It’s That Good
I’ve almost quit watching the nightly news because it’s so depressing. The Afghanistan situation reminded many of our failure in Viet Nam, and the new Covid variant is running rampant and forcing hospitals to deal with an unwelcome dose of déjà vu. Now that schools are beginning again, disputes over mask mandates have reared their ugly heads once more and are causing conflicts among school administrators, teachers, and some politicians. And here I thought we were seeing some light at the end of that proverbial tunnel, but now it’s almost as dim as it was during the height of the pandemic.
Well, amidst the current doom and gloom, I can offer a suggestion. Find a series on television that will suck you in to the point you completely lose yourself in it. I know that some people already do this with the daytime soap operas, but what I am suggesting is a series that will grab you and knock your socks off. I’m talking about a series that on a scale of one to 10 rings the bell at a solid 10 every time. You want some examples? Try these: Breaking Bad, Suits, Justified, Blue Bloods, and Yellowstone. Despite treating different subject matter, all of the foregoing have one thing in common: They have the ability to pull you in and involve you with their characters to the point that you actually share their various emotions.
The series I’m talking about is Friday Night Lights, which ran on network television from Oct. 3, 2011, to Nov. 9, 2016, for five fabulous seasons. Now at this point, I want you to forget everything you’ve either read or heard (unless it’s good) about this series until you’ve watched it. The series is based upon the nonfiction book of the same name by H.G. Bissinger, and in 2004 Peter Berg adapted it for the silver screen as a full-length film of the same name. The story finally came to television in 2011 as a series developed by Berg.
Lights is set in the small, fictional town of Dillon, Texas, where the people don’t have a lot of material things, but they do have something that brings them all together every Friday night – the Dillon Panthers high school football team. In the opening scenes you immediately learn that Dillon is a town where not a whole lot happens except during football season, and then the entire town comes alive.
As the story begins (Don’t worry. No spoilers are coming.), Dillon High School has just named a new football coach. He’s Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), a mild-mannered fellow until he puts the whistle around his neck. Eric and his wife, Tami (Connie Britton), and their teen-aged daughter, Julie (Aimee Teegarden), recently have moved to Dillon just before football season is to begin.
All right, yes Lights is the story of a football team, but it’s also the saga of the mundane lives these characters lead until the stadium lights blaze on, and then the town of Dillon takes on a personality all its own. Thus, instead of being just another football story, Lights is the story of the town, its people, and their interaction with each other.
Here are just a few of the people you will meet when you step into the world of Dillon, Texas. Of course we’ve already mentioned the coach and his family, and the following are just a few of the key characters you will encounter when you visit Dillon.
Scott Porter is Jason Street, the all-star quarterback for the Panthers. He is so gifted at football that he can just about name any college in the country that wants him. And he and Coach Taylor have quite a history together.
Minka Kelly portrays Lyla Garrity, a Dillon cheerleader and Jason’s girlfriend. After all, don’t all handsome quarterbacks need a pretty cheerleader for a significant other?
Zach Gilford is Matt Saracen, the painfully diffident second-string quarterback, whose relationship with his grandmother is at once tragic and beautiful.
Taylor Kitsch plays Tim Riggins, the rock-hard fullback, who loves beer and football, in no particular
order.
These are joined by others too numerous to mention here, but you will find every character both engaging and memorable as you move through their world with each episode. The show is not all sunshine and happiness either because it often deals with some of the most prominent triggers of teen angst and pulls no punches in doing so. And you have the advantage of being able to watch multiple episodes at a time instead of having to wait a week for each new episode. If you’ve never been a binge-watcher before, this series will turn you into one. All 76 episodes are available either on Netflix or NBC.com. Happy viewing and TEXAS FOREVER!
That was fast!
Just nine days after being named the permanent new host of Jeopardy, Mike Richards, the show’s executive producer, resigned his position amid the controversy surrounding remarks he made on his podcast eight years ago. Richards reportedly made derogatory remarks about Jews, women, and other groups during his podcast. And so now the quest for a new permanent host begins anew, leaving the show temporarily without an answer for a missing question.
Ponder This:
I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn’t park anywhere
near the place.
~ Steven Wright
