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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 197 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 197 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Brian C gave it a10:
Best show on television. Ridiculous that it's almost been nixed so often and that people eat up dross like Dancing With the Stars when they have such a literary, poignant drama they could watch instead. Football may be the template for FNL, but it's really a show about quotidian existence and small town American life - only such an awesomely talented cast could make such a theme so insightful, interesting, and compelling week after week. The pilot is simply breathtaking.

Meat G gave it a10:
From the opening theme to the closing credits this show twists my emotions with such a skillful blend of hope and despair that by the end I have lost track of what I am supposed to feel and am instead riding along with the triumphs and defeats of these incredibly real characters.

Tori G gave it a10:
This show is like a movie that keeps on going! LOVE IT! I was converted to the show and now I can't give it up:)

Jo Ann G gave it a10:
One of the few TV shows that I watch. It is very good.

daniel w gave it a10:
I love the show. I can't wait to watch it every week. The acting is awesome. The coach has such a dynamic character. I hope the show stays on for a long time.

David W. gave it a9:
Literally one of the best shows I have ever seen on a network. Solid acting and often very moving and inspiring.

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.

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

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