Friday Night Lights

It's difficult to adequately portray the phenomena that is Texas high school football. H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger's terrific book "Friday Night Lights" is a great start. So great that it brought a movie, then a TV show. Standing alone, the movie was good. Compared to the book, the movie was a bit lacking. The TV show is simply something special. After five outstanding seasons, it has come to an end. "Friday Night Lights", the TV show, will be missed.

Interestingly, Peter Berg brought "Friday Night Lights" to the big screen and to the little screen. A movie has greater time and development limitations. Berg made fantastic use of the expanded canvas of TV. He filled every inch of that canvas beautifully. I have always been skeptical of TV shows set in high schools. There's a little thing called graduation that shakes up the cast. As with everything else, Berg handled this smoothly. In some respects, he took advantage of it. This was never a show simply about football. It was always about lives, at school, at work, at home. Football was always in the background. The people were always in the foreground. Producers Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevis did everything right. Excellent casting followed their clear vision. The actors were given great freedom in delivery and movement. There were no rehearsals. Each scene was shot once with three cameras. The actors often didn't know the location of the cameras. Three allowed for greater versatility, freedom and a more natural feel. "Friday Night Lights" was shot on location in Austin and, in particular, Pflugerville, Texas. Small town Pflugerville was ideal for the fictional Dillon. The locals were frequently used as extras. All these efforts produced an amazing documentary-type feel. Executive producer and head writer, Jason Katims perhaps said it best. "This is what I imagined film making would be, before I saw what film making was."

From the first season, "Friday Night Lights" has struck me as the quality of show all producers would target if they only cared enough. It was refreshing to see something crafted with care. Berg and his friends truly cared about their work. They never compromised in the hope for a larger audience. Everyone involved loved their work, loved their creation. It showed. "Friday Night Lights" was art. It was pure. Five seasons seemed far too short, but it may have been the perfect length. It wasn't a show that would have a long life. I guess that it was too good to last. "Friday Night Lights", the TV show, may not have adequately portrayed Texas high school football, but it beautifully portrayed the lives that live it.