Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Urgent Appeal: Don’t Let Friday Night Lights Go Unwatched


Please don’t let this quality show die on the vine. I’ve already written about it once. It’s struggling in the ratings. Last night’s show continues the story that began with the pilot. It’s really more than a show about Texas football. It’s about every kid who stood in the shadow only to be thrust into a challenge that he or she may or may not be ready for. It’s about expectations—realistic and not. Hopes, dreams and dreams sidetracked. Love and how strong can it be. Friendship and leadership. Jack Myers Media Village says of the show: “Indeed, one need not be even remotely interested in football to appreciate Friday Night Lights, because its stories about the people of Dillon, Texas, and their beloved football team, the Dillon Panthers, are stories of simple hopes and dreams. They speak to anyone who ever wanted more out of life, as well as those who are content with an existence some might define as ‘humble’.”

I know many viewers were touched by the closing words spoken at the end of the pilot as I was. I posted them in my first blog entry and many curious viewers found their way to the Alabama Kitchen Sink. The writing is so strong that I am repeating them today:

“Give all of us who are gathered here tonight the strength to remember that life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable. And we will all at some point in our lives fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts: That what we have is special and that it can be taken from us and when it is taken from us, we will be tested to our very souls. We will now all be tested. It is these times, it is this pain that allows us to look inside ourselves.”

Tuesday on NBC at 7 p.m. Central time.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sheila, I will try to catch this show! Thanks for bringing it to my attention. We all need to hold tight to our hopes and dreams!!!

Tim said...

It's not a show I'd be interested in, but I know my wife would probably fall in love with it. I guess we'll have to wait and see if it comes here.

(Btw - the American shows we watch aren't dubbed. They're in their original language. Germans and other Europeans do that, but not the Scandinavians.)

Sheila said...

Janey, I hope you do watch it. With your two sons, I'll bet you like it. Let me know if you stop by again.

Tim, I recall you are a former football player and so I guess you might have had enough of it. However, my son Jeff and daughter-in-law Natalie recently watched it and both liked it a lot. Jeff loves football, but Natalie doesn't especially and even she liked it according to J.

Jeff told me there's a Slate writer trying to save it too. I'll have to check that out.