Friday Night Lights: Should You Watch It?

Friday Night Lights tells the story of the Dillon Panthers, one of the country’s top football teams, and its players and coach. While the show’s title (which references high school football games played on Friday nights) might suggest the main focus of the show is football, the heart of the show is really its characters. 

While a majority of these characters are in some way connected to the team (the coach and his family, various players and ex-players, etc.), Friday Night Lights is definitely more of a family drama/well-done soap opera and not simply a sports show. This is the story of the people of Dillon, a fictionalized Texas town whose residents love football, and the goings on of their lives.

Let’s answer a few questions about the show before deciding if you should check out the series.

How many episodes are there?

Friday Night Lights premiered in 2006 and ran for five seasons, totaling 76 episodes. The first season is 22 episodes. The second season, while initially scheduled for another 22 episode run, was cut short by the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike and totals 15 episodes. Seasons 3-5 are each 13 episodes.

What are the show’s strengths?

One of the strengths of Friday Night Lights is definitely its acting, particularly that of Kyle Chandler, who plays Coach Eric Taylor, and Connie Britton, playing his wife, Tami Taylor. Both were nominated for Emmy Awards in 2011, with Chandler winning for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Overall, the acting of the entire cast is very good (with maybe the exception of Taylor Kitsch as Tim Riggins in the earlier episodes, but his acting improves as the show goes along). Many of the stars of the show went on to have extremely successful careers, including Jesse Plemons (who’s in just about every movie nowadays) as Landry Clarke, and Michael B. Jordan in Seasons 4 and 5 as Vince Howard.  

One element of the show’s characters that I really like is that they are all people we can root for. These characters are definitely not without their flaws, but they are good people deep down, and this contrasts with lots of shows today that focus on antiheroes or characters we probably wouldn’t like if they were real people. We’re rooting hard for Coach Taylor, his family, and the people of Dillon to overcome the obstacles in front of them.

Having largely likeable characters ties into another thing I enjoy about Friday Night Lights—it is a feel-good show. Many quality shows strive to be realistic in a way that can sometimes be depressing. Friday Night Lights is the opposite of this with storylines that largely follow the pattern of characters encountering obstacles and struggling, but ultimately overcoming said obstacles and learning something along the way. Since these are well-developed characters that we care about, this leave us, the viewers, feeling good when the majority of episodes end.

Another strength of the show is its writing. Friday Night Lights tells some compelling stories over its five season run. Having 22 episodes in Season 1 gives us time to really get to know our characters and an opportunity to have multiple storylines start and end over the course of a season. This is a nice change of pace from lots of shows today which, since they consist of far fewer episodes, have to really concentrate on just one story they’re trying to tell. 

What are its weaknesses?

The show’s biggest misstep is a murder storyline introduced in Season 2. This storyline was introduced in an attempt to improve ratings (the show was always a critical hit with reviewers, but struggled with ratings over its run), and just feels completely out of place in the (relatively) realistic universe established. The writers seem to realize the storyline is a dud because after it’s resolved mid-season none of the characters involved ever mention it again.

Another minor weakness of the show comes about sort of because of necessity. Since we’re following mainly high school students, over the course of the show, many of them graduate. After these characters leave, we’re introduced to new characters. This happens largely throughout Season 3 and for Seasons 4 and 5 we have a lot of new characters. Some of these characters are fine, but they don’t quite stack up to the core cast of earlier seasons. This also leads us to concentrate on characters who are permanent Dillon residents who might not have had as big of a role in earlier episodes, like Billy Riggins and his wife, who I don’t find as compelling.

Does the show hold up?

Despite premiering over 15 years ago, the show still largely holds up. Many of the issues facing the characters are still extremely relevant today. Friday Night Lights can definitely be watched and enjoyed in the 2020s.

Do I have to like football?

The people of Dillon might love their football, but you don’t have to in order to be a fan of this show. Many episodes feature little or no football scenes, and the football scenes we get are fast-paced snippets of games. My girlfriend (not a football fan) enjoyed this show immensely and now thinks that all football should be just exciting bits of games that don’t last more than a couple of minutes.

So, should you watch it?

If you’re looking for a feel-good drama, Friday Night Lights is definitely worth a watch. Season 1 is the strongest season of the series, and since it’s 22 episodes you’ve got a lot of content right there. The first season can also stand by itself, so even if you don’t want to watch the entire run, that season can still be enjoyed.

Season 2 features the bonkers murder storyline and feels cut short (due to the strike), but it’s still pretty good. Season 3 picks up again, and while it’s not up there with Season 1, it’s still good TV. Season 4 and 5 find the show pivoting with Coach Taylor and his family in a drastically different situation than they were in Seasons 1-3. I won’t spoil what happens here, but the result is still a couple more seasons of quality television.

You can find all of Friday Night Lights on Netflix. Definitely check out Season 1 and if you enjoy it the rest of the show is also worth a watch even if it doesn’t quite capture the magic of that first season.

Season 1 Grade: 9.5/10

Season 2 Grade: 7.5/10

Season 3 Grade: 8.5/10

Season 4 Grade: 8/10

Season 5 Grade: 8/10

Overall Series Grade: 8.5/10