I was watching an episode of Friday Night Lights with my wife. The Dillon Panthers were engaged in another clear-eyed, full-hearted battle against a particularly formidable opponent. I noticed something odd and asked the question, "Why is the quarterback on the sidelines?"
"Because they're on defense, hon."
"Wait... what?"
She proceeded to explain some football basics to me. This was halfway through the first season. Later on in the season, after the Panthers' quarterback was "blitzed" (or "sacked", I can't remember), I asked, "Why don't they just do that every time?"
"They try. There are people who stop them."
"Oh."
I don't know football, and judging from the behavior of the locals after last weekend's Giants win, that's fine with me.
That said, I like Friday Night Lights. I like the cast, I like the way it looks, I think Kyle Chandler is the most endearingly grumpy TV dad since Cliff Huxtable sweatered up. All in all, a fine TV program.
Last night's episode (which I haven't yet seen) might be the last Friday Night Lights ever, though. And now a campaign has begun to save it from cancellation, which it confronts due to a combination of low ratings and the cost of coming back from the writer's strike. The snark-merchants over at Best Week Ever have gotten an online petition going, and are encouraging people to send light bulbs to NBC as a means of protest and solidarity.
Look, I like the show, but this is idiotic. Let it die, people.
- The second season has been markedly shittier than the first, with so many implausible storylines (most notably, mild-mannered Landry killing a guy and covering it up with no consequence) and the distinct feeling of treading water. I mean, how many times can Tim Riggins realize that he's in love with Lyla Garrity? And isn't one of the show's main foci supposed to be the relationship between the football team and their paralyzed quarterback? He's been all but absent from the second half of this season, except for the ridiculous episode in which he (surprise surprise!) finds that selling used cars isn't all it's cracked up to be.
- What are these people trying to accomplish with their petition? It's a question I don't think they're asking themselves. How long do they want their beloved show to continue? Do they want Friday Night Lights to run until it's merely a parody of itself, or until every character enrolls in the never-before-mentioned Dillon University? The ungrateful fans who campaigned for Arrested Development (another ratings-challenged critical darling), for example, got three solid seasons out of their favorite program. That's not only more than the ratings warranted, but it's enough for any show to run its course. Ricky Gervais knows that television is a game of diminishing returns, and he's used that fact to create two really beautiful series (each totaling only seven hours) that never jumped the proverbial shark.
- Believe me, if Friday Night Lights goes away, you'll find something else to watch. You always do.
- The ratings sucked last year, too, but NBC brought it back anyway. That's a crazy amount of charity coming from a network, and Friday Night Lights failed to deliver with the viewers. Sorry, you're gone.
- Half of the pleasure of FNL (and of most things that people who think of themselves as "cultured" enjoy) is the fact that it's not Lost or Heroes or American Idol or Grey's Anatomy, or some other garbage that everyone watches. No, it's something you share with a few people, and let's be honest with ourselves about how important that is to our opinion of something. I'm thinking of my inability to enjoy Juno, here.
As I said, I like the show, and if it comes back I'll watch it. If it doesn't, I'll move on. Let's not forget, it's just TV.
Overheard on our way out of The Savages:
"I was hoping it was going to be a little more uplifting."
Ugh.
The Savages is not particularly "uplifting", what with being a movie about the universal discomfort that arises from watching our parents die and all. It's not very funny, it's not an adorable romp, and it's not delightfully quirky. But it's got Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman in it, and if that does nothing for you then you might be in the wrong place.
And look at this goddamn poster by Chris Ware. I hate to surrender so willfully to a peace of marketing, but this is gorgeous.
