THE LONGEST YARD: Fans of politicians, cops, doctors, planewrecked purgatorians, slayers, and teen detectives may each champion their own shows as the best network TV drama in (recent or unlimited) history, but none, in cobbling together a longer list, would exclude the brilliant Friday Night Lights. For those who have DirecTV, FNL ends tonight. (For those who don't have DirecTV, it may end in several months, or it may have ended, as a TV show rather than a DVD, already.) It is strange that a show about ordinary people doing exceptional things all the time (to crib from OK Go) gets away with so little concern for continuity or plot credibility (not just That Thing Of Which We Will Not Speak, but also little things like Tami's roller-coaster career arc or the Brigadoonish life of East Dillon High or the end of every football game), but it does it with keen observation of its characters' unstable orbits around each other and with generally superlative acting. Sepinwall has a list of his favorite moments. It's a good nostalgia-inducing list (despite the omission of my own favorite scene), even though FNL for me is more about the accretion of small moments than the delivery of big ones.
Also, I can't believe he shot Smash! Right?
Incidentally, transference won't be 100% efficient here, but I remind you that on any other day, the return of Justified should be the most-anticipated television event of the evening. Raylan Givens wants you to know that Han shot first (if you watched the SuperBowl, you already know whether he wonders if you feel lucky).
It's incredibly frustrating to see all these FNL end-of-series posts going up on every critic's site (and now here too) and to have to avoid every one of them because the new season isn't even premiering on NBC for months. I'm grateful that the DirectTV deal allowed the show to continue and come to a good end, but boy, is this annoying.
ReplyDeleteJust read em up in a couple of months after you've watched all the eps on DVD/NBC. Easy.
ReplyDeleteTwo things:
ReplyDelete1. My little joke aside (OK, spoiler alert: Smash does not get shot, at least not in any of the episodes before tonight's, and I have no reason to think he's going to get shot tonight either), what is annoying about the above post? I said nothing that would give anything away about this season except that, inferentially, the season is not so terrible that it would cause me to remove FNL from my list of my favorite shows ever. Would you expect that people who are watching a beloved show on DirecTV will wait until the NBC audience -- which I understand is infinitessimal by network standards -- catches up before saying anything at all? When they do the necrology at the Oscars, they ask the audience to hold its applause until the end, and nobody does. This feels the same way. A substantial percentage of FNL fans are losing a favorite show this week, and you shouldn't be annoyed that they want to talk about it.
2. Don't count on watching Season 5 on NBC. If the numbers were basically burn-off level last year, and this year the DVD comes out before the NBC airings even start, NBC may find a more lucrative use for even that loser time slot.
I'm not saying the above post is annoying, I'm saying the fact that the final season of my favorrite show is out there (and over) and I can't watch it yet (and may never be able to without buying the DVD) is annoying. You and the critics can post what you want. My frustration isn't with the show and the critics - it's with not being able to watch the show yet.
ReplyDeleteWasn't criticizing you or anyone's desire to talk about it - was expressing annoyance that I can't. I said it badly.
And no, I can't get Direct TV. Not supported in my area.
I'm with you, Marsha; that's extremely frustrating. I wish we could export the eps to you.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the finale becauase my husband reviews it, and it is a very satisfying goodbye. I really was not ready to let go of Dillon. I miss seeing Tami and Eric on TV already.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for all the big fans who have to follow with the second airing, as I suspect Isaac is right about NBC's actual plans.
I'll note that those ads for Justified (coupled with a lot of praise from people I like) may actually make me check it out, despite a full TV docket.
ReplyDeleteSeconded. I've got pages and pages of saved links by now.
ReplyDeleteActually I have pretty much given in and read most of the spoilers by now anyway because it's too damn hard to attempt spoilerfreeness, given the situation. Good thing that doesn't bother me.
I have not watched the new season illegally (yet), but I want to note that one of my favorite moments in my friendship with Robin was simulcasting FNL's first season finale when she was living in Seattle and I was in Pittsburgh.
ReplyDeleteIf it's not better than 80% of what I know you're watching, I'll eat Raylan's hat.
ReplyDelete