September 2007 News Archive (Page 2)

In anticipation of Season Two of Friday Night Lights, we're taking a close look at each of its cast members, most of whom you probably don't know too much about. Well, all that's about to change!

On Friday, we profiled Zach Gilford, who plays the Dillon Panthers' QB-1 and reluctant leader, Matt Saracen. Today, we'll talk a little about the terrific actor who plays Matt's best friend Landry Clarke - Jesse Plemons.

Jesse Plemons was born April 2, 1988 in Dallas, Texas. A native of the Lone Star State, it's perhaps fitting that he play a character named Landry - likely a homage to the legendary Dallas Cowboys head coach, Tom Landry.

He's been a busy actor all his life, with feature-film credits including "Like Mike" with Bow Wow and Jonathan Lipnicki, "Children on their Birthdays," adapted from the short story by Truman Capote; as well as "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town," "The Failures," "All the Pretty Horses," and "Varsity Blues."

Jesse Plemons also appeared in "Children on their Birthdays," which marked the directorial debut of the Tony Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Mark Medoff ("Children of a Lesser God").

Jesse Plemons (left) with co-stars Scott Porter and Taylor Kitsch.

In television, Jesse Plemons earned much critical praise portraying a young teen struggling to accept his facial disfigurement on "Grey's Anatomy" - during the same second season that featured an Emmy nominated guest starring role by Friday Night Lights' leading man, Kyle Chandler.

Additional TV credits for Plemons include guest starring roles on "Huff," "CSI," "The Lyons Den," "Judging Amy" and "The Guardian."

While his obvious talent has taken him to the heights of Hollywood at the young age of 19, Jesse Plemons' feet are firmly planted on the grounds of his Mart, Texas, home that he shares with his family.

When he is not busy filming Friday Night Lights, he enjoys playing sports and returning to his Lone Star State roots to rope and ride. Texas forever!

Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) may not carry himself like John Elway, but you would not know it by the game-winning drive he leads Dillon on in "Get 'Er Done."

Here's Saracen - spurred on by Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and Mac McGill (Blue Deckert) marching the Panthers down the field to win with no time left.

There is plenty of trash on TV these days, but there is one series, writes Jordan Williams of Lubbock Christian University, that stands above the rest - and not just because it takes place in the author's native West Texas.

Here's what this fan writes in the LCU student paper ...

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Late last semester I was supposed to be writing a massive 15-page research paper for a certain professor, so I did what I did best - I procrastinated.

Instead of opening books, I pushed the power button on my remote and found myself at the start of a little show called "Friday Night Lights."

After that full hour was up, tears were streaming down my face. I cry pretty easily, but never have I cried during a prime-time television series.

This one, my friends, got me from the get go. That episode I saw was the fantastic season finale ("State") and since that day I have been hooked.

"Friday Night Lights" takes place in the fictional town of Dillon, a small place that lives and breathes football, as most towns in West Texas are wont to do.

Coach Eric Taylor (played by a phenomenally good looking and terrific actor Kyle Chandler) is the head coach of the Dillon Panthers, a team struggling after its star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) is paralyzed during the first game of the season, and during the first episode of the series.

Jason Street was their meal ticket to the state title game, but now all is lost... or so it appears. The future of the season lies in the hands of young Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), who has never in his life taken a snap on the gridiron.

This little show, however, does not only revolve around football.

In fact, football takes a backseat most of the time. The most compelling stories are those of the players and the stresses they go through; Saracen as the man of the housem caring for his Alzheimer's ridden grandmother while his dad is in Iraq; Coach and his wife (the fantastic Connie Britton) and daughter Julie (cute Aimee Teegarden), who make up the greatest family ever portrayed on TV, and the town folk, who are just plain football obsessed.

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NBC is determined in the weeks leading up to the beginning of the fall season to get people to watch both its new and returning shows.

Chuck, Life, Journeyman, and Bionic Woman are currently available online, at Blockbuster and On Demand.

NBC is also going a step further by utilizing its sister networks to air repeats of all four shows, as well as some second year series whose ratings have yet to meet the network's expectations.

This new campaign from NBC, which focuses on Friday Night Lights, among other series, will see weekly encore presentations throughout the season and a couple of mini-marathons to kick the fall season off.

Ever since NBC and Universal merged to form NBC/Universal, NBC has made full use of its available sister channels Bravo, Sci-Fi, and USA.

Starting September 8, the Sci-Fi Channel will air encore broadcasts of Bionic Woman every Friday at 7 pm ET. The show airs Wednesdays at 9 pm.

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In anticipation of Season Two of Friday Night Lights, we're taking a closer look at each of its primary cast members, most of whom you probably don't know very much about. Well, it's high time that changed!

Yesterday, we profiled the brooding Taylor Kitsch, who plays running back Tim Riggins. Today, we'll take a look at the talented young man who plays Panthers field general Matt Saracen - Zach Gilford.

Zach Gilford was born on January 14, 1982. Born and raised just outside Chicago, he graduated from Evanston Township High School in 2000 and Northwestern University in 2004, right in his hometown. He has two sisters.

Playing star quarterback Saracen isn't a stretch for Gilford, a big sports fan who grew up dreaming of being a professional basketball player (despite his modest 5'9", 180-pound frame) and played football himself in high school.

