To NBC, DirecTV, Film 44, Imagine Television, and Universal Media Studios:
We, the undersigned, enjoy watching Friday Night Lights on DirecTV and/or on the NBC network. We keep coming back to this drama week after week and year after year. The acting is excellent and the stories are wonderfully engaging.
Please find a way to keep Friday Night Lights on the air. We are devoted viewers who will continue to watch the program, encourage others to do the same, and will support the series’ advertisers as well. Please keep it going, either on NBC and DirecTV or, if necessary, on another NBC-related channel.
Thank you for your consideration.
The above letter was from an online campaign that began at the end of season five of Friday Night Lights in an unsuccessful attempt to save the show from cancelation. Unfortunately the show is gone, but definitely not forgotten, and as the show’s number one fan, it is my mission to make sure that every American citizen watches all five seasons of Friday Night Lights at least once in their life. I, myself, have watched all five seasons at least four times. That number would be higher but, as a college student, there are other demands on my time. Like a missionary bent on converting others to his religious beliefs, I am determined to introduce the world of Friday Night Lights to everyone that I meet. This goal began in high school when I was first introduced to the series and continued when I moved to the Midwest to begin college, with DVD’s of all five seasons safely secured in my suitcase. I have successfully converted fellow classmates, fraternity brothers and family members to devout fans but my work has only just begun.
What is so special about the television series, Friday Night Lights? It is inspirational without preaching and socially relevant to all people regardless of gender, race and age. The fictional characters are more realistic than those found today in scripted reality shows and easy for viewers to emotionally relate to on many levels as they dealt with the ups and downs of life in a small working class Texas town. It would be easy to dismiss the series as geared toward young people and sports fans however football is just the backdrop for a show about relationships and the need for individuals to belong to a group for support, whether it is a family, a team, a school or a friendship circle.
The characters portrayed in Friday Night Lights are not stereotypic in a traditional way. In the first episode, Dillon High School football star Jason Street, one of the top recruits in the country with realistic aspirations of making it in the pros, becomes paralyzed as a result of a game injury. As he comes to terms with his injury and resultant disability, Street eventually transforms into a happily married father and successful businessman. The “jock” ends up living a happy and productive life even without the use of the physical gifts that were the primary focus of his youth. Similarly, the town slut ends up receiving an academic scholarship, which allows her to leave her small hometown to pursue academic goals and a career.
Gender stereotypes were apparent in the series with the high school girls serving as cheerleaders, literally and figuratively, to the male athletes but the central relationship between Coach Taylor and his wife Tami was one of the best marriages on TV in terms of showing a couple successfully working together as a unit. In the working class town of Dillon, Texas there were many fragmented families (due to death, divorce, absentee parents, and alcoholism) and Coach Taylor served as the father figure to his own daughter, Julie, as well as his football players. Tammi was Julie’s mother as well as the high school guidance counselor. As coach and guidance counselor, they both mentored and nurtured the town’s youth who needed guidance and support. This theme of the need for relationships and a sense of belonging to a larger group was central to the show. While Tammi dutifully supported her husband and his career, the roles reversed at the end of the series when Coach Taylor agrees to move to Philadelphia when his wife is offered a career advancement opportunity as the Dean of Admissions at a Pennsylvania college. She was “Mrs. Coach” by choice and did not lose herself in the relationship. In many popular culture TV sitcoms, the male characters are usually dominant and the women do not usually get to pursue their career goals. When the opportunity presented itself, Tammi took her turn and they adjusted their family roles as necessary.
Hegemony is seen in Friday Night Lights in terms of the parallels between East and West Dillon High, schools geographically close to each other but different in terms of social class and ethnic diversity. Coach Taylor, despite leading the Dillon Panthers to three straight playoff appearances is fired due to politics and the wielding of financial power. Joe McCoy, the father of the star quarterback of the Dillon Panthers, did not like the fact that Coach Taylor benched his son in the State finals game and did not just hand his son the starting job. In a meeting with the school board to save his job, Taylor argues against being replaced by a guy with a lot money” but unfortunately, even with his credentials, the school board opts to side with McCoy, strictly due to his financial power. This is an example of hegemony and how the wealthy people in the city of Dillon, Texas dominated others who were not as financially powerful. The Coach moves to East Dillon High, on the other side of the tracks, bringing along his “clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose” philosophy. His experience at the two socioeconomically different schools serves as a stark comparison between the haves and have-nots.
Friday Night Lights believed in the ability of the underdog to succeed and disproved the popular opinion that “nice guys finish last”. This was illustrated by the character of Matt Saracen, a little guy with a big heart, who successfully won the heart of his dream girl, Julie Taylor, as well as a state championship as starting quarterback after starting the year as the backup. This message of the little guy not only surviving but becoming successful in spite of the odds was also in operation behind the cameras as well. Although Friday Night Lights received critical acclaim it struggled commercially. It was affected by the Hollywood writers strike, difficulty finding its audience and going up against huge fan favorites such as American Idol and Dancing With The Stars, both reality shows. As a result, it faced threats of cancelation. Like its characters, it took adversity in stride and did not give up, surviving by making a deal with Direct TV, a satellite TV provider, and ultimately lasted five seasons. This approach was very innovative and ahead of its time, adapting to the situation and seeking out an alternative way of reaching the public.
The show attracted Applebee’s as a sponsor and its product placement was integrated in the show. It was successful advertising for Applebee’s and added to the realism of the show about people in a working class town. It was a perfect fit because Applebee’s was compatible with all the All American themes of family and football that were highlighted by the show. Friday Night Lights dealt with human struggles and contemporary issues such as abortion in an open and honest way. Topics were presented in terms of the characters and viewers were not manipulated into thinking about issues in a certain way, only to think about them. The use of the camera scanning the streets and the radio announcements about the school’s football games were done in a way that contributed to the viewer feeling as if they were part of the town and among friends.
Unfortunately, Friday Night Lights’ commercial success never matched is critical success. It is ironic that a show about people and relationships did not appeal to more people. Perhaps the viewing audience is more attracted to TV that allows them to escape from their daily lives rather than understand how to live them better. The recent popularity of “reality” television is interesting because they are based on scripted realities and edits that heighten the drama in a manufactured way. Thankfully there are loyal fans like myself who are committed to spread the word so that the town of Dillon, Texas will live on.
Jeremy Schlafstein
