pop culture, reviewed

I’m not sure that I’ve blogged yet about how very much I love Friday Night Lights.  Have I?  I can’t remember.  That I like — nay, love — this show is a testament to how great it is, because folks, I hate football.  No, seriously.  I hate it.

I went to Super Football High School and totally believed myself too cool to care about such things.  I went to college football games, but strictly for the tailgating action (occasionally attending only for the tailgate and leaving afterward, occasionally skipping the game entirely to go to the mall, which was socially frowned upon).  The idea of attending, say, the Super Bowl (or really, any live-action football game), makes me feel like I might have an anxiety attack.  Frankly, I do not enjoy sport or athletics of any kind — not playing, not watching, nothing.  I even hate the Olympics because it screws up the Today Show’s usual routine and preempts my regular television programming.  I HATE SPORTS.

Why, then, do I love this show so much?  Well, there are too many reasons to list, but I promise you, the ultimate outcome is that if I could go watch Dillon play in the state championships in Dallas, I would have bid on eBay for the really good seats, and still would have gone if I had to ride there in the way back of Landry’s station wagon behind Matt Saracen’s grandma.  I would have cheered and screamed and cried.  (I did all those things anyway, actually, just in the privacy of my own home.)  

It boils down to this:  I may hate sports usually, but I love small southern towns, and I have never seen such an authentic portrayal of a small southern town on television.  In addition, I love that Coach and Tami have the kind of marriage for which all of us strive.  I love that Julie Taylor is a smart, sassy, super-cool only child.  I love that sweet Matt Saracen is believably and endearingly inarticulate.  I love that they eat at Applebee’s (where else are you going to eat in Dillon?  Red Lobster, after church?  Olive Garden, maybe, for the prom?).  I love that Lyla is getting tough.  I love Smash even though he refers to himself in the third person.  I love gorgeous and vulnerable Tyra and her burgeoning friendship with precious Landry.  I love the music (and not just because it’s featured fairly obscure Whiskeytown and Ryan Adams tracks).  I love hot Tim Riggins even though he’s jailbait.  I love watching Jason Street grow up and get tattooed and learn to live in his wheelchair.  I love it all.

I do not love that tonight was the season finale and that it has not been renewed for next season yet.

Please excuse me while I go watch tonight’s episode again.  And if you haven’t watched before now, what are you waiting for?   They’re all free at NBC.com.  You won’t be sorry.