Friday Night Lights Finishes Strong

Friday Night Lights had its finale on NBC this past Friday. It already had been shown on Direct TV. I started watching this show sometime in the first season and saw good writing and strong characters. It was a show about so much more than football. I loved Coach Eric Taylor and his wife, Tami, who has been a guidance counselor and principal. They are played by Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton and are up again this year for nominees for an Emmy. They showed what a marriage is supposed to be. You got to see them upholding each other during difficult times, sticking together when the outside world was against them, building up the young people God had placed in their path. They were affectionate and the way they looked at each other spoke volumes. Theirs was really an authentic marriage.

In addition, there were powerful performances by young actors, who interesting enough, as I look back at least five have moved on to other great series and at least one has made a movie. These are our up and coming actors.

I have followed Ginia Bellafante in the New York Times Artbeat as she praised the series and each episode the past years. This week at Grantland Robert May talked with the producer and others responsible for FNL. Several Christians, who followed the series have written about it at their blogs regularly and this week there are great articles at Relevant and Christ and Pop Culture.

I am happy that Chandler and Britton both got nominated for Emmys as did the show. I hope they win. I never understood why the show didn’t have the numbers it should have and if you missed it, I suggest you rent the DVDs starting with Season One or watch it Thursdays starting July 21 on ESPN. Yes, there is gritty language and you won’t always agree with everything that the Coach and his wife do but you see two people who have a strong marriage and have a positive influence in their community. You also see young people who are learning who they are and that there are consequences to the decisions they make. This is a good one to sit and watch with teenagers and talk through those issues.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.   Coach Taylor