Septemberbaby

Landry was in the finale. Yes, it was a blink and you missed it scene.. but he was in it.

I heard they tried to get Gaius Charles (Smash) and he wasn't available.. then I read (and IMDb confirms it) that he joined a seminary.

Kyle Chandler said in a interview recently that Gaius knew NOTHING about football and Jesse Plemons (Landry) was a walking football expert .. which shocked everyone.

DJariya

What? You didn't care for Coach and Tami? That was such an instrumental storyline in the last 5 or so episodes.

Oh and Gaius Charles (Smash) quit acting and joined a seminary.

movielib

I just watched the whole final season DVD in a few days. Great ending(s).

I also listened to the Jason Katims commentary for the last episode. Very much worth listening to. He says "um" and "you know" a lot which gets kind of annoying but a lot of good insights into how the last episode came to be what it was. He also sounded like he was choking up a few times, just like I did watching it.

DJariya

If your watching this on NBC right now, chances are your not reading this thread.

But, Katims did make another key point in the commentary. The series finale runs about 60 minutes with no commercials (on the DVD and aired that way on Directv) He says he's not sure if NBC will let it run that way. There is a chance they will have to edit out about 15 minutes of content to fit the 42-44 minute window for a 1 hour broadcast. If it runs intact, the finale will probably be about 90 minutes with commercials.

creekdipper

Pretty bold talk for a Van Dork.

creekdipper

Actually, we are just watching the beginning of the season. We missed Ep. 2 and tried to catch up with Charter On Demand, but the stupid cable company aired an episode that is obviously the 4th or 5th episode & listed it as Ep. 2 (the only other one available other than Ep. 1). We knew something was wrong after the first couple of minutes but went ahead and watched it anyway. Hopefully, we'll get to see the other episodes (chronologically would be nice) & will have some surprises before the show ends. I don't mind if it ends with some sappy or sentimental moments...we sort of expected that.

It's always inviting grief to post negative comments in this type of thread, especially to those who loved the show. I'll just say that we have stuck with the show since Season One but felt that the show jumped the shark in earlier seasons when the producers/writers started going after ratings (which, ultimately, didn't work) with some questionable writing decisions. That doesn't mean we hated the show...in fact, as one person pointed out, each episode had one or two great moments, and the show WAS different in that it is a rarity these days showing small-town drama as opposed to major city, urban settings. At the very least, it was a breath of fresh air from the cycle of reality/cop/lawyer/doctor shows that dominates tv.

That being said, it stopped being a 'must-see' show a while back. We like a lot of the characters & wanted to see how the story played out, but there were just too many repetitive scenes, self-absorbed characters, predictable scenarios, rookie writing mistakes & glaring errors, etc. to think of FNL as one of the Top Ten dramas in tv history. Relatively speaking, it's a lot more interesting than most current fare...but that's damning the show with faint praise.

We thought the actors do a fine job (always wondered if there's quite a bit of ad-libbing going on...there's an awful lot of staring, stammering, repeating lines, etc. that could be naturalistic acting or good directing, but I'd love to see some of the scripts to see how the lines were written). We never thought much of Julie's character or the way her parents indulged her brattiness, but we don't blame Teagarden for that.
And a lot of the most-loved characters (Tim Riggins comes to mind) came across as one-dimensional, cliched characters (in his case, the brooding, misunderstood bad boy with a heart of gold). That being said, there were so many fine characters (Saracen & Landry were always great in their scenes together). And Buddy is one of the outstanding all-time secondary roles...the actor should have received multiple Emmy nominations/awards for his portrayal of a complex character that we could arouse many reactions in the audience ranging from disgust to pity to admiration. You don't see too many characters like that on tv.

So, it's no knock against those who love the show (everybody has his/her own opinions about favorites that others just don't feel the love for...some people love Lord of the Rings, some hate it) to say that, while we thought it was worth the ride, it won't spoil anything to know how it ends. I give any show KUDOS for actually having an ending episode to wrap things up.

And it's probably a compliment to the show that we cared enough about the show to stick around even when we felt the show didn't live up to its promise. Heck, the very fact that we felt disappointment and had high expectations showed that the program was above average. It's kind of like we felt about Prison Break...loved the first two seasons but felt that the show lost its way (but we stuck it out).

Hopefully, there will be more attempts to do realistic dramas like FNL in the future. Although we don't feel any particular sadness at its passing (since we felt that it was time), we do understand how people feel when a favorite ends (we felt the same about Buffy/Angel). We're glad FNL aired (even at the occasional unintentional LOL moments that gave us food for discussion) and hope it inspires other producers to try some serious dramas that don't rely on car chases and shootouts (although a dead body or two never hurts).

FNL

movielib

The show is, of course, scripted, but Jason Katims said on the commentary for the last show that they never did rehearsals. Also, the actors were given lots of latitude to adapt their lines and ad lib during filming. I suspect the final product was always fairly different from the original scripts.

creekdipper

That's the way it always seemed. That can be a good thing & make for some really good moments. In FNL's case, it probably was a big plus in helping to create a naturalistic sort of dialogue (even with the occasional awkward moments I mentioned earlier...although, on second thought, those awkward moments more closely approximate real life than Andrew Sorkin or David Mamet dialogue).

And it still probably adhered fairly closely to a script unlike, say, Curb Your Enthusiasm (which I think is loosely plotted with almost all of the dialogue improvised).

