I heard a rumor over the ...
Question: I heard a rumor over the summer that NBC will be showing shorter versions of
Friday Night Lights than what DirecTV viewers will see. Do you know if there's any truth to that?
Answer: It's not a rumor, it's a fact. DirecTV has even been promoting that it's airing extended, commercial-free episodes — the season premiere roughly clocked 50 minutes, considerably longer than a regular network episode — that will be trimmed for NBC broadcast. I would assume the full-length versions will be made available either online or certainly on the third-season DVDs, whenever they're released. But I'd also assume that the edited versions will not be missing any of the major moments.
Another FNL question, from Dan: "As a fan of Friday Night Lights, I have always been trying to figure out NBC's decision to place Friday Night Lights on Friday nights. It seems that during the first season of FNL, NBC was trying hard to promote FNL and they seemed to be doing well. The second season rolls around and NBC decides to put the show on Friday nights. Most viewers of the show seemed to be those who enjoy high school football. Most high school football takes place on Friday nights, so why place a show about high school football on Friday nights when most of your core audience would be out watching high school football instead of home watching a television show about it? It seems that FNL had a severe drop in viewership from Season 1 to season 2 and that is why the show almost failed. Do you think NBC's decision to place FNL on Fridays is what almost killed the show? Notice that the show is now back to Wednesday evenings."
Ancient history, and accusing NBC of trying to kill a show it has gone to great (and with the DirecTV deal, somewhat historic) lengths to keep alive is just a bit ungenerous. There's no question the Friday night time slot wasn't in Friday Night Lights' best interests, logically or otherwise. But the show's renewal for a second season was by no means a sure thing, and NBC's scheduling was intended to put it in a place and on a night where expectations would be at their lowest. Yes, it would be great if the show had been given a slot on a more heavily trafficked weeknight. But given that despite the acclaim and media attention, the show was clearly never going to become a hit, the Friday slot was realistically about as good as it was going to get. DirecTV has no such competitive issues, which is why the Wednesday time slot works for them and is such a bonus for the lucky viewer who has access to the show on satellite.
