The amazing Connie Britton appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien last week to promote the season premiere of Friday Night Lights. She's so smart and funny. Here's the interview with Connie, the actress who plays Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights, as she talks about the show and her humble beginnings.
As fans gather in our forum to discuss each character and story line, the Friday Night Lights Insider staff has come together to share our thoughts on the first episode of the best show on television in a round table format.
The Round Table discussion topics for "Last Days of Summer" include Julie and Matt, the new coach's future, and the recalcitrant Tim Riggins ...
1. Will Riggins join Christ Teen Messengers?
pantherpride4lyfe: If only to try to redeem himself in the eyes of Lyla Garrity ... and possibly get in her pants again. Note: This plan may backfire horribly, but thinking things through is not exactly Tim Riggins' forte.
Saracen7: Not a chance. This is a guy who likes threesomes and beer. While he's a good friend, he's not about to let Jesus in. At least not until his third DUI.
ClearEyes: No. He likes drinking and having sex out of wedlock too much.
2. Julie and Matt: Built to last, or in the past?
Saracen7: I just love Julie and Matt. They're two the cutest, most realistic teen characters on TV. There's great chemistry between the actors, you find yourself falling in love right along with them. Julie's fears are warranted, but she'll come around and see that QB-1 is a pretty darn good catch.
ClearEyes: Built to last. Don't get me wrong, they may break up before I finish writing this answer. But Julie will eventually realize that there are far worse things in life than becoming like her parents. And, familiar with audibles, number-seven will be there with open shoulder pads when she does.
pantherpride4lyfe: Much as I'd love to make a "How Swede it is" pun here, Julie's conversations with Coach should tell her Matt is worth the effort.
3. How long until Coach Bill MacGregor gets the ax?
ClearEyes: Sorry, I've read a few Friday Night Lights spoilers. I abstain.
pantherpride4lyfe: I say the Panthers begin their title defense 0-2, with the Tennessee Tyrant's coaching methods to blame, and heads start to roll. Then Jason Street becomes interim coach and rights the ship!
Saracen7: Despite what he would surely tell you, Smash can't carry this team all by himself. This new coach clearly isn't a good fit. Oh no. Buddy Garrity and his fellow boosters aren't gonna stand for such heavy-handedness ... or losses.
Welcome to Friday Night Lights Insider and the site's first ever Caption Contest, in which we invite fans to test their creative mettle and have some fun doing it. The Season Two premiere, "Last Days of Summer," kicked off this new Insider feature. Let's take a look at our first-ever winner.
We only received five entries, all of which were good (and not a bad showing for our first feature). We went with Jake 2.0, whose winning caption appears beneath the photo. Scroll down for the full list of replies - and good luck again this week. Submit as many as you like and help make this a popular feature!
This week's Caption Contest image:
Invisible Man in Sandals: "Should I touch Tyra's boobs? She'll never know it was me!"
The second season of Friday Night Lights is underway, and Kyle Chandler, who plays Coach Eric Taylor, and Connie Britton, who plays Tami Taylor, stopped by the Today show on Friday to discuss. The pair sat also down with MSNBC to talk about their on-camera marriage, their off-camera relationship and their favorite characters on the acclaimed show. Here's the interview.
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MSNBC: One of the strengths of Friday Night Lights that everyone points to is your marriage... critics have called it the most realistic portrayal of marriage on television. So what's your relationship like off camera... and how do you reach the point where you can present this realistic portrait of marriage?
Connie Britton: [looking at Kyle] Be careful.
Kyle Chandler: This is one of the first roles I've had of being married and having children since I've been married and had children. So that's 12 years now. So I have a wealth of information to bring into this as a husband and father. One of my responsibilities I have is telling my wife what to do, so with Connie, I tell her what to do and everything works fine.
Connie Britton: [sarcastically] Yeah... you can believe that for sure. I, on the other hand, am not married and have never had children. So I'm obviously just an exceptional actress! [laughs]
Kyle Chandler: That was great! Oh my God! [high-fives Connie]
Connie Britton: I think we also got really lucky, because we wanted to play this marriage the same way. We both have the same ideas that we wanted a foundation, a partnership, a trust, and then the sky's the limit from there. We both agreed on that and have been very stalwart about that. And we just end up really having a good time together. So it works out.
MSNBC: What kind of things do you talk about off camera?
Connie Britton: You know, he complains about being away from his family. I never complain, I just listen.
Kyle Chandler: Connie almost always has her nose in a book. [laughs] If not, she's always jogging or going to the gym.
Its numbers weren't exactly high wattage, but NBC's Friday Night Lights opened its second season on a definite positive note on Friday night.
The premiere ("Last Days of Summer") of the critically acclaimed drama, whose first-year ratings made it a tough choice for the Peacock to renew, tied CBS rookie drama Moonlight for its hour's lead among young adults, according to Variety.
Competition for both will pick up this week when ABC enters the fray with new crime drama Women's Murder Club.
Looking at Friday preliminary Nielsen estimates, Friday Night Lights scored a 2.2 rating / 7 share among adults ages 18-49 and 6.5 million total viewers, tying in the key advertising demographic with week two of the new vampire detective drama Moonlight on CBS (2.2/7 in 18-49, 8.3 million).
Repeats of ABC's Private Practice (1.6/5, 4.9 million) and Fox's K-Ville ran farther behind (prelim 1.2/4, 3.3 million).
Honored with a Peabody award and tabbed AFI's program of the year, Friday Night Lights won the hour outright in adults 18-34 (1.7/6) and male demos.
In both 18-49 and total viewers, Friday Night Lights ratings were up 10 percent from its average over the final month of its first season.
