Michael Learmonth of Silicon Alley Insider writes:
Good news for “Friday Night Lights” fans: NBC didn’t cancel it! Bad news: Fans of the show without DirecTV have to wait until February to see the season when it airs on NBC.
Wait– did someone say filesharing?
The backstory: NBC sold first-run rights for the third season to DirectTV, which will put the show on the air next fall. NBC did that to help finance the show, which has plenty of buzz, but low ratings. NBC gets to air the show (which it also owns) in February after the Super Bowl, six months after it starts on DirecTV.
The show won’t be on the Web legitimately until February, when it will be released to NBC.com and Hulu after the first airing on the network.
So here’s the conondrum for rabid “Friday Night Lights” fans (we know at least one) this fall: Wait until February while the privileged few DirecTV subscribers get to go back to Dillon, Texas (a non-starter); subscribe to DirecTV (a hassle, and costly); or familiarize themselves with Bittorrent (cheap and free.) Predictions?
Good questions, but the real questions are how to handle the “graduation” of key cast members who should be off to college, and what to do when some of the actors, who are pushing 30, start to look their ages?