Posted May 19th 2009 12:56PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Industry, Programming, The Apprentice, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live, The Office, Heroes, Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Upfronts, Chuck, Reality-Free, America's Got Talent, Parks and Recreation
NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.
Returning: Heroes, The Biggest Loser, Law & Order: SVU, Saturday Night Live, SNL: Weekend Update Thursday, Parks and Recreation, The Office, Law & Order, Southland, Dateline NBC
Returning mid-season: Chuck, 30 Rock, The Celebrity ApprenticeGone: Life, Medium, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim,
Kings,
Knight Rider
New: Trauma, The Jay Leno Show, Parenthood, Community.
New for mid-season: Day One, 100 Questions, Mercy, The Marriage Ref
Not reflected on the schedule, but will be returning in the summer: America's Got Talent,
Friday Night Lights (which will once again be aired first on Direct TV).
Watch this space for more details on the new shows...
More on the schedule and comments after the jump.
Continue reading The Upfronts: NBC
Posted May 12th 2009 5:01PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, Casting, Reality-Free
Taylor Kitsch made the leap from TV to the big screen with a memorable appearance as Gambit in the hit film
X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But the
Friday Night Lights star isn't ready to forget his TV roots.
Kitsch is reportedly
open to returning to Friday Night Lights next season as Dillon bad boy Tim Riggins. Of course, viewers of NBC's low-rated but highly praised drama know that Riggins should be spending most of his time in San Antonio State next year. So how exactly would he fit into season four of
FNL, based in the fictional town of Dillon, TX?
Continue reading Will Tim Riggins be back for season four of Friday Night Lights?
Posted May 4th 2009 12:22PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Programming, The Apprentice, Law and Order, Saturday Night Live, The Office, Heroes, Pickups and Renewals, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Upfronts, Chuck, Parks and Recreation
There weren't a lot of surprises at
NBC's "In Front" presentation this morning. As already leaked,
Parks & Recreation,
Heroes, and
Southland have been renewed, joining the already announced
30 Rock,
The Office,
The Celebrity Apprentice,
Friday Night Lights,
The Biggest Loser and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
There's still no word on
Law & Order's bid for a 20th season,
nor did they clarify the fate of Chuck, though insiders feel confident both will be back. Back on the bubble is
Medium, which was leaked as renewed last night, along with
My Name Is Earl. Their fates are a bit more murky, especially
Earl considering NBC is giving
Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" a prime-time berth, apparently launching NBC's Thursday night.
Continue reading NBC announces four new dramas, two new comedies to fall lineup
Posted Mar 31st 2009 12:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
The news that we've
been expecting "any day now," has finally come.
Friday Night Lights has officially been renewed for two more seasons. NBC has decided to continue the financial model that they used this season and air the upcoming seasons on DirecTV first before putting them on NBC.
I was skeptical of the DirecTV arrangement before they did it this season, because I was afraid it would ruin the season for people like me, who don't subscribe to the satellite service. However, I have been able, with minimal effort, to avoid even small spoilers for season 3.
While I agree with Hemal that
FNL has an uphill battle with several of its key characters graduating this year, I disagree with her assertion that it shouldn't be renewed because of it. What makes
Friday Night Lights so great is the cast, but even more than that, it's the way the writers have crafted the characters and storylines. Sure, JD McCoy is no Tim Riggins, but I have faith that the show will find its way. I only hope that more viewers will find their way to it.
Posted Mar 26th 2009 12:07PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
Fans of
Friday Night Lights who have been freaking out about the possibility that the show wasn't going to come back for another season can relax: the show is actually coming back for
two more seasons.
To be precise, they're
two 13-episode seasons. But that's a lot better than what the news was looking like just a few weeks ago. Michael Ausiello reports that the news will be announced "any day now." It confirms news that he broke a couple of weeks ago.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights will be back ... for TWO more seasons
Posted Mar 11th 2009 5:02PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
Should
Friday Night Lights come back for another season? EW's Michael Ausiello
is reporting that a deal could be in the works, not just for one season, but for two. The avid fan that I've become wants to root for this possibility, but as a critic, I know this is a bad idea.
