Friday Night Lights: Complete Series

Season 1:
The first season of Friday Night Lights accomplishes something that few television dramas are able to do: It betters the 2004 film (starring Billy Bob Thornton) on which the series is based. Set in Dillon, Texas, where football--even on the high school level--is everything, Friday Night Lights is a compelling drama with a football subplot. Poignantly and effectively touching on racism, rape, steroids, jealousy, infidelity, and life-changing injuries, the series presents the inhabitants of Dillon as real people who are flawed, but remarkable in their ordinariness. Though the series struggled to find an audience during its inaugural year, it was a critical favorite thanks to some fine acting by leads Kyle Chandler (as Coach Eric Taylor) and Connie Britton (who portrays his wife, Tami). Coach Taylor's career depends on his ability to get the Dillon Panthers to the state championship. If the team suffers a losing streak, he knows his family, which includes daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden), will no longer be welcome in Dillon. Britton, who also played the coach's wife in the film version, is a phenomenal actress who shares simmering chemistry with Chandler. Not content at just being the coach's wife, she lands a job as a counselor at the local high school. That position plays a pivotal role in the season finale, which leaves viewers wondering whether Eric will leave Dillon to accept a coveted coaching job with a university. Though the majority of the twentysomething actors appear too mature to portray high school students, they have the mannerisms of teens down pat. Gaius Charles is perfect as cocky running back Brian "Smash" Williams, who'll risk his health to make sure he gets a football scholarship to college. Local sweethearts Jason Street (Scott Porter) and Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly) are the high school's golden couple. When a football injury leaves him paralyzed, he finds strength in what the future holds for him, but Lyla finds herself in a short-lived affair with Jason's best friend Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch). Once the relationship comes out in the open, their classmates' reactions to the "traitors" show that sexual inequality is rampant even in the teen set. Tim's teammates briefly ostracize him, but just as quickly forgive him, especially since he's so valuable on the football field. But Lyla becomes persona non grata to the girls at school who take too much glee in calling the head cheerleader a slut. The hits she takes verbally are no less lethal than the ones the boys take on the gridiron. And the tentative relationship between Julie Taylor and Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) is the best depiction of teenage love since Angela Chase fell for Jordan Catalano on My So-Called Life. The actors do a wonderful job conveying the sweetness, pain, and hurt of falling in love without really understanding all of its implications. Peter Berg, who co-wrote and co-directed the film, has a strong presence as a writer on the series and evenly distributes the storylines between the kids and the adults. Friday Night Lights is a drama with teenage characters at its core. But the stories are universal. --Jae-Ha Kim

Season 2:
Friday Night Lights is deeply entrenched in the world of football and teamwork, but the series transcends sports and delves into rich, human relationships that at times are heartbreakingly real. A compelling drama, the show also features one of the strongest (and best looking) ensemble casts. The second season fulfills the promise of its debut. Full of drama, heart, and superb acting, the series is set in fictional Dillon, Texas--a town where everyone lives and breathes football. The first season had Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) accepting a college coaching job, while his pregnant wife Tami (Connie Britton) and their 16-year-old daughter Julie (Aimee Teegarden) stayed behind in Dillon. Unfulfilled by his diminished duties and cognizant of the fact that he no longer is the head guy who calls all the shots, Eric returns to the Dillon Panthers. Meanwhile, Julie breaks up with starting quarterback Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford), who ends up finding love with a young nurse's aide. Paralyzed football hero Jason Street (Scott Porter) tries to find his place in the world, moving out of his parents' home and accepting--and then quitting--an assistant coaching job with the Dillon Panthers. And bad boy Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) gets thrown off the squad and ends up squatting in a meth dealer's home before Coach Taylor temporarily takes him in. But the strongest storyline belongs to Gaius Charles, who is pitch perfect as cocky star runningback Brian "Smash" Williams. Ensured a spot on a university with an elite football program, Williams believes that he is unstoppable. When a run-in with some racist kids turns into a media frenzy, the school rescinds its invitation and Smash finds himself scrambling to get into any school, regardless of its football program. A powerful actor who is equally adept at portraying a strutting football hero as he is a humbled teen, Charles conveys passion as well as numbing reality. Season two also deals with the aftermath of Tyra Collette (Adrianne Palicki) and Landry Clarke (Jesse Plemons), who try to cover up a murder. While the storyline is flawed and implausible, the actors do a stellar job with the material. It is also sweet to watch the couple's relationship--initially based on desperation--forge into a strong friendship and romance. Things don't always end neatly, but that only adds to the drama of Friday Night Lights. Look for series writer Peter Berg to guest star as Tami's former high-school boyfriend and Eric's nemesis. If the finale seems a little disjointed, it is because of the 2008 writers strike, which forced the series to truncate its episodes from a planned 22 episodes to just 15. The four-disc set also includes audio commentary and almost 40 minutes of deleted footage. --Jae-Ha Kim

Nineteen-disc set includes seasons 1-5 of "Friday Night Lights." **76 episodes on 19 discs. 56 hrs.**

Special Features
Deleted Scenes
Behind The Lights: Creating The First Season of Friday Night Lights
Audio Commentary - Last Days of Summer with Executive Producers Jason Katims and Jeffrey Reiner
Audio Commentary - Are You Ready For Friday Night with Stars Connie Britton and Aimee Teegarden
Audio Commentary - There Goes the Neighborhood with Stars Jesse Plemmons and Adrienne Palacki
William S. Paley Television Festival: Interview with Cast and Crew
Keeping Up Appearances Deleted Storyline
Tomorrow Blues Deleted Storyline
Tomorrow Blues Commentary with Executive Producer Jason Katims and Co-Executive Producer/Episode Director Jeffrey Reiner
Friday Night Lights... Camera, Action!
Peter Berg Intros
East of Dillon Commentary with Executive Producer Jason Katims
New Faces, New Places
Playbook
Yearbook
The Lights Go Out
Don't Go Commentary with Director Michael Waxman
Always Commentary with Executive Producer/Showrunner Jason Katims