November 2007 News Archive (Page 3)

Welcome to the Friday Night Lights Caption Contest, a Monday tradition. Let's take a look at who won this week's edition of the Caption Contest.

It was a difficult call, but we chose LoveMeLyla. That caption poses a number of good questions! The winning reply appears below the pic. Scroll down to read the full list of replies we received for this past week's Caption Contest.

Thank you for playing and making Friday Night Lights Insider the best Friday Night Lights fan site online. Good luck again in this week's contest!

This week's Friday Night Lights Caption Contest image:

Lyla: "How did you swim to shore if you can't feel your legs?"
Jason: "How did you guys appear on land two seconds later?"

It looks as though the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike could affect the future of Friday Night Lights. The show, among NBC's most acclaimed, is filmed in Austin and brings in $1.5 million per episode to the city.

The show's producers said because of the strike, there is only material written to keep working through December 4. Production would stop then, although there are several additional episodes that have already been written and shot.

NBC would not comment on plans for Friday Night Lights, but it doesn't appear there will be a resolution to the writers' strike anytime soon.

Marching in protest, thousands of television writers and their supporters blocked the road in front of a studio near Los Angeles Friday morning.

"I've spent the last 25 years of my career working with writers, and I understand their grievances in this case, and I don't believe they're being unreasonable, and so I'm here to support that," said actor Kelsey Grammer.

The strike will most certainly affect what people watch.

"I am an empty shell waiting to be filled in by the material written by these folks," said Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

The Tonight Show shut down production in the wake of the strike, and NBC announced Friday they are looking for guest hosts to replace Leno.

Members of the Writers Guild of America said they want residual pay for movies and shows that end up downloaded or offered for free online.

"The backbone of this industry is the people whose faces aren't recognizable, the people trying to get by, make a living and get what's due them," said actor Tim Robbins. "This is simply an issue of fairness."

Network prime time schedules could be reduced to the two R's: reality shows and repeats. There is no sign that contract talks will resume.

The last writers' walkout was in 1988 and lasted more than five months. It cost the industry an estimated $500 million.

Wow. Just wow. Some of the developments on the most recent Friday Night Lights took us totally off guard, and the entire episode reminded us why this series is TV's best. Follow the link to relive all the action or read what you missed in Friday Night Lights Insider's episode guide to "How Did I Get Here."

Photo gallery, quotes and music guide from the episode are still to come, along with our staff Round Table discussion. As always, you can discuss the episode, characters and everything about the show in the Insider's forum!

We were starting to wonder if these two were still together. Singer John Mayer and his girlfriend, Friday Night Lights star Minka Kelly hadn't been photographed together as much recently, but they stepped out Sunday for an NBA game.

Seated at the New York Knicks-Miami Heat battle at Madison Square Garden, Mayer was greeted on the scoreboard: "Welcome John Mayer, Recording Artist."

We would have gone with "Please welcome Minka Kelly, the beautiful, talented star of Friday Night Lights" but perhaps we're a little bit biased here.

Minka Kelly and John Mayer: Watching the NBA, still going strong.

This week's episode of Friday Night Lights looks like another good one. Eric is back in Dillon but things aren't going smoothly, while Tim Riggins gets a rude awakening and Landry feels the heat turned up like never before.

You can discuss "How Did I Get Here" with fellow Friday Night Lights fans and critics before and after the show in our FORUM. It's easy and free. Share your thoughts on the Dillon Panthers, their stories and whatever strikes you. Enjoy!

After the show, Friday Night Lights Insider will post its official episode recap, as well as compile a photo gallery, list of quotes and music guide. Help us out if you can! Thanks for making us the #1 Friday Night Lights fan site online.

Below is NBC's promo for this Friday's all-new episode of Friday Night Lights, "How Did I Get Here." There's plenty going on as Riggins gets the boot from the team, Coach has problems at work and at home, and the heat gets cranked up further on Landry as more clues to the murder are uncovered...

As always, you can discuss "How Did I Get Here" and all things about the show before, during and after the episode in Friday Night Lights Insider's forum.

Lots of notable Texans will be gathering at the 2007 Greater Austin Walk Now for Autism this Saturday to raise money for autism awareness and research.

One of the participants will be Jesse Plemons, who plays lovable sidekick and football player Landry on Friday Night Lights.

The Mart, Tex., native will be on hand at the event for pictures and autographs.

Plemons' mother is a teacher in Waco who works with children with autism.

The walk is at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Tex., the Austin American-Statesman reports.

Area residents should consider joining Jesse Plemons in this effort to raise money for a good cause - and maybe meet him, too!

A return to the glory years appears to be within reach for the real life Panthers of "Friday Night Lights" fame. Odessa Permian is 9-0 going into its regular season finale, the latest into a season they've been unbeaten since 1993.

"What's happening now has been a thing that's kind of brought back the good old days," said former Permian coach John Wilkins, who went 148-16 with two state titles from 1973 to 1985. "The crowds are coming back."

Odessa Permian won six state championships, three of them in the 1980s when the Panthers lost only 11 games. At that point, the assistant coaches were lured to better jobs and the school's pre-eminence gradually faded.

The last title came in 1991, and the vaunted Panthers lost an unthinkable 49 games in a 10-year stretch from 1997 through last season. That included the longest losing streak in school history, a six-game skid in 2004.

But an Eric Taylor-esque young coach — the only one of 11 since 1959 who also played for the school — is turning things around in this small West Texas city known for two things: oil and football. 

