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For four years, the residents and students of Dillon, Texas, have faced difficult choices on and off the field with courage, passion and perseverance. Now the time has come to find closure for problems of the past while pursuing new possibilities that will lead many beyond Dillon city limits. But, will everyone be up to the challenge?TV's hottest new drama, Friday Night Lights, touches down on DVD with all 22 Season One episodes in a 5-disc collection! In the small town of Dillon, everyone comes together on Friday nights when the Dillon High Panthers play. But life is not a game; and the charismatic players, new coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), and the passionate fans find that their biggest challenges and obstacles come off the field in the compelling day-to-day dramas of their tight-kn! it community. From producers Brian Grazer (The Da Vinci Code) and Peter Berg (The Kingdom) comes the critically acclaimed TV series based on the best-selling novel and hit theatrical movie. Discover why The Associated Press calls it "breathtaking in how it captures ordinary life set against extraordinary passions."The first season of
Friday Night Lights accomplishes something that few television dramas are able to do: It betters the 2004 film (starring Billy Bob Thornton) on which the series is based. Set in Dillon, Texas, where football--even on the high school level--is everything,
Friday Night Lights is a compelling drama with a football subplot. Poignantly and effectively touching on racism, rape, steroids, jealousy, infidelity, and life-changing injuries, the series presents the inhabitants of Dillon as real people who are flawed, but remarkable in their ordinariness. Though the series struggled to find an audience during its inaugural year, it was a crit! ical favorite thanks to some fine acting by leads Kyle Chandle! r (as Co ach Eric Taylor) and Connie Britton (who portrays his wife, Tami). Coach Taylor's career depends on his ability to get the Dillon Panthers to the state championship. If the team suffers a losing streak, he knows his family, which includes daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), will no longer be welcome in Dillon. Britton, who also played the coach's wife in the film version, is a phenomenal actress who shares simmering chemistry with Chandler. Not content at just being the coach's wife, she lands a job as a counselor at the local high school. That position plays a pivotal role in the season finale, which leaves viewers wondering whether Eric will leave Dillon to accept a coveted coaching job with a university. Though the majority of the twentysomething actors appear too mature to portray high school students, they have the mannerisms of teens down pat. Gaius Charles is perfect as cocky running back Brian "Smash" Williams, who'll risk his health to make sure he gets a football sc! holarship to college. Local sweethearts Jason Street (Scott Porter) and Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) are the high school's golden couple. When a football injury leaves him paralyzed, he finds strength in what the future holds for him, but Lyla finds herself in a short-lived affair with Jason's best friend Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch). Once the relationship comes out in the open, their classmates' reactions to the "traitors" show that sexual inequality is rampant even in the teen set. Tim's teammates briefly ostracize him, but just as quickly forgive him, especially since he's so valuable on the football field. But Lyla becomes persona non grata to the girls at school who take too much glee in calling the head cheerleader a slut. The hits she takes verbally are no less lethal than the ones the boys take on the gridiron. And the tentative relationship between Julie Taylor and Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) is the best depiction of teenage love since Angela Chase fell for Jordan Cat! alano on
My So-Called Life. The actors do a wonderful j! ob conve ying the sweetness, pain, and hurt of falling in love without really understanding all of its implications. Peter Berg, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, has a strong presence as a writer on the series and evenly distributes the storylines between the kids and the adults.
Friday Night Lights is a drama with teenage characters at its core. But the stories are universal.
--Jae-Ha KimThrough five extraordinary seasons, the residents of Dillon, Texas, kept viewers captivated with the small-town struggles, victories, and heartbreaks that resonated across America with breathtaking authenticity. Now, relive the spirit of this small town with a big heart. Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton and an all-star ensemble shine in this American drama series that will never be forgotten.One of the greatest TV dramas of all time continues with 13 gripping fourth season episodes of the critically acclaimed series Friday Night Lights. Small-town life in Dillon has changed irrevoca! bly with the dramatic split of the school district. Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) finds himself fighting for the respect of the East Dillon Lions, while his wife, Tami (Connie Britton), faces her own battles as principal of the Dillon High Panthers. Across town, it’s a season for change as graduating students face life after high school, and new students deal with hostile rivalries. From executive producers Brian Grazer, Peter Berg and Jason Katims comes the show that critics rave “may have the greatest emotional range of any series ever on television†(Neal Gabler, Los Angeles Times).The fourth season of
Friday Night Lights begins with Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) in what appears to be a lose-lose situation. Fired from Dillon High School as the Panthers' football coach, Taylor is offered a position coaching the East Dillon Lions. No matter how the school board tries to spin it with platitudes about both schools being equal, East Dillon is rundown, has no funds,! and has a football squad that's a team in name only. Of cours! e we all know that Coach Taylor being who he is, it's only a matter of time before he turns the team around and gets a little vengeance on the snooty Panthers. Meanwhile, his wife Tami (Connie Britton) is principal of Dillon High School, where their daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) is a senior. Her boyfriend, Matt (Zach Gilford), who had the chance to go to art school in Chicago, stayed behind in the small Texas town because he didn't want to leave behind his grandmother--who's suffering from Alzheimer's--or Julie. Though some of the plot points may sound melodramatic, they play beautifully in the 13 episodes, which originally aired on television during the 2009-2010 season. There are cast changes, reflecting the graduation of some of the characters. Lyla (Minka Kelly) briefly returns from her studies at Vanderbilt to attend a funeral, while Tim (Taylor Kitsch)--the boy she left behind--struggles with his ambivalent feelings for college and his need to help take care of the only fam! ily he has: his older brother, sister-in-law, and infant nephew. And new characters like Vince (Michael B. Jordan)--a central part of at least half the story lines--easily fit into the ensemble cast. Meanwhile, Lyla's dad Buddy (played by Brad Leland with just the right combination of sleaze and pathos) turns out to be instrumental in helping get the football program off the ground at East Dillon. Landry (Jesse Plemons) realizes that his on-again, off-again girlfriend is never coming back to him. And he's OK with that as he tackles the challenges of being the new kid at East Dillon. But, as his best friend Matt notes, "he's like a girl" when it comes to holding grudges. There also is major fallout for Tami, who is accused of telling a teenager to end her pregnancy, and trouble for a football player who gets hooked on drugs after an injury. When his religious parents tell him to pray, he does: "Dear Lord, please let me get some more drugs before Friday." There are a few scen! arios that ring false, like when the Panthers' star quarterbac! k J.D. M cCoy (Jeremy Sumpter) seemingly turns into a malicious, spoiled brat overnight. But overall,
Friday Night Lights scores just the right touch.
--Jae-Ha Kim
