Friday Night Lights News (Page 2)

October 1 will bring commercial free HD programming to DirecTV subscribers as third season of Friday Night Lights will make its 101 Network debut.

As part of the unusual arrangement that's kept the show from being canceled, subscribers of DirecTV will get to watch episodes commercial-free and in high-definition before the show’s planned NBC run in early 2009.

This season Friday Night Lights will follow Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) as he copes with an uncertain team after the graduation of star running back Smash Williams (Gaius Charles, who will have only a recurring role).

Tami (Connie Britton) will adjust to her role as the new Dillon High School principal and the ways in which her new duties affect the Taylor family.

Tyra (Adrianne Palicki), Lyla (Minka Kelly) and Tim (Taylor Kitsch) enter senior years and must grasp the pressures of high school romance - and of coming of age. And don't even get us started on Matt and Julie!

Other shows to air on 101 Network include Live From Dillon, Rock & A Hard Place, and Supreme Court of Comedy. DirecTV will also feature a sneak preview of Crash, the first original drama from Starz Entertainment.

The new 13-episode drama will premiere October 1 at 10 p.m. EST, following the Friday Night Lights Season Three debut.

Here's a look behind the scenes of Friday Night Lights as the show gears up for its third season premiere on DirecTV ...

Click to Play | View Details

TV Guide's Matt Roush fielded a couple of questions and opined on the future of Friday Night Lights in his recent column. Have at it ...

Q: So explain this to me one more time: How is Friday Night Lights moving to DirecTV in Season Three (just until January or whenever) supposed to help ratings? Don't DirectTV customers already get NBC, in which case DirectTV customers have already been exposed to Friday Night Lights? And don't Nielsen ratings take satellite TV watchers into account? How much can 13 episodes really help in saving a show? And if the show was originally an NBC show, why doesn't NBC air it first and then DirectTV? I thought I understood everything that was going on with this scenario, but I guess not.

Plus, I heard Ben Silverman (the one who wasn't a fan of Friday Night Lights) is leaving or stepped down from NBC — is that just a rumor? Sorry for all the questions, but I began rewatching Season One of FNL last night and was reminded (because it's been so long since I last saw an episode) how good this show really is and how much I love it.

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Life is going well for the cast in Austin as we await Season 3. E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has the skinny from the Friday Night Lights set.

Q: I need to know what's coming up for my Friday Night Lights folks, especially Julie-Matt and Tim-Lyla!
A: As you read this, I am actually in Austin, Texas, at Casa de Taylor, stalking and interviewing cast members. I just got a two-step lesson from Adrianne Palicki (no joke, and awesome, and she even let me be the girl) and heard about her hot new cowboy boyfriend Cash (Zach Roerig, meeting him later), and even met Matt Saracen's mom!

More on this as it develops ...

Landry Clarke is about to have some new competition, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello.

Friday Night Lights has tapped former As the World Turns troublemaker Zach Roerig to join the cast of the critically acclaimed show as Cash, a local rodeo star who does his best to lasso Adrianne Palicki's Tyra Collette.

As executive producer Jason Katims teased back in July, Cash will appear just as Tyra's romance with Landry is cooling off.

"Tyra in the past eight months has [realized] that, while she loves Landry, she kind of feels like he's not really The Guy," he said.

"So it becomes a story about 'Are they going to be able to be friends? And will Landry be able to accept that?'"

The newest addition to the Friday Night Lights roster, D.W. Moffett talks about his role and his few days of filming in his TVGuide blog ...

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Long time no blog but thought I'd come over here and talk to you about a little show called Friday Night Lights. Heard of it? Yeah. I thought so.

I've been cast for a multi-episode story arc in Season 3 of this show and I'm really excited about it. Couldn't be happier. The show has a lot going for it. Critics love it. Fans are nearly as awesome as the best fans in the world (Go Bears!) and the storylines are off the charts. Really well done.

So yes. I'm here in Austin, Texas, and I'm filming the opening episodes and it's been great. You can't always say that when you walk onto a film or television set you know, but here it's true. Everyone on the cast is really nice and welcoming and I've had a lot of fun already.