A return to glory: Odessa Permian - the school chronicled in the book "Friday Night Lights" by H.G. Bissinger - is unbeaten going into its season finale.

Last year, in only his second season, Darren Allman led the Panthers to a 9-4 season and a regional semifinal loss to Southlake Carroll, a school with four state titles in five years in Class 5A, the state's largest.

Gary Gaines, one of Allman's predecessors whose 1988 team was depicted in the book of the same name that inspired the movie and series Friday Night Lights, said the 38-year-old Allman has returned the team to fundamentals.

"He just had a little better insight as to what was needed," Gaines said. "He has just put it all together."

Continue reading this article on Permian from MSNBC ...

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.

Round Table topics for "Let's Get It On" include the Panthers' last-second win, the heroics and troubles of Landry, and the (hot, and wet) adventures of Jason ...
1. More uncomfortable: an interrogation from Landry's father, or receiving romantic advice from Coach Mac McGill?

pantherpride4lyfe: Coach Mac. That's as uncomfortable as it gets. Landry's dad? That was more like terrifying. I was nervous and sweating just watching Landry and Tyra in their respective conversations with the Dillon policeman.

ClearEyes: Coach Mac's advice. I can't ever look at a zone blitz the same again.

Saracen7: While no one wants Mac talking about getting "back in the saddle," I think most people would take it in a second over crossing Landry's pop.

2. Does the Panthers' dramatic win signal a return to Dillon's winning ways, or was it merely a lucky break in a tumultuous season?

Saracen7: Thanks in no small part to Landry, stars Matt and Smash are focused now on the task at hand: a drive for back-to-back state titles. I think they'll do it.

ClearEyes: While the win may have hinged on a controversial pass interference call and a lucky break on a fumble, the newfound cohesiveness of the team can only lead to more Panther Ws in the future.

pantherpride4lyfe: Good question. Their 2-1 record is a bit misleading, as the Panthers have looked sub-par in each of their three contests to date. Of course, a few 200-yard games from Smash Williams could change that in a hurry.

3. Bigger miracle: Street making it to the beach after throwing himself off the boat, or Lyla and Tim showing up in the truck immediately after?

ClearEyes: Street. The guy has no feeling in his legs! Talk about shoulder strength.

pantherpride4lyfe: Jason's swim to safety. His sudden moment of clarity surely gave him an adrenaline boost, but still. That's some upper body workout.

Saracen7: Tim and Lyla appearing out of nowhere. Even if the booze cruise was just about to return to shore and they parked right at the dock, that was fast!

4. Where will Landry's motivational, tear-inducing halftime speech go down in the annals of poignant moments from sports movies / TV?

pantherpride4lyfe: It's top five for certain. Jesse Plemons is terrific in giving Landry such awkwardness, sincerity and heart. Only a few sports scenes - such as Ray and his dad playing catch in Field of Dreams or Rudy's groundskeeper friend telling him he's already a winner on and off the field - can compare.

Saracen7: The Gettysburg Address, it wasn't. But Landry Clarke's appeal to his embattled teammates to man up was enough to bring a tear to this fan's eye.

ClearEyes: If Jimmy Chitwood never told coach, "I'll make it," before nailing the game-winner in Hoosiers, Landry would be competing with Rudy for the top spot.

5. How hot / strange was the scene at the Mexican cantina at the end?

pantherpride4lyfe: Such mystery and intrigue with the two best friends who've been through it all and Lyla, who finds herself torn in different directions. If you missed it, you have to watch the video of this... great soundtrack, too.

Saracen7: I swear, only Friday Night Lights would attempt - and be able to pull off - a scene like that. No words were exchanged, but volumes are spoken.

ClearEyes: The only thing that would have made it stranger would be if John Mayer had come in and bashed Riggins and Street over the head with a guitar.

By the standards of a show justifiably called the best on TV, episode #4, "Let's Get It On," had all the complexity of a light-beer commercial.

For starters, Tim and Jason's trip to Mexico in search of booze (the former) and working legs (the latter) has finally come to an end, and nobody died or disgraced themselves in a way they can't recover from. But they came damn close.

Tim Riggins, in his unparalleled and infinite wisdom, chose a "booze cruise" as the location during which to tell Jason Street, with Lyla Garrity standing by to furrow her gorgeous brow at key moments, that he shouldn't have the surgery because it isn't going to work and he could quite possibly wind up dead.

After a dramatic and unsuccessful confrontation, Riggins and Lyla leave Six to stew in his own anger, and what does he do? Tips himself overboard.

Of course Jason realizes the true value of life as he's sucking down sea water, and of course, as the indie-rock ballad hits epic violin mode, he fights his way to the surface and of course, he's going to spy a beach in the near distance, and of course, a wave comes along and propel him toward the sand. Hallelujah!

Moments later, Riggins and Lyla drive up in a truck — weren't they just on a boat? — and it is confirmed: Jason Street now wants to live. Plus, he's sorry for being a jerk. Now... anyone up for a drink? At the end of the episode, the three amigos are all tipsy and making out with one another. Well, not the boys. You get the idea. Lyla, unable to shake the label of the most boring character on Friday Night Lights, breaks the smokin' hot mood by saying, "I gotta go pray."

We kid you not. Okay, that was the worst of it, and we admit that we very much enjoyed it, the extreme cheese factor notwithstanding.

Continue reading this review of "Let's Get It On" by New York Magazine ...