell were nominated for supporting actress so both these outstanding ladies could get the awards they deserve? Who actually makes the decision about which category an actor is eligible in? Is it the producers of the show, the networks, the agents? And do you think they take into consideration the possible competition when they make that decision?
Answer: My understanding is that it's the actor's call to submit their own name, in consultation with the studio, the network and no doubt their management. It's not uncommon for strategy to play a part: How else to explain how Jon Cryer finds himself nominated in a supporting category for Two and a Half Men when Charlie Sheen, the other "man" in the title, is nominated
...
read more
