The Official Friday Night Lights Thread

[dbldomer]

The first ten minutes of the show will have Mack Brown and Texas mentioned twice. Not a big surprise seeing as it is a Texas high school. Notre Dame is mentioned twice including a scene with a Notre Dame recruiter talking to the parents of the #1 quarter back in texas and the nation.

 

[Guest]

I figured ND would be mentioned on that show since its NBC. If you notice NBCmentions ND in a lot of their programming, for instance I remember The West Wing had the president(Martin Sheen) as an ND grad, and I've seen a few other NBC shows over the years that have mentioned ND in certain situations.

If that show sticks around I wouldn't be surprised to see many ND references.

On a side note, I'm looking forward to watching tonights show, I thought the movie was excellent, and the shows reviews have been superb.

 

[tgolden]

I think Martin Sheen was a ND grad because Martin Sheen loves ND. Being on NBC helped, but I think Sheen probably wanted that anyhow.

 

[Óglaigh_na_hÉireann]

Friday Night Lights (the series) Thread

Friday Night Lights (the series) Thread

Did anyone else watch this? What'd you think?

I thought it was pretty good, albeit, somewhat predictable. The story-line pretty much follows the movie's. The stuff off the field is a lot more interesting than the actual games..

I did like how NBC used the show to promote Notre Dame football. Did anyone else notice how only two schools were mentioned? Texas once...and Notre Dame multiple times.

 

[irishtexan]

This show was alright. The High School they filmed this at is just down the road. If any of you guys like the soundtrack to the original movie the band is called Explosions in the Sky. They are from here in Austin. Their music is awesome. No words, it is just really powerful.

 

[Óglaigh_na_hÉireann]

Wow, I did not see this thread.

 

[Mattmags]

yeah i saw it tonight. i thought it was o.k. I've read the book Friday Night Lights, watched the movie and now this...I have to say it's Just o.k. for me. Probably won't be dedicated to watching it every week, but it's good enough to want to watch at my liesure. Overall I give it a B-

~Obviously it's very predictable
~The game action sequences are actually very realistic
~The storyline is far-fetched, however it has to be to make the movie work
~Whoever directed it decided to make it choppy and somewhat "home video-ish" which actually works well i think.
~Am I allowed to say the high school actresses are hot? I'm sure they're really about 20.
~If you live in a football town in a football state (like i did) you can totally appreciate this movie more.

 

[Irish Envy]

I watched as well. I wasn't sold on it, and my wife thought it was boring. However, it is in a timeslot where there is nothing on so it may do okay.

 

[iloveirish_12]

I liked it. Kinda fake looking but not bad.

 

[jiggafini19]

Cheesey and completely predictable.

Take every football movie ever made and combine them.

Been there, done that.

Playmakers had far more substance to it.

 

[irishfox]

I thought it was alright. The show is no where near the level of the Office but it will work for a Tuesday night, nothing else on unless you like Dancing with the Stars.
What I like the most is seeing these towns get behind the high school football teams, just amazing how everything closes down. Is that how it really is down South? Coming from the midwest you dont see that around here much.

 

[dankus]

yeah i saw it tonight. i thought it was o.k. I've read the book Friday Night Lights, watched the movie and now this...I have to say it's Just o.k. for me. Probably won't be dedicated to watching it every week, but it's good enough to want to watch at my liesure. Overall I give it a B-

~Obviously it's very predictable
~The game action sequences are actually very realistic
~The storyline is far-fetched, however it has to be to make the movie work
~Whoever directed it decided to make it choppy and somewhat "home video-ish" which actually works well i think.
~Am I allowed to say the high school actresses are hot? I'm sure they're really about 20.
~If you live in a football town in a football state (like i did) you can totally appreciate this movie more.

Most of this I agree with.

Obviously, I don't like that everyone looks like they are models. I am not saying everyone needs to be realistic, but I think an AJ Hawk like linebacker is necessary for more realism.

Also, the person who wrote and directed this episode was the director of Friday Night Lights(the movie) so you can see similarities between the styles.

I grew up in a big football town in Texas and I can see definite similarities. Of course, I have been out for only 3 years.

 

[jiggafini19]

After having seen Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights, All The Right Moves...

the high school football thing has been done. I'd like to see something original that hasn't been done. Here's what I saw last night.

-Star QB with hot wholesome cheerleader girlfriend.
-Maligned backup QB that is put into the fire
-Cocky, arrogant running back with a big mouth
-Disgruntled, alcolholic fullback kid that doesn't like the star running back
-Hot blonde bad girl that wants that star QB
-Good Ol' Boy network of boosters that want to win really bad and try giving the head coach advice on what to do, plays to run, schemes, etc.

They filmed the episode similar to the way the movie was filmed, which was cool. Other than that, these plot lines are the standard ingridients for a HS football story.

Did anyone not know they'd recover that on-side kick and the backup QB would win the game for them?

 

[jiggafini19]

After having seen Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights, All The Right Moves...

the high school football thing has been done. I'd like to see something original that hasn't been done. Here's what I saw last night.

-Star QB with hot wholesome cheerleader girlfriend.
-Maligned backup QB that is put into the fire
-Cocky, arrogant running back with a big mouth
-Disgruntled, alcolholic fullback kid that doesn't like the star running back
-Hot blonde bad girl that wants that star QB
-Good Ol' Boy network of boosters that want to win really bad and try giving the head coach advice on what to do, plays to run, schemes, etc.