Anyway, the dialogue was one of the brightest spots of FNL even when the plots or details got a little off track. Thanks for the info.

writer106

I remember there was an interview that Connie Britton did in which she said that she and Kyle never really rehearsed their scenes but they discussed how the dialogue and if they should make changes.

rfduncan

It's NBC. You just KNOW they're going to F it up and chop it to shreds. That was the main reason I made SURE I caught it on DirecTV this time AND why I'm not watching it again on broadcast TV. I'll rent the DVDs if I want to see it again.

starseed1981

Just ran through the dvd set. IMHO, that was the best series finale I've seen since Six Feet Under.

Goat3001

I'm going to bump this because I just got to see the finale yesterday. I had followed on NBC all season but after the second to last episode I really wanted to see the finale right away.

Great episode. Just an incredibly satisfying finale. Everything once they got to State was incredible.

Loved the game and them not showing the end. At first I was pissed thinking I wouldn't find out the winner but I'm happy they subtly dropped it in there by showing us the rings.

I loved the whole flash forward. It made me feel good knowing how these characters ended up, especially Mr. and Mrs. Coach.

I loved how well each scene played. It was almost like running through a checklist and making sure each main character got a satisfying conclusion. Normally this is something that would upset me but the way they did it was perfect.

But there are things that bothered me...

First, it's almost as if they had a plan on how to end the Tim Riggins character but they didn't know how to execute it so they brought Tyra back to complete it. IIRC, their relationship was rocky throughout the show so acting as if they were madly in love all along seemed fake to me. I'm assuming they wanted to bring Lyla back to do the same role but Minka Kelly didn't want to be involved?

With that said, I'm happy with how they ended Riggins. Him and Billy building the house was made 100% complete with them ending it with "Texas Forever".

The other thing that bothered me was the whole engagement. Matt broke up with her to live his life and a year later after one week together he's ready to marry her? It seemed forced. I thought it would have been much better if he just said he wanted her to transfer to whatever Chicago school he's going to and live with him. Then again maybe I've just become jaded in my old age and I feel that two teenagers getting engaged is silly, no matter what.

But truthfully both my complaints are nitpicky. Neither one ruined the episode for me because as a whole it was fantastic.

And one last, very nitpicky thing... what happened to that QB on the Panthers? The really good one? Did they just write him out so they could say Vince will be the QB of the Panthers in the next season or did they explain his absence?

boogieman03

Nice article on Grantland about the show. Read it after you've seen the finale.

An oral history of Friday Night Lights

wm lopez

Why are they ending the series?

DJariya

Are you way out of the loop?

FNL was going to get cancelled after season 2 on NBC because of the ratings. NBC and Directv worked out a deal to split the production costs and keep it on the air. Directv got 1st rights to the episodes. Season 3 was the 1st of the Directv episodes with NBC getting the rights months later.

After season 3 ended, the future of the show was again uncertain. Directv and NBC worked out another deal to renew the show for 2 seasons (4 and 5) which would be the last 2 seasons.

writer106

I have read/heard different rumors or explanations to why Minka didn't return. I think Jason Katims said that a decision was made not to bring Minka because they felt that Lyla/Tim had a good resolution in season 4. There were rumors that she didn't want to come back.

As for JD, I don't think there was any explanation ever given in season 5 to why he and his dad were written out. On different sites, people have assumed that the McCoys and the coach Wade were pushed out of Dillon by boosters.

Septemberbaby

Loved this.
A must read.

DJariya

http://www.tvline.com/2011/07/scoop-...he-big-screen/

Peter Berg, FNL's creator, apparently wants to develop a feature film starring Chandler/Britton.

Septemberbaby

^^ Fingers crossed!
But, I think a Tv movie may be easier to make?


Watched the finale again last night and I still loved it.

One thing: I did NOT like all the commercials! And there were a ton of them!
I especially didn't like it when they cut to a commercial towards the end during the football game, it broke the momentum..
Thank YOU Directv!

magiccmom

Such an amazing, emotional finale. I am surprised how emotionally vested I am in these characters. They seem very real to me, and I cared how they ended up.

My favorite scene was when the team first walked into the Cotton Bowl. It sent chills up my spine, and the music and the presentation was so effective. Loved it!

How Chandler and Britton never got an Emmy for their performances is just shocking. So realistic, so natural. Such a great chemistry between the two of them, and I believed it.

Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can't Lose.

Haha, Loved the blank stare at coach when he said that in Philadelphia. We will get to that later..

Texas Forever. Thank you FNL. It was a great ride.

SteveA

I've often said that FNL isn't just the best drama on TV, it's the best drama that's ever been on TV. You might argue, but I say it to illustrate that I'm a big fan. Nevertheless, I was a little disappointed in the finale. I thought there was too much nostalgia and not enough drama and tension. In particular, the football game that they had been leading up to all season was almost an afterthought, more like a dream sequence. I understand why they did it; the theme of this episode could be "life is more important than football." But I would have liked one more slam-bam game with the announcer amping up the tension.

Septemberbaby

Just curious, did you watch on Directv or NBC?
Because I watched the first time on Dtv and than again last night on NBC and I really feel the commercials took something away from it. And there were a ton of commercials. More than usual, I thought.

The NBC viewers also missed out on the 10 min interviews w/ most of the cast..

DJariya

Here's the bonus interviews segment that was shown on Directv after the finale aired. It's a really good watch if your a fan of the show. Kyle Chandler is MIA though.

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/prO4P2QOhM4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Septemberbaby

Watching that clip: Tell me again why none of them have won a Emmy?

I mean, even Taylor Kitsch is excellent. I remember one episode in the second (?) season, he was in a ton of scenes but I think he had only one line the entire episode and he said everything w/ just his emotions on his face. Brilliant.

Zach Gilford steals every scene he's in. Every. single. scene.

The list goes on and on...

Yet, no Emmy's for any of them. Befuddled.

hippie68

I am so hoping that will change this year.