TVSquad

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?

Breathtaking vistas? Wild animals? Vibrant culture? Life Is Wild, the new fish-out-of-water drama on the CW promises all these things, and yet, doesn't quite deliver. It's more of a "Life Is Mild" -- a generic family drama set in a lush South African locale -- that strips all the color out of the scenery by weighing down its story with bland characters played by nondescript actors stuck in unoriginal situations.

For real excitement and back-stabbing familial drama in the South African wild, check out the spectacular Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet. My family may be late to the game (Meerkat Manor is now in its third season), but those meerkats have us absolutely riveted. And maybe that's why I had a hard time getting excited by Life Is Wild. There's no real sense of danger. Unfortunately, this fictionalized African drama just can't compete with the real life-and-death struggles of those photogenic meerkats.