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Friday Night Lights
SERIES: NBC, Tuesday 8:00p (60 minutes)


9.0

based on 32 reviews
read critic reviews
how did we calculate this?

based on 189 votes
read user comments
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

FILM:

Friday Night Lights

Starring Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford, Adrianne Palicki, Jesse Plemons, Minka Kelly, Scott Porter, and Aimee Teegarden

This drama about high-stakes high-school football is based on the movie of the same name (itself based on the book of the same name by Buzz Bissinger). The film's director, Peter Berg, returns as an executive producer on the show.

GENRE(S):	Drama, Sports
CREATED BY:	Peter Berg
FIRST AIR DATE:	October 3, 2006

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

You don't have to love football to admire Friday Night Lights.

100

The New York Times Virginia Heffernan

A fiercely controlled and inventive work of art.

Newsday Diane Werts

[A] rewardingly seasoned new drama series that's practically indistinguishable from the acclaimed feature film, except that it's better.

Arizona Republic Bill Goodykoontz

The biggest and most pleasant surprise of the season.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen

One of the fall's brightest new dramas.

Washington Post Tom Shales

Extraordinary in just about every conceivable way.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland

More than simply being outstanding, "Friday Night Lights" is an important series because of the way it takes family-friendly television seriously.

Slate Troy Patterson

The most engrossing new drama of the fall season.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman

"Friday Night Lights" is not good. It's great.

San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum

A finely detailed exploration of high school life and small-city dynamics.

USA Today Robert Bianco

Lights has a rare ability to portray life in small-town America without being condescending or sentimental.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray

Both cinematically broad and heartbreakingly specific, a melding for once of the best that movies and television have to offer.

Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron

Director-writer Peter Berg understands completely, and he explores the psychology of team sport and the dynamics of personal tragedy with great sensitivity.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall

The drama is one of the season's best because it makes you care even when you know something big is coming -- and because it finds pleasant little surprises along the way.

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

Surprisingly wise and moving.

Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert

Berg has done a fine job of lifting his series above familiar teen melodrama and making it into a group portrait of a town.

Kansas City Star Aaron Barnhart

I can’t say enough about how "Friday Night Lights" defied my expectations for what a TV show about football would be.

TV Guide Matt Roush

Intensely stirring.

Entertainment Weekly Henry Goldblatt

Between its cinematography, setting, and subject matter, Lights doesn't look a whole lot like anything else on television right now.

New York Post Linda Stasi

Every character is dead on - no exaggerations, no caricatures.

Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman

It isn't as ambitious or objective as HBO's "The Wire," but it's about as close as broadcast TV gets to "The Wire." It finely depicts the daily grim and gritty existence of kids and adults dealing with narrow hopes, sad expectations, provincial victories, race and poverty.

Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy

The smartly told stories of first-year coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler, "King Kong") and his Dillon High School Panthers are packed with gritty style and heartfelt emotion.

Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale

The plotlines are predictably full of teen melodrama and small-town angst, but the cast is interesting, and the show's semidocumentary style gives it surprising grit.

New York Daily News David Hinckley

It's the best high school coaching drama since "The White Shadow," and deserves a chance.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

You've seen it all before, but Berg's sharp powers of observation and a talented and very pretty young cast... keep it fresh.

Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith

Ultimately, what makes "Friday Night Lights" compelling is not the football or the cast. It's the accumulation of little details, like the eager faces of the pee-wee players as they meet and respectfully worship the big high-school boys whom they dream of becoming.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

This is one show that could, with the right kind of leadership, make it to the playoffs.

Time James Poniewozik

Has the same quick-cut look, crisp dialogue and bone-crunching game scenes [ast the movie].

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

It feels so close to actual American life that it lacks the gut excitement that would take it over the line into true entertainment. [9 Oct 2006, p.41]

Variety Brian Lowry

"Friday Night Lights" ultimately feels like one of those family programs middle America and conservatives pine for that too few of them actually bother to watch -- a portrait of decent, God-fearing folks wringing joy from America's game as an escape from their hardscrabble lives.

Los Angeles Times Paul Brownfield

Peter Berg... seems to have decided that the show would only work if storytelling were pared down to quick-cutting iconography set to guitars.

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Standard high school sports soap opera.

The average user rating for this tv show is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 189 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brent H. gave it a10:
This is the kind of show that will build in popularity as the" word of mouth" about how great it is, spreads. I bet it's already number 1 in West Texas.

Alex gave it a10:
This is a great show which I hope comes back into the programming.

Cindy B gave it a10:
This is one of the best shows on television. The writing and the acting are excellent. I look forward to watching the show every week.

mark gave it a10:
This show fits into that narrow category in which it is so good that you need to verbalize it to your viewing partner at every commercial break. It's not about football...but the football stuff is engaging as hell (I'm not a football fan). It's about human beings living together and it's delivered with superlative acting, scripting, production, etc. Sure there's eye candy but even the worst of them can act well. On most shows, tragedies like divorce/infidelity are delivered with excessive moralism and we're spoon-fed how we should feel about it. This one delivers it as it exists in life: complicated, and not one-sided. It's so good it even survives goofy plot twists b/c it's the rare TV program that's about how it's told, even more than what is told. My one criticism is that the hand-held camera can be a bit too self-conscious and over-done from time to time, it doesn't make you dizzy like some that employ this technique, it just needs to stick to genuine use, without accentuation. Some moments are so artful, painterly, and beautiful that it hurts. The last scene in the show my wife and I watched tonight (online) with Tammy and coach looking in the mirror after their evening out was pitch-perfect. It would be a real shame for this show to end...or would it? I hope that someone on cast and crew sees this and shares it around b/c the show is so good it really makes me want to thank and congratulate them all. Whomever plays Tammy and Landry in particular are phenomenal but it's really a tour de force. Tammy acts better just with her eyes than most other network actors can do with their whole bodies. I'll cut it here lest I sound too wacko to be taken seriously b/c of my gushing. Man, it's that good though.

Ana A. gave it a10:
i love this show its the greatest i hope they don't cancel it. I'm not the only one who feels this way.

David Ki gave it a10:
Consistently the finest shot, acted and written series on television. I eagerly look forward to each and every show.

Michael H gave it a10:
This is the best thing on television in a long time...as good or better than the first season of Lost. The writing is just amazing, the directing amazing, the acting amazing. Unfortunately stuck in the Friday night slot by NBC. I would compare it to some of the best pieces of TV "art" like the Sopranos...for that matter many excellent movies. In fact, some of the currently top rated movies on this site (No Country for Old Men) are different but maybe not even as good as this show.

Friday Night Lights SERIES: NBC, Tuesday 8:00p (60 minutes)

Friday Night Lights
SERIES: NBC, Tuesday 8:00p (60 minutes)