October 2007 News Archive

As fans gather in our forum to discuss each character and story line, the Friday Night Lights Insider staff has come together to share its thoughts on the latest episode of Season 2 of the best show on TV in a Round Table format.

The Round Table discussion topics for "Backfire" include the misadventures of Six and Three-Three in Mexico, Coach MacGregor's future and Julie's attitude ...

1. Following his ouster, where will Coach Bill MacGregor end up?

pantherpride4lyfe: Back in the Volunteer State. He's the Tennessee Tyrant.

ClearEyes: Brandon, Texas. He'll become coach of Dillon's major rival, leading to a state championship game for the ages.

Saracen7: One can't help but think a gridiron battle with Coach Taylor is in the works at some point this season or next. Glad as I am that Eric's back in Dillon, it was rather fast and a little too easy, no? I didn't expect his exit from TMU to be so prompt, nor did I find it that realistic. Whatever, all's well that ends well.

2. How long until Landry blurts out that he did it?

Saracen7: Being a reader of this site, I've read some Friday Night Lights spoilers and will just say that there's an episode title coming up that sort of hints at it. But for those who want to be surprised, let me just say ... it's not this week!

ClearEyes: I'm amazed he's lasted this long without telling the world. We are talking about having sex with Tyra, right?

pantherpride4lyfe: Yesterday? The guilt is already taking over Landry's psyche. What a great scene in the restaurant. Sooner or later Clarke is going to cave and come clean, like the good kid inside him has wanted to all along (which kind of makes the whole murder plot line seem a little far-fetched, if you ask me).

3. More unreasonably high: Street's hopes for surgery, or Riggins' blood alcohol content?

ClearEyes: Street's hopes for surgery. It won't work out, Six.

pantherpride4lyfe: Tim Riggins. The guy can drink. His tolerance is at a level that would sicken a normal man. It's a wonder how he stays conscious so long.

Saracen7: Gotta take Tim, although both are well over the legal limit.

4. Unselfish play of the night: Lyla taking the released prisoner under her (sexy) wing, or Tami's surprising patience with her rebellious daughter?

pantherpride4lyfe: Call this one a draw. Neither is perfect, but both have good intentions and are trying their best to be good Christians mothers, respectively.

Saracen7: Lyla. Whatever her true motivations may be, or how lost she is inside, she did a good thing in getting the kid a job at the dealership.

ClearEyes: Tami Taylor did hit Julie with a right cross two weeks ago, but I'll still take her over Lyla any time. Little Ms. Garrity seems to be acting more out of guilt than unselfishness here. She may not even know the released prisoner's name, she just wants to look like a true Christian.

5. So Julie Taylor's dad is finally back in Dillon. Will she stop being a brat and welcome Matt Saracen back into her life next?

pantherpride4lyfe: She might... but would Matt even go for it? That's the real question. He could be too upset to take her back, not to mention busy - fighting Smash, caring for Grandma and flirting with her in-home care provider.

Saracen7: I hope so! Matt is a good guy and he and Julie were perfect together. I respect why the writers had them break up but enough already!

ClearEyes: Yes and no. Julie may cease her rebellious ways, but her and Matt need a break. Julie needs to find out who she is on her own, and Saracen needs to bask in the warmth of some Latino heat, if you know what we mean.

Here's a brief preview of the all-new episode of Friday Night Lights, scheduled for this Friday, November 2, "Let's Get It On." With Coach back at the helm, Landry stepping up in the locker room (!), Tim and Jason still in Mexico, and much more going on, it looks like another good one. Check out NBC's promo below.

On Friday Night Lights spoiler patrol, Kristin Veitch of E! Online has some new scoop on Riggins and Lyla, as well as some other gossip about the show.

Follow the jump to learn more about what's in store for Tim Riggins ...

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As we all know, Friday Night Lights launched its second season with a true shocker: Smart, funny, geeky teen Landry Clarke killed a man threatening to attack Tyra Collette, Landry's crush. Then the pair dumped the body.

There was just one problem, according to the Los Angeles Times. The show's relatively small, extremely intense fan base didn't buy it.