Look, I love the show as much as a die-hard fan can. I've gone so far as to inquire about getting my own Dillon Panther t-shirt. I think Tami and Coach Taylor are the best couple on television. I live by the edict WWCTD (What Would Coach Taylor Do). Yet, despite my need to have"I-heart-Tim-Riggins" tattooed onto my forearm, they still shouldn't bring this show back for another two seasons.
Before fans start the dog-pile, let me make my case after the jump.
Update: For folks (like me) who haven't seen the season already on Direct TV, tread carefully in the comments. They contain spoilers. Continue reading Why NBC and DirecTV shouldn't renew Friday Night Lights
Posted Mar 3rd 2009 3:02PM by Hemal Jhaveri
Filed under: Programming, Interviews, Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
So, is Friday Night Lights coming back for one more season? Stacey Oristano, who plays Tyra Collette's delightfully trashy but good-hearted sister
Mindy, was nice enough to talk to
TV Squad and give us a little bit of dirt on the show.
I talked to Stacey while she was out in LA (her first time there, she said) and asked her what all
FNL fans really want to know. After the jump, Stacey talks about her hopes for another season, the backstage antics of the cast, and why Taylor Kitsch can't keep his pants on.
Continue reading Stacey Oristano chats about Friday Night Lights
Posted Jan 24th 2009 3:30AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Friday Night Lights, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(
S03E02) That episode title gets right to the heart of one of the main stories this week. Although, perhaps it should have been followed by a question mark. The backlash from Tami's decision to nix the jumbotron, which we all knew was coming, started this week, and things don't look so good for our favorite principal. Meanwhile, Brian continued to search for Smash, Tyra went back to basics for her campaign, Tim and Lyla continued the vicious cycle, and we got a little peek into Matt Saracen's past. It all made for a very good hour of television.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: Tami Knows Best
Posted Jan 17th 2009 2:16AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Friday Night Lights, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(
S03E01) And so begins phase two of NBC's grand
Friday Night Lights experiment. The show kicked off it's third season on NBC Friday night, but all of these episodes have already been shown on DirecTV. Allison
reviewed the premiere back in October, but we thought we'd run it up the flagpole again and see who salutes.
Despite the delay for those of us without DirecTV, the season premiere made it so easy to slip right back into the series. Most of our favorite Dillonites are back, and we were quickly brought up to speed with what each of them has been up to. We also got a good look at where a lot of these stories will be heading.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: I Knew You When (NBC Season Premiere)
Posted Nov 27th 2008 1:01PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, TV on DVD, OpEd, Cancellations, Friday Night Lights, TV Squad Lists, Pushing Daisies, Reality-Free, Life on Mars, The Mentalist
It's Thanksgiving morning right now and I'm sitting in my dad's kitchen watching people cook. I'm thankful for so many things this year, but since this is a TV site, let's talk about the things in TV that I'm thankful for--things besides the murder that the poor Detroit Lions are going to face at the hands of the Tennessee Titans today.
1. Netflix Watch InstantlyI've had Netflix basically since its inception, but with all of the TV that I watch, my Netflix movies have had a bad habit of collecting dust for months (I finally sent
No Country for Old Men back after about six months on top of my DVD player). Even though I've known about the Watch Instantly feature for a while, I've never actually tried it out. I just watched
Friday Night Lights Season 2, and let me tell you. it's so nice to just hit "Next" and have all of the episodes right there without having to change disks. Does that make me ridiculously lazy? Probably. I don't care.
Continue reading What Kona is thankful for
Posted Nov 24th 2008 1:13PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
The best NBC drama currently in production hasn't been doing much to help the Nielsen ratings. That's because the show,
Friday Night Lights, isn't being shown on NBC right now. Season three has been unspooling on DirecTV and after eight episodes, the award-winning series is in the midst of a top-notch season.
