Like Playmakers, but, you know, nicer

I'd be just fine with this.

I'd be ok with that provided they don't impose any creative changes on the show. Let's get through Season 2 first though(or at least the 15 episodes they're expected to complete).

That whole story seems to be pure speculation. I know 5.5M viewers per week for a network TV show sucks, but NBC hasn't given any indication that they may pull the plug. I know the show isn't cheap to produce, especially since it's shot on location in Austin, Texas. Those numbers will drop even further if they switch to ESPN.....with probably a lower budget.

Given the pretty radical change in tone between season 1 and season 2, I don't think I'd even put that caveat on it. "Creative changes" may turn out to be positive.

I would expect a little less "teen drama" if it goes to ESPN...but that'd be fine with me. Just keep the spirit of the show along with the regulars and I'd be happy.

somebody needs to go back to before Landry killed the guy and give him his own show.

Give who his own show? Landry or the guy he killed? Kidding.

If the only way to keep one of the best shows on TV is by switching networks, sounds good to me. Maybe then Coach Taylor can add a little more "goddam" and little less "gosh darnit".

What is this "radical change in tone", exactly? I keep seeing comments like this but no one ever explains themselves.

Other than Landry's subplot, I don't see a "radical" change in tone either.

I don't have ESPN HD, so that would be one negative for me. But, whatever it takes to keep the show going.....

Me neither. I'll confess that Season 2 didn't start off anywhere near as strong as the first season did, but it was still a very watchable, entertaining show. And IMO, it's recaptured most if not all of its Season 1 groove the last couple weeks.

Every week we have detailed how the show is different and you argue with us and now you claim "no one ever explains themselves." Please go back and read the past weeks. You may still disagree, but the details are all there.

I think the move would be great, but short lived. Season reduced to 10-13 episodes and then canceled. In return we might get a less One Tree Hill type of show and more of a edgy drama like season 1.

I think I made a comment like this in one of the weekly threads. It certainly hasn't been every week. In fact, I don't even post in them any longer because I get tired of the whining. In fact, I listed my reasons for why I think people are overreacting to this season's changes or misremembering the first season, and no one even responded.

You don't see that a major plot about covering up a killing is a "radical change in tone"?

I didn't grow up in a Texas football town. But if I did, I could go back to Season 1 and see a lot of truth and realism there. Stuff that, you know, probably happens every day.

This season is spending a TON of time on this Landry thing. And that's artificial TV drama... not slice-of-life. That to me is a change in tone.


Maybe "radical" is too harsh (no one is being visited by aliens or anything). But it is not the same show that we started with... the Landry storyline is the obvious thing. But the show doesn't have the same flow or character interaction that we saw last year either.

I don't like this idea at all. The numbers will surely drop because lots of people don't GET ESPN. I watch this show on an over-the-air antenna to see it in HD. If it moves to ESPN, I will not be able to watch it in HD any more.

No, I don't. From a previous episode thread:

All this stuff about the show being a "slice-of-life" is certainly true, but it's true this season, too. Landry's murder is this season's paralysis, and I'm willing to wait and see where they're going with it.

I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree. I see all three of those things (affair, paralysis, steroids) as being much more "normal" (for lack of a better term) than the Landry subplot. In fact, I can say that all 3 of those things -- to one degree or another -- actually HAPPENED while I was in high school.

Landry, not so much...

That you KNEW about. Right now with his father's help, Landry stands to get away with it. If course we know that isn't going to happen. I don't understand why in this storyline the characters involved just seem to make the obviously wrong decisions. The father should have just had Landry admit that he was saving Tyra from being raped, they freaked out and unwisely decided to dump the body. I guess the father feels the whole confession might jeopardize his playing football...

ditto.