“Friday Night Lights”: Broadcast’s Best Drama Begins its Fourth Season on NBC - Ed Martin - MediaBizBloggers

Much like the working-class citizens of Dillon, the small Texas town in which it is set, Friday Night Lights hasn’t had it easy during its three years on television. It has never commanded high ratings, it has never enjoyed the support of Emmy voters and it would not have survived beyond its sophomore season without the combined support of two television companies, NBC Universal and DirecTV, which share telecast rights. (Lights made its Season 4 premiere last fall on DirecTV and begins its run on NBC tonight.)

Critics love Lights, and it has a devoted (if small) fan base, but beyond that life has been unaccountably hard for this outstanding show. So what’s been the problem? I think it has something to do with timing. Lights debuted back in 2006, when unprecedented greed was consuming much of the country, including the working class. McMansions were viewed as starter homes. Shopping became a hobby. Money was the new religion, and nobody wanted to be reminded of those unfortunate souls who weren’t rolling in it or (foolishly) living as if they were. That is, ordinary folks like the residents of Dillon who live in small homes, drive old cars, struggle to pay their bills and embrace simple pleasures, like parades, picnics and Friday night high school football.

Television reflected all of this economic madness, and with very few exceptions most characters in most series (including so-called working class people) were shown to be living in spectacular houses or apartments way beyond the average person’s means, except during a catastrophic era of easy credit. Friday Night Lights dared to remind us that not everyone was living so large. I think the show’s poor ratings reflected a lack of interest by credit-empowered viewers, while its lack of industry support come Emmy time probably had something to do with the fact that so many people who have succeeded in the entertainment industry would rather not be reminded that not everybody lives as well as they do.

But the time has never been better for a drama about people who know how to manage economic adversity. The residents of Dillon may not always rise above hard times but they aren’t beaten down by them, either, perhaps because people don’t always miss what they never had. The town finances in Dillon have been an issue throughout the life of the show, especially as they concern school funding, but this season they inform every moment of the storytelling. Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) has fallen victim to the ruthless efforts of wealthy businessman Joe McCoy (D.W. Moffett) to exert his influence over Dillon High School and make his son J.D. (Jeremy Sumpter) the star quarterback of the Dillon Panthers. Ousted in a cruel power-play, Taylor is now charged with putting together a football team over at East Dillon High, a school on the poorer side of town that, when first glimpsed at the end of last season, was so run down it appeared to have been abandoned years ago. Meantime, his loving wife Tami (the ever-exquisite Connie Britton) is still the principal at Dillon High, where she has to contend with the people who engineered her husband’s undeserved departure. She’s also dealing with the predictably ferocious fallout from a re-districting plan that has sent some Dillon High kids over to East Dillon.

As financially challenged as Dillon High has been during the last few years, the sorry conditions at East Dillon make it look like one of those country club high schools found in towns like Westport, CT. The dilapidated facilities at East Dillon hold little promise, and many of its directionless students do little to inspire hope. Taylor in the season premiere took his best shot at cobbling together and disciplining his new team, the East Dillon Lions, but the challenge proved insurmountable, prompting him to lose his cool in a way we had never before seen. Taylor’s always been such a quietly forceful guy that it was genuinely unsettling to watch him explode in the Lions’ locker room, sending many of his new players stomping back to their comfort zones, uncomfortable though they may be.

Many of the popular young characters on this show have moved away, including Tyra, Lyla, Jason and Smash. The Taylors’ daughter Julie (Aimee Teagarden) and the always dependable Landry (Jesse Plemons) are still around, as is Matt Saracen (the awesome Zach Gilford– a standout later this season in an episode about the loss of a loved one). The only one who seems to be in town to stay is former Dillon Panther Tim Riggins (the underappreciated Taylor Kitsch), who dares to decide that college isn’t for him and happily drops out and returns home, eager to work at his brother’s garage. It would seem to be a dead-ended existence but, significantly, Tim is cool with it, and why shouldn’t he be? College isn’t for everyone, and not everyone is anxious to leave everyone they love and everything they know once they finish high school. Tim’s story provides a welcome change of pace.

I would have preferred another season with this group intact, because they are some of the most interesting young people ever to populate a television drama. But I won’t object too loudly, because that’s how things work in real life, and there are rich rewards to be had watching the remaining characters (especially the Taylors) interact with new kids at each school.