Friday Night Lights: My Review
I just finished watching
Friday Night Lights. It wasn't great but wasn't too bad. First of all, the accents weren't too horrible although I do think they sound fake. Oh, and Plemons has one of the thicker accents but he's from Texas so I guess that's okay.
The story, which is "inspired" by the H.G. Bissinger book, is about Coach Eric Taylor and the "Dillon Panthers" football team. Coach Taylor was the offensive coach for five years before he got promoted to head coach of the "number one high-school football team in Texas". We meet the team, or rather part of the offensive line. It's like I said, there's only one black guy and no Hispanics. We meet Coach Taylor's incredibly beautiful wife, his brainiac daughter, the mayor, and a bunch of local football fanatics. It's the week of the first game. Now, in real-life this would also be the first week of school, but academics and classrooms have yet to make an appearance. Anyway, we see Coach Taylor's first week as head coach and his first game against the "Westerby Chaps".
Other than the fact that there is a lot of under-age sex and drinking going on, and that the players all want to go to UT to play for Mack Brown, we don't learn too much about the kids. I'm sure we will later on. But, hey, if you want to know what happens in the story then you should have watched the show! I'm here to criticize, not summarize!
For my first criticism, I have to pick on the fact that they are saying the show is set in West Texas but there's a lot of trees and hills for it being West Texas. The show is shot outside Austin, so I knew this would be a problem. However, I guess I can overlook that since "Dillon" is a fictional town.
One thing that I can't overlook and in my opinion it is a GLARING problem is the "P" on the helmets! This team is the Dillon Panthers and it's loosely based on the Odessa Permian Panthers. Let me explain for those of you who aren't familiar with this. Odessa has two high schools: Odessa High and Odessa Permian. ("Permian" is a geological term that refers to the oil industry, as in the great oil reserves in West Texas were created during the Permian era back when West Texas was a sea, the Permian Sea.) Another example: "Austin Westlake" is the name of the school and (coincidentally) the "Chaps" refers to the mascot. So, the real Odessa team has a "P" on their helmets not because of their mascot, the Panther, but because of the name of the high school, Permian. So, why do the Dillon Panthers have a "P" on their helmets? In high school, the name of the school goes on the helmets! This mistake was made even more obvious by the fact that their opponents, the "Westerby Chaps" have a "W" on their helmet. Dillon should have a "D" on their helmets. Follow? I think that's a huge mistake. A huge, stupid mistake.
Other than that, I also find it surprising that the show featured so much underage drinking. I'm not saying that it isn't realistic but it was portrayed in a pretty matter-of-fact way. These kids were getting drunk on a school night, the night before the big opening game, no less. No wonder they played like crap! Will beer-drinking Tim join AA? I somehow doubt it. It will be interesting to see how this issue is handled in future episodes.
There was also a lot of praying going on. When I was in high school it was very common to pray before every game and we always had some minister or someone lead the entire stadium in a prayer. I'm not a Christian-type person but I always bowed my head out of respect and because, well, I wanted my team to win! Of course, we weren't praying to win, just to protect everyone who was playing and that everyone would make it home safe from the game. But, with all the controversy about prayer in schools I find it interesting that the team prayed several times during the show.
I remember watching
Beverly Hills 90210 growing up. I love that show! I remember when Brenda and Donna each lost their virginity and what a big deal it was. Even though Kelly wasn't a virgin, it was revealed that her first experience wasn't great. (He didn't even bring a blanket!) The sexuality on that show was very controversial at the time. Even though adults were all up in arms over it, the show and the characters didn't take the loss of virginity, at least for the girls (or David), lightly. Most of the girls on
FNL seem like they gave it up a long time ago. My, how times have changed.
There is the one guy, Street, who is the star quarterback. He gets seriously injured in the game. This is why I hope my (future) son wants to play the guitar! Anyway, I couldn't help but recall the old Dead Kennedy's song
Jock-o-Rama. I also couldn't help but tear up a bit but I'll cry about anything so that's no surprise.
And my last criticism: I don't think the show captured the excitement of being at a high-school football game. First of all, they played rock music over the game sequences. Maybe it's because I'm a former band dork but I really think that marching band music is as big a part of high school football as cheerleaders or anything else. Also, if I were a cinamatographer-type person on this show I'd have spent some time trying to capture the feel of being under those bright stadium lights. After all, that's the name of the show.
Did y'all watch it? What did anyone else think? I'll keep watching the show. Like I say it wasn't too bad and I'm sure the characterizations will get better as the show goes on. I like football and I love Texas so I'm a sucker for this sort of stuff.
And they did get that "livin' large in Texas" line out of the way, so I don't have to worry about apoplexy just yet...at least not over this TV show.
Labels: friday night lights, nbc, tv