"I hated, hated, hated the murder scene," wrote a poster named Tom on the website of Alan Sepinwall, critic for the Newark Star-Ledger.

"Friday Night Lights has always struck me as a production that shows the drama in a real town... The murder scene felt, well, desperate."

Critics who have championed Friday Night Lights were equally upset.

"Absurdly melodramatic and unbelievable," wrote The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin. "The plot thread could easily overwhelm the show and kill it."

Set in a small Texas town and shot in a documentary style, Friday Night Lights has earned a cult following and need-to-improve ratings.

Most fans were drawn less by football than by the nature of the characters: Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), his high school counselor wife, their daughter, the paralyzed QB, his two-timing girlfriend, the new quarterback, and so on.

Although viewers might relate to characters who cheated, drank way too much or fought, they didn't know any 16-year-olds who had killed someone.

Some suspected the plot was a ratings ploy, a notion buoyed by releasing of the first episode to Yahoo and the appearance of actors (really) in Allstate ads.

Producer Jason Katims said the Web release and the commercials - some of which contained upcoming air dates of the premiere - were attempts to attract viewers.

"It would be good to have new viewers; I won't deny that," he said.

But he contended the controversial murder plot twist was organic and based on Landry's and Tyra's characters - particularly how the actors portrayed them in a Season 1 episode when the same attacker tried to rape Tyra.

"The way Jesse Plemons played those scenes, he was bringing so much to the table," Katims said. "We realized we had this actor capable of doing much more."

"It wasn't like we thought this would be the thing to draw more audience. On the other hand, we did want to come out in the first episode with a story line that would be surprising and have urgency to it," he said.

This story line will play out over the course of nine episodes and will allow a new focus on the relationship between Landry and his father, a policeman.

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Welcome to the Friday Night Lights Caption Contest, a Monday tradition. Before you move on to this week's edition, let's take a look at who won this fourth contest. We received eight replies (we can do better), all of which were good!

It as a difficult decision, but we chose Kelly as the winner. Congratulations! The winning reply appears beneath the photo, and you can scroll down to read the whole list of Friday Night Lights captions sent into us this week.

Good luck again this week, and thanks for making Friday Night Lights Insider the #1 Friday Night Lights fan site online. We hope you enjoy and visit us often!

This week's Caption Contest image:

Jason [to himself]: "No more bean burritos for us…"

In the closing moments from last Friday's episode, "Backfire," Coach Eric Taylor makes his way to the Panthers' locker room. Newly-installed at his old job, Coach takes a short, sweet, back-to-business approach. The team responds. Look for a different Dillon squad on the field in the next game.

In Season One of Friday Night Lights, Jesse Plemons played second fiddle as Landry Clarke, sidekick to star quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford).

Now into its second season, the Friday Night Lights clown has been promoted to the football team - and bigger storylines. Landry Clarke got the girl of his dreams in Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki), albeit at a heavy price. Jesse Plemons spoke to BuddyTV about the new developments with his character. Excerpts below ...

Q: Let's just jump right into this, with the second season of Friday Night Lights. What is it like playing the town stud all of a sudden?

Jesse Plemons: Town stud? I didn't realize I was the town stud now, but if you think so. Yeah, this season is just so different. There's so much going on with the huge accidental murder in the first episode, and the repercussions. It's just really intense and great as an actor to do something like that.

Q: Got it. So do you ever miss just being... last season you were more the comic relief. Just adding in a little pepper here and there.

Jesse Plemons: Right. I had a blast last season. That's pretty much the only way I can explain that. It was just fun. I got to come in, work a few days out of the week, and just have some really ridiculous lines and just go. And then this season, is kind of the opposite. I have a really intense storyline and it's taking a lot out of me. But it's something I've really invested in and it's something I'm passionate about. It's an honor to be able to do something like this.

Q: In addition to all of that, the murder / cover-up and romance with Tyra, Landry also joined the football team this season.

Jesse Plemons: That's right. Yeah, and that's a lot of fun. I played football growing up so I was really happy to hear that.

Q: So were you kind of disappointed last season? Were you begging the producers to let you get in on that?