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Ever since Friday Night Lights' Season 3 renewal, many fans such as ourselves have been waiting for the other cleat to drop.

Now, Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly reports, two of the series' stars, Gaius Charles (Smash Williams) and Scott Porter (Jason Street), have been taken off contract and will only appear on a recurring basis.

In a statement, executive producer Jason Katims said:

"Peter Berg, myself and our fellow producers have enormous respect for Scott and Gaius both as actors and individuals. In short, we love them. However, both of their characters have now graduated and in the creative spirit of the show, we have decided to give them powerful four episode arcs that will observe their characters as they launch themselves into the next phase of their lives. We certainly will keep the door open for both actors to return in the future, depending on the actors' availabilities. We know both Scott and Gaius will go on to have enormous success and we wish the best for both of them."

It's a big disappointment, but at the same time, not a complete surprise.

Regarding Smash, Katims conceded long ago that finding a way to justify hanging onto his college-bound running back would be difficult.

Continue Reading...

In case you missed it, Friday Night Lights is returning for a third season this fall - albeit under very unique circumstances.

The acclaimed, but low-rated series will now debut episodes on DirecTV, before rebroadcasting them later in the season on NBC.

In addition, Season 3 will be comprised of a shorter 13 episodes, all of which will air exclusively on DirecTV beginning in the fall.

With DirecTV shouldering some of the production costs, NBC then will begin airing the same slate of Friday Night Lights episodes in mid-season.

Season 1 of Friday Night Lights had a full 22 episodes, while Season 2 was originally slated for 22 until the writers' strike cut it to 15.

The second season of Friday Night Lights ended before most of its key storylines could. We can't wait for it to return.

NBC has just launched an auction on its website with a bunch of different props from its hit shows. Friday Night Lights is one of the shows featured.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction will benefit the United Way. The NBC auction runs through December 3, at which point a new batch of props are going live! Here are the items relating to Friday Night Lights up for bids...

• Dillon Panthers Cheerleading Uniform
• Official Tim Riggins Panthers Jersey
• Football Autographed by Friday Night Lights Cast
• Autographed Lyla Garrity Cheerleader Megaphone
• Jason Street's Panthers Football Helmet

To bid on any of these awesome Friday Night Lights items and see some of the other stuff up for auction from other hit NBC shows, just click here!

The ratings are in for the most recent episode of Friday Night Lights, November 16's "Pantherama!" Take a look at the ratings from the 9-9:30 p.m. interval ...

CBS - Moonlight
Viewers: 8.19 million (#2), A18-49: 2.7/ 8 (#1)
NBC - Friday Night Lights
Viewers: 6.45 million (#3), A18-49: 2.2/ 6 (#2)
ABC - Women's Murder Club
Viewers: 8.82 million (#1), A18-49: 1.7/ 5 (#3)
CW - Friday Night Smackdown!
Viewers: 4.74 million (#4), A18-49: 1.4/ 4 (#5)
Fox - Don't Forget the Lyrics
Viewers: 4.38 million (#5), A18-49: 1.6/ 5 (#4)

Now let's look at the 9:30-10 p.m. interval ...

CBS - Moonlight
Viewers: 8.22 million (#2), A18-49: 2.7/ 8 (#1)
NBC - Friday Night Lights
Viewers: 5.47 million (#4), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#2-T)
ABC - Women's Murder Club
Viewers: 9.06 million (#1), A18-49: 1.9/ 6 (#4)
CW - Friday Night Smackdown!
Viewers: 4.93 million (#5), A18-49: 1.5/ 4 (#5)
Fox - Don't Forget the Lyrics
Viewers: 5.51 million (#4), A18-49: 2.0/ 6 (#2-T)

It appears Friday Night Lights averaged 5.96 million viewers for last Friday's episode. Interestingly, however, the show ranked second and tied for second in the key 18-49 demographic, the most heavily targeted by advertisers.

Here's hoping for even better news this week.