|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 13, 2006 10:35:59 GMT -5
I have decided Friday Night Lights deserves a thread of its own. For those of you who haven't caught it, you can check out all the episodes on NBC's website. I missed the first few and I am catching up now.
Am I the only one who feels just awful for Lila? When she went to Jason and apologized again, his reaction broke my heart. My heart was breaking for both of them. I must admit, I was smiling when she participated in the cheer competition and when the camera panned to Jason watching her. Is Riggins really in love with her? Could they be setting up a triangle?
I also love Matt and Julie and I LOVE the way Coach is reacting to their starting to date. It was so funny last night when he stood there and said "they had a blanket." I was surprised that Matt came right out and told coach that he was going to date Julie and there really wasn't anything he could do about it.
One last thing: Smash. I like the potential love interest they introduced. What is the deal with Africa? Did she go there or not? She has some secret she is not sharing and it will be interesting to learn about it. Smash is heading for trouble with his steroids and it should be interesting to see how that plays out.
|
|
|
|
Post by anna on Dec 13, 2006 11:00:23 GMT -5
I really like this show, and I know that this is so much less important than the writing and acting, BUT . . . that jiggly (jiggling?) camera DRIVES ME NUTS! Just had to get that off my chest.  |
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 13, 2006 11:13:24 GMT -5
Karma! I've been dying to talk about this show but I really didn't know who was still watching.
I'm so glad you're catching up and enjoying it. What I like about this show is how real it all feels and how much you come to know these characters. All the little touches are brilliant. Mrs. Coach (as Matt calls her) has to be one of the coolest female characters I've seen on TV in a long time. She is smart and funny and sexy and very supportive of her husband...but she has her own life and her own career. I think one of my favorite moments with her was in an earlier episode when the coach was writing football plays on napkins at a restaurant and she took the napkins away and stuffed them into her bra. "You can forage for them later," she told him. It's that kind of little moment that really draws me in and makes me like them.
And the dynamic of a coach who's tough on the field, but who really can't control his all-female family is just wonderful. He's a total softie with them, but the team would never believe that. His over-protective attitude with Julie is hilarious because she knows he's full of it and just does what she wants anyway--but without rebelling. She's a great kid with a lot of common sense and she's dating the very nicest boy on the football team and she knows it so she also knows that, whatever her dad says, she can be trusted. And so can Matt.
About Lyla...I would feel more for her if her acting didn't annoy me so deeply. She has this annoying baby voice and her only way of showing emotion is to talk through gritted teeth and that just bugs--and it happens every week because her character is always crying. But the story she's in is the most compelling on the show because you can completely understand it from every perspective. She cheated on her paralyzed boyfriend with his best friend because both she and the friend were grieving so deeply over what had happened to Jason that they were the only people who could understand what the other was going through. It was very sad and horrible. Jason was right not to take her back, but that moment when he took her hand showed that he wasn't bitterly angry with her any longer and that he felt for her but...he just couldn't be her boyfriend. And Riggs! What a great character! He almost never talks, but that just makes all of his lines more meaningful. He's consumed by guilt and knows he's done the lowest thing possible to the person he loves the most just when that person was at the lowest point in his life but he is also genuinely in love with Lyla. Tyra saw it and I believe her. She's pretty sharp, that girl.
I love Smash and, even more, his mama. He wasn't featured as much in the earlier episodes, but he's really become a central character and I love that. His family is just great. And I think Waverly was probably in rehab or off having a baby or something. She is a good new character. Very very smart and knows how to put him in his place. She'll figure out the steroid use in no time and set him straight, I'm betting.
There's so much to say about this show! It's the first thing to really grip me from week to week since Blind Justice --not that two such shows can be compared--they're completely different. But...maybe there can be a comparison. Both shows are extremely subtle. Last night, Jason Street came home from the rehab center for the first time since he was paralyzed and that scene was great more for what wasn't said than for what was. All his stuff had suddenly been moved down to ground floor, replacing his father's office, and his parents had placed a hospital bed in there and had covered his dresser with all his football trophies and a picture of Jason and Lyla. Jason went immediately to the picture and shoved it in a drawer and then he just looked at the trophies with no expression on his face. Beautifully done.
