Barnes & Noble

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. Bill Pearis

All Movie Guide

One of two football-themed series of the 2006-2007 TV season (the other was The Game, the NBC dramedy Friday Night Lights was based on the H.G. Bissinger book and the 2004 theatrical film of the same name. Like its predecessors, the series took place in a small Texas town (Odessa in the film and book, Dillon on the show), where high school football was not merely a game but a "religion"--or more succinctly, a matter of life and death, with literally every person in the community having a personal stake or a heated opinion of the weekly game. Kyle Chandler headed the large cast as Eric Taylor, the newly hired coach of the Dillon Panthers (the role played by Billy Bob Thornton in the film). Also seen were Connie Britton, recreating her film role as Eric's wife Tami; Scott Porter as star Panther quarterback Jason Street; Minka Kelly as Jason's cheerleader girlfriend Lyla Garrity; Gaius Charles as running back Brian "Smash" Williams; Zach Gifford as perennial benchwarmer Matt Saracen, forced by fate to take over as quarterback during the playoffs; and Adrianne Palicki as high-school vamp Tyra Collette. Unfolding in a semi-serialized fashion, Friday Night Lights kicked off on October 3, 2006. Hal Erickson

From the Studio

The critically acclaimed Nielsen underdog Friday Night Lights hits the ground running in this 14-episode first-season set. An extended fictionalization of the world introduced in H. G. Bissinger's celebrated nonfiction bestseller, later made into a feature film directed by Peter Berg, the series returns to the small town of Dillon, Texas, where everyone comes together on Friday nights to see the Dillon High Panthers play. But life is not a game, and the charismatic players, new coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), and the passionate fans find that their biggest challenges and obstacles come off the field in the compelling day-to-day dramas of their tight-knit community. Produced by Berg along with Brian Grazer, the ensemble drama arrives on DVD with deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Product Details

• UPC: 025195009140
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Slip Sleeve, Digi-Pak
• Time: 15:55:00
• Sales Rank: 563

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• Friday Night Lights: Pilot
• Friday Night Lights: Eyes Wide Open
• Friday Night Lights: Wind Sprints
• Friday Night Lights: Who's Your Daddy
• Friday Night Lights: Git'er Done
• Friday Night Lights: El Accidente
• Friday Night Lights: Homecoming
• Friday Night Lights: Crossing the Line
• Friday Night Lights: Full Hearts
• Friday Night Lights: It's Different for Girls
• Friday Night Lights: Nevermind
• Friday Night Lights: What to Do While You're Waiting
• Friday Night Lights: Little Girl I Wanna Marry You
• Friday Night Lights: Upping the Ante
• Friday Night Lights: Blinders
• Friday Night Lights: Black Eyes and Broken Hearts
• Friday Night Lights: I Think We Should Have Sex
• Friday Night Lights: Extended Families
• Friday Night Lights: Ch-ch-ch-changes
• Friday Night Lights: Mud Bowl
• Friday Night Lights: Best Laid Plans
• Friday Night Lights: State

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