Shark Jumping in Progress?

Friday Night Lights is definitely still one of my top two favorite shows, but I'm a bit worried. There's this term that's used by TV commentators and bloggers: jumping the shark. Wikipedia explains nicely why it's called that. It happens, in my humble opinion, most often when showrunners are pressured by the network to spice things up a bit by changing something major about the show. Sometimes it works. Often it just spells the beginning of the end. The potential for shark jumping in Dillon, Texas should have been predictable given the skin-of-its-teeth renewal at the end of last season. But it might have been nice if the showrunners could have resisted. Instead, they decided, in their infinite wisdom, to have Landry kill someone and pitch his body off a bridge into the river at the end of the season premier. Not exactly in keeping with the normal course of events in Dillon, and a bit too I Know What You Did Last Summer for my taste. Next week they find the body. Here's hoping it all gets resolved quickly and we can get back to the good old fashioned Friday Night Lights I've invested so much time cheering about.

Sports Guy Sez Save Friday Night Lights

Fibby passed this along and it's so darn good that I'm going to reprint it here in its entirety. Please visit ESPN's website and patronize their advertisers so they don't sue me for copyright infringement, etc.

I recognize that at this point, all ten of my friends who read this blog have either 1) watched FNL and are already addicted or 2) decided not to watch it just on principle. I am unlikely to change any more minds on the show directly, but maybe you all have other friends to whom you can spread the FNL gospel.

Editor's note: This column appears in the September 24 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

If last year's memorable TV phrase was "Save the cheerleader, save the world," I'm declaring this year's to be "Save the show." NBC is damned close to burying Friday Night Lights, which would be a shame on a number of levels, but none more serious than this one: It's the greatest sports-related show ever made. Returning for a second season on Oct. 5, it's a fair bet that FNL will be canceled by Christmas. And when it is, it's going to be because of people like you.

If you're reading this, then you should be watching Friday Night Lights.

Now, I know only about a thousand people, not counting the anonymous folks in my Barely Legal chat rooms. Since almost two million people subscribe to this magazine, there's an overwhelming chance we don't know each other. That said, I feel confident about making the following three generalizations:

No. 1: You're reading this magazine because you like sports.

Okay, maybe you're killing time in a doctor's office, or maybe you stumbled across this issue in an airplane seat pouch, sandwiched between a barf bag and a catalog that sells night-vision goggles. But I'm going with the odds: If you're reading ESPN The Mag right now, there's a 96% chance you like sports, a 3% chance you're killing time -- and a 1% chance you're stoned and think you're reading Rolling Stone.

No. 2: If you like to watch TV, you wouldn't knowingly turn your back on a great show.

I know, I know, that sounds like a quote from Joe Theismann. But most rational TV fans will cave once a show generates enough buzz, either because their curiosity is piqued or because it's on cable with an "N" or an "SSC" in the ratings. Hey, I've been there myself: I held out on The Sopranos and The Wire. I don't like being told what to watch; this dates back to when a fellow fourth-grader made me feel dumb because I wasn't watching Doctor Who reruns, and we ended up fighting to a draw at recess. But when the buzz passed a certain tipping point, I gave in and gave both HBO icons a fair chance. Before long, I realized they're the two most important TV shows of all time, narrowly edging out Beavis and Butt-Head. Point is, you can never know for sure until you watch.

(I know that in certain cases you ignore the buzz simply because you don't give a crap about the subject matter. I feel this way about tennis, a sport I once loved, before it became too fast and impersonal for its own good. You could pull a Biff Tannen and guarantee that Roger Federer and Andy Roddick were about to play the greatest match ever, and I wouldn't tune in. But who doesn't want to get hooked on a good TV show? Well, except those who are homeschooled.)

No. 3: If Nos. 1 and 2 are true, there's an overwhelming chance you'd love FNL -- and a decent chance you aren't watching it. And if that's the case, don't you owe it to yourself to rent Season 1, Disc 1, and try the first four episodes? Look, if FNL doesn't make it, we're just going to get more Grey's Anatomy spin-offs, a CSI for every city and 20 Deal or No Deal clones. Hollywood doesn't like to take chances, and it doesn't like to fail; it figures out what works, bleeds it to death, then flips the corpse and bleeds it some more. Execs don't care that a few million faithful treasure a show, singing its praises like religious fanatics. They care only that 15 to 20 million kinda-sorta-maybe like it. And it doesn't matter who those viewers are or how dumb they might be, either, as long as they keep coming back for more.

Despite what I might have said in the past about jumping on team bandwagons, you shouldn't feel guilty about jumping on this one. I watched the pilot when it originally aired, but I didn't love it: too much puke-cam (the camera stopped moving so much in later episodes) and an unspeakable sports inconsistency (Dillon High completes a game-winning Hail Mary that could have happened only on a 140-yard field). Once the abysmal ratings were announced, I assumed the show was doomed and opted not to waste my time with Episode 2. Networks pull the plug so quickly these days, you can be burned by getting hooked on something no one else is watching. Ask my wife, who's still complaining about never having learned the identity of the murderer on FOX's Reunion.