I think the point that will be made by Jason's accident is that there is more to him--and to life--than football. They live in a small town with few opportunities and football is the biggest thing in their lives--and the ticket out for a lot of poor boys who want to go to college. I think Jason will find a different path and will grow closer to finding out who he really is and what he's capable of. I find it all fascinating.
I'm glad this show was given a full season and that it will soon be on Wednesday night (so as not to compete with American Idol), but I have no idea if it's going to make it beyond this year. There are a lot of people rooting for it, so we can hope.
|
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 13, 2006 11:14:22 GMT -5
I really like this show, and I know that this is so much less important than the writing and acting, BUT . . . that jiggly (jiggling?) camera DRIVES ME NUTS! Just had to get that off my chest. That actually turned a lot of people off at first and they have been using that effect much less lately than they did at first. I'm all for great TV but...who needs the motion sickness?  |
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 13, 2006 11:34:06 GMT -5
I love Smash and, even more, his mama. He wasn't featured as much in the earlier episodes, but he's really become a central character and I love that. His family is just great. And I think Waverly was probably in rehab or off having a baby or something. She is a good new character. Very very smart and knows how to put him in his place. She'll figure out the steroid use in no time and set him straight, I'm betting. I LOVE his mom! She is such a strong woman, I really like that character a lot. Last night, Jason Street came home from the rehab center for the first time since he was paralyzed and that scene was great more for what wasn't said than for what was. All his stuff had suddenly been moved down to ground floor, replacing his father's office, and his parents had placed a hospital bed in there and had covered his dresser with all his football trophies and a picture of Jason and Lyla. Jason went immediately to the picture and shoved it in a drawer and then he just looked at the trophies with no expression on his face. Beautifully done. This scene reminded me of a scene from Murderball. They showed one of the guys they were following returning home from rehab. His mom was taking him around the ground floor and showing him all the accommodations they had made for him; ramps, a modified shower, wide doorways. She was so proud of what she had done; the guy looked up at her and said "this sucks." She was upset and let him know, she had worked hard to get the house ready for his return. He stopped, then told her what she had done didn't suck, it was the wheelchair that sucked and the fact that she had to do these things because of the accident. All by way of saying, that scene rang true for me. I was also touched when his mom and dad were heading off to work and leaving him alone, a short, subtle scene, but powerful. |
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 13, 2006 12:54:36 GMT -5
Episodes 1-10 are going to be shown on Bravo on December 30. Hopefully they can bring in more viewers before moving to Wednesday night in January. At least they're giving the show a chance.
|
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 13, 2006 20:34:13 GMT -5
About Lyla...I would feel more for her if her acting didn't annoy me so deeply. She has this annoying baby voice and her only way of showing emotion is to talk through gritted teeth and that just bugs--and it happens every week because her character is always crying. But the story she's in is the most compelling on the show because you can completely understand it from every perspective. She cheated on her paralyzed boyfriend with his best friend because both she and the friend were grieving so deeply over what had happened to Jason that they were the only people who could understand what the other was going through. It was very sad and horrible. Jason was right not to take her back, but that moment when he took her hand showed that he wasn't bitterly angry with her any longer and that he felt for her but...he just couldn't be her boyfriend. I am all caught up on the episodes now, and I have one question about this. Why did they do it more than once? I mean I understood the kiss and the first time they made love, but why did they do it again? There is more there than meets the eye. |
