Frazier Moore, a television critic for the Associated Press, laments the small audiences tuning in to Friday Night Lights. (Tuesdays at 8 on NBC.)
He picks up on a point I’ve pushed a couple of times:
“Friday Night Lights” has claimed a world far from TV’s beaten path, and depicts it with such honesty that we viewers behold its ordinary people (and, by extension, ourselves) with new eyes. In the writing, acting and on-location filming (the production is based in Austin), “Friday Night Lights” debunks the “TV AP version” of things, depicting real life on its own indigenous terms.
“That, alone is a powerful reason to watch.
“Here’s another: It includes religious faith among the forces at work in Dillon, Texas. Viewers who complain about a spiritual void in TV drama should embrace this show for how it weaves prayer (along with Panthers football, barbecue and the Red Hot Chili Peppers) into the community’s belief system.”