In fact, after somewhat coming off the rails last season with Landry and Tyra's murder plot, Riggins and Street in Mexico, and Matt's involvement with Grandma's nurse, this year's shows are focused, complex and definitely back on track.
That starts with Tami and Eric. Coach Taylor remains as coiled as ever, only now the pressure to succeed seems even more intense because of the emergence of J.D. McCoy, the phenom freshman quarterback. J.D.'s pushy father and personal quarterback coach tick Eric off, but he likes the kid and has demoted Matt in order to give the more talented player a chance.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: The season so far, part 2
Posted Oct 20th 2008 12:15PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Friday Night Lights, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
After three episodes, I can say with confidence that
Friday Night Lights -- currently showing on DirecTV before a mid-season run on NBC -- is out of the sophomore slump it seemed to suffer last season. The "Tim gets religion, Landry and Tyra murder mayhem and Jason goes to Mexico" antics are definitely in the rear view mirror and the quality drama is back on the front burner.
What makes
Friday Night Lights work so well is that the conflicts are real and more often than not relevant and relatable. The questions are good vs. bad, right vs. wrong...the questions are posed as choices. Nothing is black and white. Buddy Garrity wants all the best for Dillon High. He's not a bad guy. His goal for the school this year is a big, beautiful Jumbotron scoreboard. That's a good thing, right?
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: the season so far
Posted Oct 2nd 2008 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Friday Night Lights, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S03E01) If you're fortunate enough to be a DirecTV subscriber, tonight you had the opportunity to see the premiere of
Friday Night Lights. The Dillon Panther football team was back, as were all the characters who deal with real world life issues that have nothing to do with the grid iron. The best thing about
Friday Night Lights, in fact, is that the show is only set in a sports environment. The drama is much more than who wins or loses a game, and that's what stays with you. There are no easy answers for Eric and Tami, Tyra and Landry, Tim and Lyla. Even Buddy has ambiguities.
That said, NBC will be back with these same
Friday Night Light episodes -- season three -- at mid-season. Therefore, for people like me with the DirecTV dish, we're getting the shows in advance. TV Squad has decided to review the season premiere -- including spoilers -- so please, if you want to wait and be surprised, be forewarned. On the other hand, if you want to know what's happened since the end of last season, follow me after the jump.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights: I Knew You When (season premiere)
Posted Sep 25th 2008 10:00AM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Video, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free
Is anyone else out there as excited about Season 3 of
Friday Night Lights, which premieres Oct. 1, as I am? Apparently, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning might be, since he's a
big fan of the show. (And if you're a
true Colts fan, you'd better watch too -- especially if you're a Nielsen viewer. Or else, um, you might jinx him and cause the team to lose the Super Bowl.)
As you may have heard,
FNL will air exclusively on DirecTV this fall (and repeat on NBC in early 2009. Yeah, it's a pain if you don't get DirecTV (like me), but subscribers will be happy to learn they'll be able to
watch commercial-free.Continue reading Let's get ready for some football ... on Friday Night Lights - VIDEO
Posted Jul 20th 2008 7:33PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Friday Night Lights, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
NBC and its various cable stations are making their presentations today and tomorrow. Since it
is Sunday, the critics got a little bit of a break and didn't have to start until noon, when a lunch session was held for
Friday Night Lights. This session had a little bit of added juice, due to the unique deal NBC struck to have DirecTV shoulder the cost of producing the series in exchange for the rights to air new episodes on the satellite service first, before they air on NBC. Thirteen episodes will be produced and will air in October on DirecTV's 101 Network, and they'll air in February on the Peacock network.
Not surprisingly, there were as many questions about the new arrangement as there were about the creative aspects of the show. Show-runner Jason Katims and DirecTV entertainment head Eric Shanks fielded most of those questions, and the cast of the show fielded the rest.
Continue reading Friday Night Lights panel: the DirecTV deal, two departures, and a new school year - TCA Report
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