how i was almost had

i spent last night catching up on all the episodes of "friday night lights", which blows my mind with how high the production value is. i mean, you can watch an episode of "24" and figure out how they cover a scene and still make it look fantastic. but "friday night lights" is just, well, it's so frenetically cut from shots from so many different angles and erratic (but perfect) camera movements that each episode blows my mind. it's exhausting, really.

anyways, i'm completely engrossed into the story, which isn't as much of a series of plotlines as much as it a capsule of high school football in texas. think storytelling much like "the sopranos", but substitute barbeque for lasagna. and the writing is dead on, the acting is fantastic, and you're completely living within the made-up football-mad town of dillon, texas.

i'm totally on board - except they just introduced a love story between the cheerleader and girlfriend of the just-paralyzed star quarterback, and his best friend, the fullback, who's having trouble dealing with the sudden injury. hell, typing that out reeks of "the o.c." and "gilmore girls" and all that crap. and it doesn't help that the actors who play them are right out of their casting tapes (and, i gotta admit, she's stunningly gorgeous, although these photos don't do her justice as when she's lyla gerrity).

anyways, it's losing me - just because it could so easily go that route when instead, it could be groundbreaking in so many ways.

by the way, here's network idiocy for you: they're thinking about moving the show to friday nights, thereby losing any confusion when the show airs. it's on tuesday nights right now. yep, "friday night lights" is on tuesday. and i gotta say, that's the death knell of the show.

the people who watch this show, the fan base, are not gonna stay home to watch "friday night lights" on friday nights . they're gonna be watching their alma mater play high school football. yep, the real thing.

the smartest idea would have been to premiere the show on friday nights, but after football season was over. that way it could act as a continuation for the season that just ended. you know, give high school football fans, which is what, the majority of the country, something to latch onto in an effort to fill the void until next season.

that would have been smart. now, they're screwing themselves by forcing the fan base to not watch their show. smart.

btw, i typed this whole entry while listening to my morning jacket cover "take my breath away", complete with the actual audio track from "top gun" when goose dies. it's actually a great version of it. download it if you get a chance. it's on their album called "clz learning" with covers of "west end girls" and "dream a little dream".