TVSquad

It's a question that popped up even before our pals in Dillon had their premiere. What are they going to do when these kids start graduating? Well, we have an answer now, and I'm not sure it's going to be embraced by everyone. EW's Michael Ausiello reports that Gaius Charles (Smash) and Scott Porter (Street) have been moved to recurring status.

Producer Jason Katims released a statement that says both characters will get four episode arcs to move them into the next chapter of their lives. Presumably, those would be chapters that won't be captured by the handheld Friday Night Lights cams. The cynic in me can't help thinking that this has as much to do with the shaky nature of the FNL renewal as it does with being able to work these characters into the show. After all, the idea of budget cuts after the strange Direct TV deal isn't an outlandish one. That being said, the explanation is reasonable. They were going to have to address the graduation dilemma eventually.

Reality is not reality like in TV reality series. Reality, in fact, is usually too true and very often sad. With that in mind, David Edwards, the young man who was the inspiration for the character Jason Street on NBC's Friday Night Lights, has died. Just 20 years old, David was injured by playing high school football for San Antonio Madison in November 2003. He was a defensive back, and while going after a pass, he collided with an Austin Westlake receiver. Edwards' neck was broken and the injury resulted in his becoming paralyzed.

(S02E09) "Can I tell you what gets me going? Pee." - Isabella

A combination of the coming holidays and the writers strike means that "The Confession" is the last we will see of our pals in Dillon until after the new year. Like so many other shows, the break is a disappointment, but this was the right episode to head into a break with. As the episode title implies, this week brought us the big conclusion to the controversial murder mystery that began with the pilot. That is as good a point as any to stop and reset a few things.

(S02E06) And you may ask yourself - Well... How did I get here?

It's a great title for this episode as we find a lot of our pals in Dillon questioning, being questioned about, or owning up to the situation they are currently in. That doesn't make for huge plot points that you can point to and say, "Look at that!" But it does bring up some interesting questions, and pave the way for stories in the future. With so many of the characters getting time this week, all of these changes actually overshadowed the one big, holy smokes, moment of the episode. That little thing you see in the screen cap.

(S05E05) "Lance!"

Week five of season two brings us another packed episode. Eric is getting settled back into his role as the Panther's coach, and being with his family. Big changes are in the air for Landry on, and off, the football field. A more assertive Matt is coming to some realizations about Julie. And we find out the result of the great Mexican shark blood surgery road trip. It's a lot to get to.

(S03E04) "The Eagle has landed. It's a done deal." - Buddy Garrity

Another Friday night spent with NBC, and this one came across as a little bit strange. Not bad strange, or good heavens, what now strange. Just that the story here caught me a little off guard. It's a little early in the season for what you might call a pivotal episode. Usually at this point things are being put in motion, or big picture stories are getting a break for a stand-alone episode. Such is not the case in Dillon, as three big stories had big moments this week. To balance it out, we also had more from the shark blood road trip, and the quickly getting away from us Lyla crusade. All that, and some other junk, after the jump.

(S02E03) "What if I told you I could make him go away and you could have your job back?" - Buddy Garrity

That line was the big feature in the promotion this week, and it certainly means a lot moving forward, but that was just a tiny part of what was a jam packed episode three. Really, sometimes when I look back over an episode of FNL I can't believe it's only an hour long show. When it's firing on all cylinders, they really can deliver a boatload of story. And that's what we got in episode three, with everybody getting involved.

(S02E02) As I was watching the show tonight, thoughts on this post were running through my head. Initially I planned on doing like last week and pushing the Landry/Tyra stuff to the end of the post, after we go through the parts of the episode that actually make some sense. But then I typed out that episode title, "Bad Ideas", and I just can't get over how well that fits.

They may have intended that title as a reference to what is going on with many of the characters. Things like Tami's admission that her insistence that she and Julie stay in Dillon was a bad idea, how Buddy's own actions have created his situation, the experimental Mexican surgery proposed to Street, or even Antwone's trip to the Justin Timberlake concert. To me though, THE bad idea is nothing that any of the characters are doing. It is this Landry and Tyra story that the writers and producers have cooked up. So we'll get started there, after the jump.

(S02E01) And we're back for another season with the Dillon Panthers. You have to think that there is some pressure on the folks behind the show as they kick off this new year. The renewal was great and all, but I suspect it came with some helpful suggestions as to the kind of numbers the network is looking for on Friday nights. It should be interesting to see how the show performs on the new night.

Over the summer we lost eight months of Texas time, but that really doesn't matter. For the most part, we pick up all of our ongoing stories where we left off last spring. Anything we really need to know is handed off to us as we are reunited with these characters again. Since the show kicked off with Matt and Landry at the pool, let's start there.

The first ingredient in a successful TCA party is to have it near the hotel where the tour is taking place. After sitting in panels and conducting interviews all day long, a shuttle bus ride to a faraway restaurant isn't really enticing.

So kudos to NBC for making a smart move by having its all-star gala on the roof of the Beverly Hilton's parking lot. It's an elevator ride away and the area is wide open. The party music isn't so loud that it's going to drown out any interviews. Nice.

Swag alert: guests received mini handheld fans upon arriving, but they weren't really needed because there was a nice evening breeze in the air.

Following earlier casting news regarding the addition of Emile Hirsch (Speed), Christina Ricci (Trixie), Matthew Fox (Racer X), John Goodman and Susan Sarandon to the Wachowski brother's Speed Racer movie comes news that Scott Porter of Friday Night Lights has joined the film as Rex, Speed's brother.

A picture of the Mach 5 was recently released, and as many fans have pointed out, it looks almost identical to Speed's car from the cartoon series. The Wachowski's themselves have said they intend to make the movie family-friendly, and with a "retro future" look and feel.

The movie comes out May 9, 2008. It is currently filming in Canada.

UPDATE: Just to clarify, Porter will play Rex, who eventually becomes Racer X (played by Matthew Fox).

(S01E19) After a short break, we are back for the final run of the season. There were answers to a couple lingering question, the avoiding of another one, and, as the title says, changes are in the air for many of the residents of Dillon. There was so much going on for everyone this week, it's hard to know where to start. Let's talk about Street.

There will be no trip to Beijing in Street's future, and I'm happy about that. His progress on the rugby adventure has seemed rather quick, so I liked hearing Herc's explanation for Street not making the team. He's not comfortable in the chair, and given how recent his injury still is, he really shouldn't be. That scene with Herc was very good. They do share in a lot of ribbing of each other, but they've developed a nice friendship. Herc is rough around the edges, but you can tell he wants what's best for Street. I also liked his line, "This is championship QB, not therapy."

Former TV Squad blogger Ryan J. Budke made a visit to the set of NBC's Heroes for Netscape.com. Ryan interviews Masi Oka (Hiro) and gets a couple hints about what is coming up for his character on the show. They also talk about his background in visual effects and other projects he has worked on. Then Masi is joined by Scott Porter (Jason Street) from Friday Night Lights who does his best Michael Winslow. The interview does have one small spoiler for the show, so be warned.