Friday Night Lights

Television, for the most part, is crap. Short of educational channels like Discovery or TLC the entertainment put out there for younger folks has little or no value in the long run. However, once in a while I find myself inspired by a show which is the case with Friday Night Lights on NBC. I am a late comer to this program as it has been on for three full seasons (3rd season is now re-running on NBC after originally showing on DirectTV 101.) Last week I saw a message come through on twitter (@mkhammer) that finally made me decide to add Friday Night Lights to my Netflix queue and luckily for me the first two seasons were available for immediate streaming so I didnt have to wait for dvd’s to show up. One week later I have not only finished the first two seasons from Netflix but I downloaded the full third season from Bittorrent and just finished that. That’s 50 episodes in a week. Talk about a complete time suck and a 100% complete addiction to a story line that so far has been beautifully written and executed.

The series which is situated in the fictional Texas town of Dillon holds many lessons that I think would be valuable for young people and adults alike. As the series title makes clear the underlying focus of the show is the Dillon High School football program, however, the real story lies in the trials and tribulations of an entire community. On and off the field players, coaches, students, and community members alike are portrayed in a very personal way as they make their way through the most joyous occasions and the most depressing moments of life. I think the primary lessons to be taken from this show are those about believing in yourself and doing what is right and what is good. There are low times where characters are abandoned by everyone they love and there are high times like winning a state football championship after overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.

It’s certainly something that I would recommend watching or at least trying to watch. To some it will seem like a Friday night soap opera for high schoolers and some may just simply not find it all that interesting but it definitly caught my attention and think I picked up a few pointers along the way. There’s a saying that the Dillon High School Panther football team has: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Cant Loose. It’s a lot like a fortune cookie or a horoscope, you make of it what you want, but its something to think about.