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 14, 2006 8:24:48 GMT -5
I am all caught up on the episodes now, and I have one question about this. Why did they do it more than once? I mean I understood the kiss and the first time they made love, but why did they do it again? There is more there than meets the eye. This obviously isn't explained blatantly and it may still be unfolding. It's an excellent question, though, and there are many possibilities--all complex. My take, while watching it, was that it initially happened because Jason had just given Lyla a huge dose of reality and very little hope for their future together so she turned to Tim for comfort. The times after that seemed to be because she couldn't seem to resist Tim and she was using him, all the while hating herself for what she was doing and hating Tim possibly even more. Tim has probably always been in love with Lyla but had never expressed it because she was with Jason so he just went with it and ended up hating himself for it the way Lyla did. Now they're in a real spot because it's quite likely that, even if Jason does forgive them both, he'll never get back together with Lyla and she and Tim do have genuine chemistry, but they can't really be together either because of how the whole school feels about what happened. Lesson? Sex=bad. Got it, class? |
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 14, 2006 8:40:14 GMT -5
Just for fun, here's the TWoP recaplet:
In TV so it is as in life: it takes the girls twice as long as the boys to just get over it. For some reason the students at Dillon High are like seriously offended that Lyla continues to breathe air after doing it with Tim. This is what you get when you push abstinence-only education. Lyla's locker(s) are covered with scrawl reading "Slut" and "Whore" and some bitch named Britney goes and makes a "slam" website that's all about what a slut Lyla is. It's all almost enough to make Lyla quit the cheerleading team, but at the last minute she shows up to the Cheer America Classic competition (where she of course takes her rightful place as "flyer," not some fatso base). The whole football team is there watching, forced by Coach Taylor to go support the girls at their competition, but one attendee is particularly surprising: Jason Street. The Taylor household is in a tizzy over the Matt/Julie situation, and Coach is not dealing with it well, or at all, really. Then Smash has his eye on a preacher's daughter who can match him secret for secret, and I have a feeling her secret might also have a little bit to do with the failings of abstinence-only education.
|
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 14, 2006 8:58:50 GMT -5
I found this article this morning:
'"Heroes,' 'Lights' Shine for AFI
'Galactica,' '24' also make institute's best of 2006
December 11, 2006
"Friday Night Lights" hasn't captured a big audience thus far in its first season, but those who like it really like it a lot.
To that group you can add the jurors for the 2006 AFI Awards, who named the NBC series one of the 10 best TV programs of the year. Two other freshman shows, NBC's "Heroes" and Showtime's "Dexter," also made the American Film Institute's list.
Reflecting the current state of television, eight of the 10 programs on the list are dramas. The only comedies to make the cut are NBC's "The Office," the Emmy winner for best comedy series earlier this year, and Comedy Central's "South Park," which has poked fun at Scientology, James Frey, Al Gore and teacher-student sex, among other things, this year.
The AFI list also includes the Sci Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica," which has received wave after wave of critical hosannas in its three seasons but hasn't earned much award-show recognition.
The other shows on the AFI list are HBO's "The Wire" and "Elizabeth I," NBC's "The West Wing" and FOX's "24," which won the Emmy for outstanding drama series in August.
Jurors for the TV awards included Dick Askin, president and CEO of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, several critics, producer Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue"), former "Friends" executive producer Kevin S. Bright and producer-director Michael Dinner ("Kidnapped")."