As for Moonlight, it's not a juggernaut either, but it managed to hold onto most of its demo lead-in from 8 p.m. winner Ghost Whisperer (2.4/8, 8.7 million) and won the slot by 2 shares in adults 25-54 (3.1/9).
Numbers (2.7/9, 9.5 million) capped the Eye's winning night, up a tick vs. its season preem of a week ago. ABC's 20/20 moved up to second (2.4/8, 7.2 million), with NBC's Las Vegas slipping to third (2.1/7, 7.4 million).
The Insider has compiled its episode guide to "Last Days of Summer," for those of you who may have missed - or want to relive - all of last night's Friday Night Lights drama. There's a lot going on with our favorite characters, to be sure - including one of the darkest, most shocking plot twists on television.
We've also put together a photo gallery from the episode, as well as our exclusive forum thread. We're working on a list of memorable Friday Night Lights quotes from "Last Days of Summer." You can also check out some videos.
Thanks for visiting and please check back with Friday Night Lights Insider often! More news and updates to come throughout the weekend and into next week!
Every day counts. One night matters. Tonight is that night as Friday Night Lights returns for a second season. The long-awaited new episode, "Last Days of Summer," promises not to disappoint... and to shake things up.
You can discuss it with fellow Friday Night Lights fans before and after the show in our FORUM. Share your thoughts on your favorite players, the dark plot twist that everyone's talking about or anything else related to the best show on TV. Join an existing discussion or start your own!
After the show airs, Friday Night Lights Insider will post its official episode guide recapping the night's drama. We'll also compile a photo gallery, list of memorable quotes from tonight and a whole lot more. Thanks for visiting, and making us the #1 Friday Night Lights fan site online!
Tonight's season premiere of Friday Night Lights, entitled "Last Days of Summer," looks like it's going to be terrific. We'll know for sure in a matter of hours. For now, here's a clip from the episode in which Lyla (Minka Kelly) tells Tim (Taylor Kitsch) about her newfound commitment to Jesus. Riggins is, well, Riggins.
Follow the jump for another intense clip from "Last Days of Summer," in which Eric (Kyle Chandler) gets some attitude from Julie (Aimee Teegarden) ...
Get ready for the small town of Dillon, Texas, to start looking more like Dallas now that NBC's Friday Night Lights is back for a second season.
That means a lot more skin and scandal, observes William Keck of USA Today, and numerous others who have previewed the Season Two debut.
"There are a large number of shower scenes," star Adrianne Palicki, 24, says with an uncomfortable giggle. Her character, Tyra Collete, is first seen in the season premiere licking a popsicle suggestively. Control yourselves, guys.
"We've also had a couple of (nude) scenes in the locker room," adds Adrianne's co-star, Jesse Plemons, 19, whose social outcast character, Landry Clarke, has just reluctantly joined the high school football team.
"The good thing is that Landry's not really okay with taking his clothes off unlike Tim Riggins (played by Taylor Kitsch). Taylor has been complaining the most about having to take off his shirt."
Adrianne Palicki as sexy, sassy Tyra Collette.
No one's complaining, to be sure, about a second chance to prove themselves after a first season that was critically acclaimed but ratings-starved.
Over lunch, both actors acknowledge that the set was somber the day Emmy nominations were announced. Nary a nod went to the underdog drama.
"It was very disappointing," Adrianne Palicki says. "There was a backlash from not getting nominated people were furious. So that's even cooler, in a way. Look at how many fans were so angry."
"The feeling now," Jesse Plemons adds, "is let's give them even a better show, so there's no way they're going to be able to pass us up."
The new game plan: less football, more personal struggle.
Among the drama: Adrianne Palicki's Tyra and Jesse Plemons' Landry enter into a secret romance that, Plemons says, "catches both of them off guard."
The unlikely duo Tyra the Beauty, Landry the Geek came together when Landry became her tutor, then came to her rescue after an attempted rape.
"I would love for them to be together," Palicki says. "Tyra deserves a good guy."
There's also a stunning plot twist that we won't get into here.
Plemons, a native of Mart, Texas (outside Waco), has been dating a Texas girl for six months who he says is "beautiful inside and out."
The single Palicki says she has had many Landrys in her life, but as a high school student in Toledo, Ohio, she strictly dated jocks.
"I had Landrys as friends," she says. "The guys you thought you'd marry someday, but you just couldn't date because it wasn't cool. How stupid is that?"
You may have heard that Season Two of Friday Night Lights kicks off tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC, giving you the chance to stare at the lovely Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly, below) on-screen instead of online for a change!
But seriously, folks. This premiere is not to be missed.
The only chance to save FNL from cancellation is to make sure everyone you know gets hooked in a hurry. Just ask Adam Best, a sports columnist from epiccarnival.com and a new Friday Night Lights convert. He writes:
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I recently came down with a cold and ripped through Friday Night Lights: Season One in less than a week.
I'm actually glad I got sick, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have listened to everyone who raved about the show and checked it out. Point blank - it's effing unbelievable, probably my favorite show on TV right now (yes, even including Entourage).
My goal is to spark your interest with this post so that you too will be flat out hooked on FNL, sort of like Travis Henry is on baby making.
Unfortunately - as ESPN's Bill Simmons and others have pointed out at length - most people aren't hooked at this point. Friday Night Lights was snubbed by viewers and The Emmy Awards alike during its first season.
Fans and insiders alike now fear that the series will get canned before the second season even really gets rolling. How could this happen to such a bad-ass series?
Here's how:
Continue reading this Friday Night Lights analysis here.
October 1 (DirecTV)
All 13 episodes of Friday Night Lights Season 3 will air starting in October 2008 on DirecTV, then re-air in early 2009 on NBC!
Smash: I want you to come over for dinner tonight.
Tim: Are you askin' me on a date, Williams?