They filmed the episode similar to the way the movie was filmed, which was cool. Other than that, these plot lines are the standard ingridients for a HS football story.

Did anyone not know they'd recover that on-side kick and the backup QB would win the game for them?

 

[Guest]

Had to tape it as I was watching the Yankee game, but I wasn't impressed with it. Like others said, I thought it was very predictable, and I thought for the most part the football scenes looked cheesy. Probably be better with less actual football scenes, and more off the field stuff. I'll watch a couple more episodes, and if I'm still not impressed I'll abandon it.

I'll probably check out "The Nine" tonight, I saw in todays paper it got 4 stars, so I'm interested to see what all the hype is about.

 

[cpprhead59]

I think Martin Sheen was a ND grad because Martin Sheen loves ND. Being on NBC helped, but I think Sheen probably wanted that anyhow.

Sheen did not go to ND. He is just a very big fan for the Univeristy and its football team.

 

[irishfox]

Jig you are dead on. I figured ill be watching it because nothing else is on Tuesdays nights but I would like to see more action in it. They should take some story lines from Devine and his life, loss of parents, moving away to get away from trouble, having kids, etc...they should think about throwing some of that in. We'll see what happens.

 

[irishtexan]

Yeah the fullback was too "pretty" to be a real fullback. He looked like a surfer or Calvin Klein model. And what was up with the rap thing at the car dealership? And the drinking on Thursday night before the game? I think that stuff was VERY far fetched. Honestly, many of you played ball like I did, and did any of you ever get boozed up on a Thursday night?

 

[scooper]

Sheen did not go to ND. He is just a very big fan for the Univeristy and its football team.

I think he was referring to Sheen's character on West Wing ,who did go to ND.

 

[cpprhead59]

I think he was referring to Sheen's character on West Wing ,who did go to ND.

Oh ...Ok ...my bad. I misunderstood.

 

[jiggafini19]

TV Reporter: "Is that alcohol I smell on your breath? Have you been drinking?"

Please. Dumbest line in the entire show, by far.

 

[Mattmags]

no i can't say anyone got boozed up on a thursday night, however... drinking on weekends ahppened all the time, different player personalities were prominent, residents always thought they knew more than the coaches, and if you didn't play football much of the town didn't really care about you. That being said, football was a blast but often way too much drama to be had in High School. I just wanted to have a good time and compete, but that was impossible.

 

[scooper]

no i can't say anyone got boozed up on a thursday night, however... drinking on weekends ahppened all the time, different player personalities were prominent, residents always thought they knew more than the coaches, and if you didn't play football much of the town didn't really care about you. That being said, football was a blast but often way too much drama to be had in High School. I just wanted to have a good time and compete, but that was impossible.

Going to a private school that drew from all over the city, it was easier for my teammates to scatter after games and do their thing without being recognized or caught.

High schoolers drink. Football players are no different. Though honestly, I did not partake at the time.

 

[jiggafini19]

no i can't say anyone got boozed up on a thursday night, however... drinking on weekends ahppened all the time

Did a TV reporter call you out for smelling alcohol on your breath like on last night's show?

I'm sorry, but that line lost the episode some credibility for me.

 

[Guest]

I thought it was strange the players were drinking the night before the game, I could see after the game, but it sure wouldn't be smart to drink the night before a game. Booze can leave you fatigued and dehydrated for days. Drink enough the night before a game, and it would definitely interfere with your play.

Didn't Weis have a rule last season where players weren't allowed to go to bars or drink after Wednesdays? And didn't he eventually ban players from doing it because of something that happenend? I recall reading something about that last year, maybe someone else has a better memory than me.

 

[grantland]

These are leading questions but was last night's show attempting to portray the first game of the season? And, if so, when does high school football start in Texas?

 

[irishtexan]

We start 2 a days like on August 4th or something, give or take a few days. Usually teams have 3 scrimmages befor the season starts and the season is 10 games. The playoffs run until the middle of December. Queens you are exactly right about the fatigue factor the next day after boozin. I would figure on Thursday night the seniors and starters would all meet over someones house and eat pizza or just get together and watch film again of the team they are going to play. At least thats what the schools where I am from do. I have to remember though, its TV.

 

[grantland]

We start 2 a days like on August 4th or something, give or take a few days. Usually teams have 3 scrimmages befor the season starts and the season is 10 games. The playoffs run until the middle of December. Queens you are exactly right about the fatigue factor the next day after boozin. I would figure on Thursday night the seniors and starters would all meet over someones house and eat pizza or just get together and watch film again of the team they are going to play. At least thats what the schools where I am from do. I have to remember though, its TV.

So the first game is in late August or early September? Are there still leaves on the trees and is the temperature normally above say 60 or 70 degrees? The reason I ask and the reason I say the question is leading is because the TV show made it look like it was a Thanksgiving game or something.

What am I missing?

 

[irishtexan]

Yeah the first game is in late August. School starts back on August 17th or something like that. There are still plenty of leaves on the trees and it is still very hot until late october. They filmed the series down here in december to february timeframe I think. That is what cold weather looks like down here. I could definitely tell it wasnt September though.

 

[Irish Envy]

Friday Night Lights (Week Two)

Friday Night Lights (Week Two)

I watched this week as well as last week and like this week's episode MUCH better. Last week was way too predictable and the football action sucked, and even though we didn't see much football action this week I like it a lot more. Probably enough to watch the rest of the season.

Also, I'm enamored at the young cheerleaders they've got on that show. Just some good lookin' women. Thumbs up there. Hah!