[/i]
|
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 14, 2006 9:38:08 GMT -5
This post on an IMDB message board really cracked me up:
Arguably the prettiest face on TV. Just a drop-dead gorgeous face. Unfortunately, she is also one of the weakest actresses on TV. Her dramatic scenes are uncomfortable to watch, and not because the acting is hitting the right notes. They need to close that storyline up fast before we need to hear her whiny, fake strains of pain one more time. She thinks dramatic acting means raising the pitch of her voice. She squeezed a tear out last night, but not during dialogue. In a show that is general well above the TV acting curve, she sticks out in a bad way. [/i]
|
|
|
|
Post by shmeep on Dec 14, 2006 9:52:02 GMT -5
This post on an IMDB message board really cracked me up: Arguably the prettiest face on TV. Just a drop-dead gorgeous face. Unfortunately, she is also one of the weakest actresses on TV. Her dramatic scenes are uncomfortable to watch, and not because the acting is hitting the right notes. They need to close that storyline up fast before we need to hear her whiny, fake strains of pain one more time. She thinks dramatic acting means raising the pitch of her voice. She squeezed a tear out last night, but not during dialogue. In a show that is general well above the TV acting curve, she sticks out in a bad way. [/i][/quote] 100% agreed! About the acting, that is. I don't want them to end the Jason Street storyline because that was what sucked me in and HE is a great actor. Just the way he moves and the positioning of his hands. It's incredibly realistic. But Lyla needs to stop getting angsty storylines because I can't take the gritted teeth anymore. Now Tyra...she can act. I like her. I loved the scene from a week ago when she went to visit Jason because she knew the rest of the town was away at a game. The bonding between those two was fun to watch. It was great to see Jason being so at ease with someone. I don't hope that those two get together, but that would be far more interesting than him getting back together with Lyla would be. But then he and Tim would just be swapping girlfriends and that's...icky. |
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 14, 2006 10:03:38 GMT -5
100% agreed! About the acting, that is. I don't want them to end the Jason Street storyline because that was what sucked me in and HE is a great actor. Just the way he moves and the positioning of his hands. It's incredibly realistic. But Lyla needs to stop getting angsty storylines because I can't take the gritted teeth anymore. He is a fabulous actor. In the scene where the entire team came to see him before the big game he didn't say much, but boy did he convey a ton of emotion. At the end of that scene with the tears rolling down his cheeks... **Mouse sighs** BTW, his IMDB profile says he is from Omaha, Nebraska! Now Tyra...she can act. I like her. I loved the scene from a week ago when she went to visit Jason because she knew the rest of the town was away at a game. The bonding between those two was fun to watch. It was great to see Jason being so at ease with someone. I don't hope that those two get together, but that would be far more interesting than him getting back together with Lyla would be. But then he and Tim would just be swapping girlfriends and that's...icky. Ya, the gal who plays Tyra is great. It doesn't hurt that Tyra is a great character. When she went to see Jason while his roommate was there it was a great scene. It seems that having that girl visiting him gave Jason credibility with his roommate. Going back to something you mentioned in another post. Connie Britton is amazing as Mrs. Coach. I agree with you that that is one of the best - if not the best - female characters on television. The scene with her and Eric under the table was just great. The way she talked to him, the way he talked to her, it just rang true. I love their relationship, it is very well written. |
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Dec 17, 2006 10:52:05 GMT -5
Okay people, here is your chance to get caught up on this amazing show! NBC is playing a Friday Night Lights marathon December 27th. You have Shmeep's word and Mouse's word, it is worth watching.
|
|
|
|
Post by housemouse on Jan 4, 2007 10:09:57 GMT -5
Last night's episode of Friday Night Lights did not disappoint.
I thought I was not going to like Lyla and Jason getting back together, but, the way they handled it I did like it. When Jason told Lyla that if she wanted to get l&*d that bad she should call Riggins, I caught my breath. The scene with Jason and Herc in the bar came off as very real to me. Also, when Jason wanted that CD, freaked out on his mom, then wheeled all the way to the record store, Wow.
Landry tutoring Riggins was great. The whole storyline was great, and when Landry confronted him in the bleachers about the book having to have some relation to his real life, my heart broke for Tim. The last scene in the bar with Landry's speed metal band was hilarious!
Matt and his Dad. I wonder what is going to happen there. Will Matt have to go to Oklahoma? Will Grandma get sent to a home? What will happen? Zach Gilford really is amazing in that role.
I continue to love the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Coach. I love the characters, I love how realistic their marriage is. Connie Britton just blows me away as Mrs. Coach. I have always liked Kyle Chandler, but he really outdoes himself in this show.
The most amazing part of last night's episode? The scenes from next week's episode! Are the Porter's really suing Coach Taylor? Is Jason really on board with that? Is it going to turn the quarterback hero into a traitor? Does Tyra kill her mom's boyfriend?
I was thinking about who my favorite character might be, but I can't narrow it down. I love Jason, Tim, Matt, Landry, Mrs. Coach, Coach Taylor. All of them are so well written and played, I just can't pick.
I am so glad they are giving us a full season of this incredible show, I hope it finds an audience and lasts even longer.
|
|
