I agree the whole thing about Eric being forced out and parents and kids not protesting has been to hard buy last season. A similar incident happened when I was in high school when a kid's dad tried to force out a basketball coach. Students and parents had petitions going. My prediction is that later on the season somehow the Dillon players, coaches and parents will somehow get tired Joe, J.D. and Wade.

Barnes was playing an asst from TNU recruiting Smash. Brown played a booster, not a coach.

I just checked the credits and Mike Leach was playing Mike Leach.
Don't know why they had ET not recognize him.
Maybe there will be a deleted scene where the next day it hits him.

This is probably why my 3-year old memory of the pilot episode was jumbled:

"In October 2006, Mack Brown made a cameo appearance in the television pilot for Friday Night Lights. Early in the show, a resident is heard to say "Who does he think he is? Mack Brown? He's no Mack Brown." Later in the pilot, the real Mack Brown plays the role of a local football booster quizzing high-school coach Eric Taylor on his pre-game preparation."

Thanks for clearing that up.

Maybe he did recognize him? I haven't gone back and re-watched that scene, but it did seem like there was some hesitation on Taylors part when Leach asked for directions like he did recognize him.

Considering this was the week after forfeiting a game, what was considered a shameful act by most, he didn't want to meet Leach on those terms and felt he had nothing to contribute to the conversation - it was a time to listen, not to talk.

It was definitely lost on me... I was scratching my head at the whole scene, but the little behind the scenes snippet after the show kinda cleared it up.

I'm guessing Luke went to Dillon last year because there was no East Dillon. Where did all the rest of these kids go to school? At first I thought rich dad would just semi-adopt the kid, or have him move in.

Why does Julie get to pick and choose which school she gets to go to? I thought the whole point was that the district lines were set?

The one guy East Dillon already has with potential (and with a spot in the opening credits) is a RB, and now they get a star RB, so that'll be interesting.

Obviously, there are a few plot holes. I guess we need to suspend them and just let them tell their story.

As for Julie picking which school to go to: I'm wondering if in real situations like this .. because her parents are employed in both schools, she gets to pick between the two?

As I said after the last episode, Seniors are usually allowed to finish where they started. Landry should have been allowed to finish his Senior yr at West Dillon. East Dillon should have not had a Senior class the first year. That's how it's done here.

Speaking of cameos, did anyone recognize Nnamdi Asomugha last week?

Enjoyed the episode and I got a chuckle out of the Mike Leach cameo. Did not get the Pirate joke at all. I am a sports fan, but not really a college football fan.

Yeah I also get a sense that Landry will hook up with Jess at some point. But, did he and Tyra officially break up after she graduated?

Surprised to see Steve Harris (Eugene from The Practice) as Jess' father.

I'm still puzzled how the school district would re-open East Dillon and just not put any money into it, especially Eric's football program. How the hell are they even paying Eric's salary?

Even though Michael B. Jordan (Vince) hasn't really recited much dialogue yet, I do like the mentoring relationship they are developing between him and Eric.

I can see where they are going with Matt and his internship with the dickhead artist. He will eventually realize that he hasn't truly realized his potential and that Dillon is holding him back.

I remember Mrs. Coach mentioning that both schools will get the same funding and that E. Dillon wouldn't open up until it was "to code." I'm assuming that Dillon itself is nicer than the standards under "the code" already, so E. Dillon, with the money it got, just starting from so far behind, still looks like crap.

Also, I think Matt already knows Dillon is holding him back. He stayed only for his grandmother, not because he had some delusion that he could flourish as an artist in Dillon.

Yeah, he did a great job, but no thanks to the lazy writing. Just another easy plot point with taking a very sympathetic and likable character and again taking them to East Dillon for an easy "good vs. evil" story (so far), and this show can do better than that.

I'm such a FNL nerd. So Landry is now a senior right? So, given that he's not stupid (didn't flunk) and didn't start school super late, he should be about 17 or 18, right? So how is it that he's been driving since the beginning of his freshman year in season 1 of FNL? I doubt his dad, a cop, would let him drive a car at the age of 14 . . .

There's also a remark by Mrs. Coach in season one about their daughter being a "sophmore."

Anyway, just wanted to mention these things, as pointless as they may be. This is still the best show on television right now.

Pretty sure that Landry was "introduced" as a sophomore, the first season, the same as Matt. They fudged with how old/what grade he was in, in order to keep him on the show. They did this with Riggins about 12x times before they finally let him graduate

Love the fourth season thus far.

But how old were all the main characters in the first season? My friend and I were discussing this and the ages seem off

Most people assumed Riggins, Street, Tyra, and Lyla were the same age (seniors) since they were all close and seemed to grow up together, that Smash was a Junior, and that Saracen and Landry were Sophomores. I think Julie was either a Sophomore or a Freshmen, I forget. They only really mentioned on the show Street, Smash, and Saracen's grade, though, so that gave them some leeway to change the rest, even if it didn't make much sense in terms of friendships/etc. I mean, there's one episode in the first season where sophomore Tyra is whoring it up with an out of town businessman, right? Creepy when I thought she was a senior, even creepier looking back.

That's probably the case. My child and I live outside the district in which I teach, but I was still able to handpick which school I wanted him to attend.

I don't have too much of a problem with where all the East Dillon kids came from. I imagine they live on the poorer outskirts of town and are forced to go to East due to its proximity to their homes. I don't remember seeing quite that many minority faces in the stands or cafeteria at the Dillon games the past couple of seasons, but it's easy to imagine that they were roaming the hallways.

Loved the Luke subplot, from his reaction to discovering he was being forced to transfer, to the "We want Luke" chants (reminded me of the "We want Jimmy" cries in Hoosiers), to his earnest introduction to Taylor and the burning of his jersey.

Glad too that Riggins is on as coach (rings SO true in high school athletics...former stars walking on as assistants).

What I'm NOT liking so far: Dillon has haven for all that's evil. Too obvious. J.D. was even cackling at one point when Mrs. Coach was getting booed. Also not enjoying that the direction of the season is so obvious.

Still the best show on TV.

Bump

This is the episode airing tonight on NBC

Enjoy folks!!