Friday Night Lights: The First Season [5 Discs]

Chandler

Overview

Creator Peter Berg's drama centering on the players and coach of a high-school football team in Dillon, Texas, a small town in which football is near religion. The critically acclaimed series is based on the best-selling book and 2004 film of the same name.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/28/2007
UPC:	0025195009140
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	NR
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	15:55:00

Special Features

Deleted scenes; Behind the lights: creating the first season of Friday Night Lights

Editorial Reviews

Easily one of the best new shows of the 2006-7 season, NBC's Friday Night Lights defied the expectations and stereotypes associated with most sports dramas. Thanks to the wealth of memorable characters, great writing, and pitch-perfect performances, you don't even have to like football to become engrossed in the goings-on in Dillon, Texas, a town singularly devoted to supporting its local high school team. It's a transitional year for the Dillon Panthers, with all eyes on new coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and second-string quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), who must step up when the team's star, Jason Street (Scott Porter), is injured in the season's opening game. The Panthers' other star players are running back Brian "Smash" Williams (Gaius Charles), whose natural ability rivals his ego, and fullback Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), who seems more interested in partying than football. Representing the town's interest is booster Buddy Garrity (Brad Leland), a sleazy car dealer who is willing to do anything to make sure the Panthers win, and whose daughter, Lyla (Minka Kelly), heads the cheerleading squad. As gripping as the gridiron action is, it's the off-field drama and that really makes the show worth watching. In particular, the relationship between Coach Taylor and his wife, Tami (Connie Britton), is worthy of a show in itself. The two are so natural together, it hardly seems like they're acting. (Both should've been nominated for Emmys, especially Britton.) Equally winning is the budding courtship -- in equal parts sweet, awkward, and funny -- between the Taylors' smart, football-hating daughter, Julie (Aimee Teegarden), and the shy Saracen. Executive producer Peter Berg, who adapted Buzz Bissinger's 1990 bestseller about high school football in rural Texas for his 2003 hit film (also called Friday Night Lights), brings the same low-key sensibility and documentary feel to the series -- as well as the evocative score by instrumental rock band Explosions in the Sky. The result is a show that looks and feels unlike anything else on broadcast television, allowing real issues (racism, religion, politics, alcohol and steroid abuse) to be as complex as they really are, and taking many wonderful, unexpected turns as the Panthers head toward the state championship finale.