A die-hard Chicago Bulls backer, Zach Gilford has said his hero growing up was Michael Jordan, yet he named his dog Pippen (in honor of Bulls great Scottie Pippen) and even got a "Pip 33" tattoo on his calf at age 13.

Theater also occupied a place in Zach Gilford's life from a young age, though, as he performed in numerous productions in high school and college.

He began acting because a girl he liked was in a play, and interestingly, Gilford may have gotten some early preparation for his future role of Matt Saracen by dating his high school principal's daughter back in high school.

Gilford played in a production of Equus, SubUrbia, Women and Wallace and The Laramie Project at Northwestern, where we majored in education and theater, and moved to New York in 2004 with hopes of becoming an actor.

Zach's big break came on Friday Night Lights, and he now resides in Austin, Tex., where the series is filmed. He has also appeared in The Last Winter (2007) as Maxwell McKinder and Rise: Blood Hunter (2007) as a sailor.

An avid outdoor enthusisast, during his breaks from filming, he spends his time leading climbing expeditions in Alaska or British Columbia.

With just two weeks to go until Friday Night Lights returns, the critics are lining up to chime in on what many believe is a hidden TV treasure.

Earlier this week, we heard from ESPN's Bill Simmons, the sharp-tongued, often cynical columnist who loves his sports, and who is urging more and more viewers to keep the "Lights" on for this year and beyond.

Now, Akron Beacon-Journal critic Rich Heldenfels has shed some light on the Season 2 premiere. He does not give away a crucial plot point of the first episode, but he does describe how this important story development may harm the future of Friday Night Lights, in his opinion.

His column appears below. We'll keep the details to a minimum before the jump, but beware: herein lie some spoilers, at least in the broad sense.

Is Friday Night Lights still capable of greatness in its second-season premiere? Yes. Is there anything to worry about? Also yes.

So much that was good about the show is still very good. The Taylor family, for starters, which now has a new baby to deal with, as well as Eric's being far away, at his new college coaching job at TMU.

When Tami Taylor (Connie Britton) goes in labor, Eric has to fly home. And what he finds is that the baby is just one of the challenges facing him; daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) has gone all snotty in his absence, for several reasons.

The Julie-Matt relationship has taken an interesting turn, as have the lives of Buddy and Lyla Garrity, Tim Riggins, Landry and Tyra, and Jason Street.

In fact, the show is so stuffed that Street's new dilemma is presented very quickly, and we hardly see Smash Williams (Gaius Charles) at all.

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The complete Season 2 premiere of Friday Night Lights is up on Yahoo TV until Sunday. If you're interested, CLICK HERE. Then come back and discuss!

In anticipation of Season Two of Friday Night Lights, we're taking a look at each of its primary cast members, many of whom you probably don't know all that much about. Well, that's about to change.

Friday, we profiled the sexy Minka Kelly. Today, we'll take a look at a guy who got a lot of screen time with Kelly in the first season of Friday Night Lights - the brooding but handsome Taylor Kitsch.

Taylor Kitsch was born April 9, 1981 in Kelowna, British Columbia. A former hockey player, Kitsch has two older brothers and two younger sisters.

He moved to New York over five years ago after receiving a rare opportunity to pursue modeling with IMG and study acting there as well. After two years, he signed with production company, Untitled Entertainment.

Taylor Kitsch, seen here in 2006, first started acting in 2002.

As a model, Taylor Kitsch posed for publications such as CosmoGirl, YM, Teen Vogue, Super and N'uomo Vogue, while appearing in advertisements for Abercrombie & Fitch, Deisel, Clairol, Liz Clairborne and Osmos.

While living in New York, Taylor Kitsch also became certified as a nutritionist and personal trainer in addition to his acting.

Kitsch appeared in three successful movies - The Covenant, Snakes on a Plane and John Tucker Must Die - in 2006. He was also in the Pilot episode of Kyle XY and guested on the Canadian series Godivas.

Young. Beautiful. On the cusp of stardom. These descriptions fit Minka Kelly just about as well as her cheerleading outfit. But they also apply to another actress who bears a resemblance to the Friday Night Lights star.

Leighton Meester, star of the much talked-about Gossip Girl on The CW, is another young actress starting to generate buzz. She's also adorable, with a knowing half-smile and long, flowing brown hair. Much like Minka Kelly...

Two of our favorite TV look-alikes: Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly.

Leighton made her Gossip Girl debut last night, while Minka Kelly and the rest of her Friday Night Lights cast members return live Friday, October 5. These are two cuties you'll be hearing a lot from in the coming years.

NBC has announced the launch of its new service, "NBC Direct," which will allow users to download and view NBC's popular primetime and late-night programs on their desktops for up to a week after they are initially broadcast.

Among the programs available for download will be Friday Night Lights. This new feature provides another platform on which fans will be able to enjoy NBC content, said Vivi Zigler, Executive V.P. of NBC Digital Entertainment.

"With the creation of this service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment," said Zigler. "Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience."

The first version of this new feature, which will begin beta testing in October, will allow users to download full episodes of Friday Night Lights or other shows for viewing on PCs. Each episode will be licensed to users via "NBC Direct" for one week following broadcast and will then expire.

The file will provide users with an improved viewing experience compared to traditional streaming video. A list of programs available at launch includes Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.