Jesse Plemons: Not really. It kind of started out as a joke. I'd be in the stands and then in-between takes I'd try to run down on the field and play catch. Then I'd be playing catch and someone said I had a good arm and joked about Landry coming on to the field and taking Matt's position. Last year I never would have thought it'd work, but I think it's not too far fetched in a town like this that kid will attempt to get on the team. You pretty much have the kids that play football, and the ones that don't. Even though Landry was so against it - he had his own thing with Crucifictorious - it's still something that was interesting to him.

Q: So does that mean we've seen the end of Crucifictorious?

Jesse Plemons: I hope not man. I hope not.

Q: As if there already isn't enough for you in Season Two, your father, played by Glenn Morshower, joined the cast. Were you a fan of his before he joined up?

Jesse Plemons: I had only seen some of his stuff on 24, but he's a great actor. And it's really weird how much we actually look alike. He probably looks more like me than my real dad does. It's kinda freaky. I was very happy to see they picked him. He's been working forever and has a million credits. He's from Texas as well, so I think it was definitely a good choice.

Follow the link to continue reading Plemons' interview with BuddyTV ...

Zach Gilford, who stars as Matt Saracen on NBC's Friday Night Lights, spoke to Variety as part of the publication's "Pushy Questions" feature. Here's a look at what's on the mind - and reading list, and more - of Zach Gilford.

Last book I bought:
"God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens

Book I'm reading:
"What Is the What" by Dave Eggers

Total number of books I own:
Over a hundred, I have no clue.

Three books that mean a lot to me:
"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
"Our America" by LeAlan Jones and Lloyd Newman with David Isay
"Seven Years in Tibet" by Heinrich Harrer

Last film I saw:
"King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters," directed by Seth Gordon

Three films that mean a lot to me:
"Braveheart," directed by Mel Gibson
"Glory," directed by Edward Zwick
"Trainspotting," directed by Danny Boyle

Last CD I bought:
"Finding Forever," Common

Song currently playing in iPod:
"Idioteque," Radiohead

Three songs that mean a lot to me:
"Poor Places," Wilco
"Heartbeats," Jose Gonzales
"The Final Countdown," Europe

Favorite Drink:
Guinness or water (straight from the tap)

Favorite Charity:
The Democratic Party

Favorite Vacation:
Any mountains in Alaska

Favorite Vice:
I'm cunning

Five people whom I'd like to see answer this survey:
Mos Def, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Professor Seaskin (my college philosophy professor), my dad

Adrianne Palicki already had a pretty nice resume - the original Kara on Smallville back in 2004, Sam's ill-fated girlfriend on Supernatural, a gig on South Beach and a guest shot on CSI. But then she landed the role of sweet, but troubled bad girl Tyra Collette on the acclaimed Friday Night Lights.

Below, Adrianne Palicki gives iF Magazine a look at what's new in Dillon, Texas, including Tyra's part in covering up the murder of her stalker...

iF: What are the changes for your character on Friday Night Lights this year?

Adrianne Palicki: I think everything, all the characters, have evolved. Everything started out in a very black and white area and it's continuing to get more and more gray. It's just so exciting to watch, because nothing is what it seems on our show and Tyra is one of those characters that has completely evolved and come full circle.

iF: When you were cast the show, did you think, "This could be a phenomenon?"

Adrianne Palicki: Well, on paper, it wasn't necessarily the most amazing script I'd ever read, but watching the Pilot, every single one of us was just blown away watching it and it was just the most amazing thing we'd ever seen.

iF: Has being in Friday Night Lights increased your interest in/awareness of football, the people who support football?

Adrianne Palicki: I'm from Ohio and I grew up loving football, so that's always been a part of my life.

iF: Tyra gets involved in a very deep problem this season. Did the producers discuss this with you and say, ‘What do you think about this?'

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The Friday Night Lights Insider staff has compiled its official episode guide to this past Friday's "Backfire." Follow the link to relive or catch up on the action, and be sure to take a look at our photo gallery from the episode as well. If you like, you can also feel free to discuss "Backfire" with fellow fans in our forum!

We'll be working on pulling together a list of memorable quotes and music from the night's episode, and will have our staff's Round Table discussion as well as a new Caption Contest posted early in the week. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy!