Top Ten Shows on Television -- #6
6. Friday Night Lights
From our good friends at Wikipedia:
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx (U.S. English) refers to an instance in which a sophomore effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the performance of students (sophomore year), athletes (second season of play), bands (sophomore album), and television shows (second seasons).
Whenever a critical darling gets picked up for a second season, true fans of the show are left to wonder -- will the network meddle with the show so much they ruin what it made it great in the first place?
The best example of this was the NBC show "Boomtown." It was a "L&O" type of show -- but it was so smart and so well done it was, of course, a ratings failure. But critics loved it, so the network picked it up for season 2. But everything that made the show great in season 1 was stripped away and in season 2 it became just another procedural. Show ruined.
Season 2 of "FNL" has been mostly devoid of what looks like network interference -- less football being the only noticeable difference. But the show has still struggled a bit this year, mostly due to the "Landry killed a guy" storyline. But that is over, thankfully, and the show is back to being what made it great -- just a phenomenal cast of characters, and some of the most honest and true storylines on television.
Ok, all that stuff was true -- but seriously, is there a hotter cast on TV? I couldn't possible pick the hottest woman in the cast -- maybe Minka Kelly, but you could throw a dart at a board and I wouldn't be upset with any of them. This show is the reason why HD was invented.
From our good friends at Wikipedia:
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx (U.S. English) refers to an instance in which a sophomore effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort. It is commonly used to refer to the performance of students (sophomore year), athletes (second season of play), bands (sophomore album), and television shows (second seasons).
Whenever a critical darling gets picked up for a second season, true fans of the show are left to wonder -- will the network meddle with the show so much they ruin what it made it great in the first place?
The best example of this was the NBC show "Boomtown." It was a "L&O" type of show -- but it was so smart and so well done it was, of course, a ratings failure. But critics loved it, so the network picked it up for season 2. But everything that made the show great in season 1 was stripped away and in season 2 it became just another procedural. Show ruined.
Season 2 of "FNL" has been mostly devoid of what looks like network interference -- less football being the only noticeable difference. But the show has still struggled a bit this year, mostly due to the "Landry killed a guy" storyline. But that is over, thankfully, and the show is back to being what made it great -- just a phenomenal cast of characters, and some of the most honest and true storylines on television.
Ok, all that stuff was true -- but seriously, is there a hotter cast on TV? I couldn't possible pick the hottest woman in the cast -- maybe Minka Kelly, but you could throw a dart at a board and I wouldn't be upset with any of them. This show is the reason why HD was invented.
Comments
FNL is one of the better shows on TV. I think the network "brains" screwed up the whole Landry and Tara arc but since that has been resolved the show has returned to its brilliant self.
Aside from the Wire, it is the one show I look forward to watching every week.
Posted by: Jeff | February 23, 2008 09:12 PM