After FNL garnered its critical groundswell, I decided to wait for the late-summer DVD release to dive back in. My buddy Connor, a man who knows how to get things, refused to accept this, mailing me the Japanese import in June. That's right, I have a friend who loves FNL so much, he actually couldn't deal with my being willing to wait two more months to see it. So he called in some connections and possibly violated U.S.-Japan trade agreements so I could catch up. As he predicted, the Sports Gal and I ripped through all 22 episodes in a week, learning the Japanese words for "play," "stop" and "pause" in the process. Quite simply, FNL is the best date show ever, an improbable cross between The O.C. and every sports show you ever wanted Hollywood to make. It's the first show my wife and I have loved equally, but for different reasons. What can be better than that?

On Aug. 28, NBC released the American DVDs with a "satisfaction guaranteed" gimmick. Now if you continue to ignore FNL, it's only because you're trying to hurt me. If you do give it a shot, let me recommend the impeccable acting, the lively football scenes (although they tend to go overboard on exciting finishes), the risky story lines and especially Coach Taylor's family, the most authentic household in recent TV history. Every nuance is nailed, every hug seems genuine, every fight makes sense, every sarcastic barb and flustered reaction ring true. If there are better TV actors than Kyle Chandler (Coach) and Connie Britton (Mrs. Coach), I haven't TiVoed them. Pay particular attention to the astonishing two-parter in which an older assistant sets off a racial powder keg before a big playoff game. If FNL were Michael Jordan, Lyla Garrity's slam-page episode would be the 63-point game in Boston (the coming-out party), and the two-parter would be the 1991 Finals (the moment considerable potential is realized).

Look, I'm the biggest White Shadow fan on the planet ... and even I concede that FNL is the greatest sports show ever. Shadow died prematurely because the story line called for it to graduate too many key characters at once. I can live with that. FNL is going to die prematurely because five times as many Americans would rather watch an acerbic British guy belittle dreadful singers on a reality show. I can't live with that.

So please, please help me and every other FNL fanatic. Watch the show. Spread the gospel. You won't save the world as they did in Heroes, and you probably won't prevail in the end, but as Coach Taylor once told his team, "Every man at some point in his life is going to lose a battle. He's going to fight, and he's going to lose. But what makes him a man is that in the midst of that battle, he does not lose himself."

I pray we're not sticking that quote on his TV tombstone in two months.

Bill Simmons is a columnist for Page 2 and ESPN The Magazine. His book "Now I Can Die In Peace" is available in paperback.

The Back to School Post

For the last 29 years or so, my life has been lived on a school calendar. Every year since I was about two, I've either begun a new school year or a new job (usually at a school) in late August or early September. At some point, I suppose this will change. At some point, I will have a job that doesn't change schedules and begin a markedly new year in August or September. But, as my one-year clerkship has just begun, it will be a couple more years before that happens.

One of the great thing about living life on the school calendar is seeing all your friends again and making a bunch of new ones when school starts back up again in the fall. Sometimes, you can even manage to arrange things so that the people who made you feel uncomfortable last year aren't around any more or aren't too close by in the new school year. And, inevitably, every year you end up missing a few people who have moved on and don't sit next to you in class anymore.

TV is like this too. (You knew this post was going to get back to TV at some point, didn't you?) Every fall, the some old friends return, a bunch of new ones arrive, and some others go their separate ways. Sure, you have a few friends from summer camp (like the boys and girls from Army Wives, Side Order of Life, Saving Grace, and Mad Men this summer), but you miss your school year friends by the time August rolls around.

This year, I'm looking forward to spending some school nights with the folks from Dillon, Texas, the McHotties at Seattle Grace Hospital, and the Walkers from SoCal. Heck, I'll even be glad to see Denny Crane and Alan Shore and Tony Gates and Neela Rasgotra back on my TiVo again. But in general, this is going to be a year for making new friends. With Star's Hollow closed to tourists, Orange County destroyed by an earthquake, and Studio 60 canceled due to ratings, there are several slots available in my back-to-school social calendar.

Part of the fun of a new school year is the unexpected joy in meeting a really amazing new friend, like last year's Panthers. It's too early at this point to guess at who might play that role this year. Gossip Girl, Chuck and Private Practice will get an audition on my TiVo merely because of their impressive pedigrees. (Gossip Girl and Chuck are from O.C.-creator Josh Schwartz and Private Practice is, of course, the long-awaited Kate Walsh-headed Grey's Anatomy spin-off from Shonda Rhimes.) Pushing Daisies will also get an audition, largely because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews it's getting. I will be minding the buzz and adding a few other try-outs into the TiVo To-Do list as the need arises.

And I promise to post more often once the new school (TV) year begins in a couple weeks. There's just only so many times a girl can post about how good Army Wives is before she decides to just go dark until the school year starts again. In the meantime, I will reiterate my spring posts by reminding my reticent readers that the first season of Friday Night Lights may be streamed for free on-line, Netflix'd, or purchased. You really ought to do that before the October 5th premiere. Really. Even if you hate football.

Speaking of what they have to say...

Good news today! Twenty-two more chances to fall in love with Friday Night Lights, coming to the small screen near you next fall.

The network up-fronts (when we--the advertisers, actually, but fans too--find out next fall's schedule) are all next week, so lots of renewal news and word on pick-ups of new pilots will be trickling out in the next few days.

Gilmore has been officially canceled already; cause for celebration of the end of an era, in my mind, rather than mourning for the loss. (In fact, we will be celebrating this Tuesday at my house--by eating like a Gilmore (a Lorelai Gilmore, not an Emily Gimore, of course)! There will be tater-tot-topped-frozen-pizza and chicken nugget appetizers . . . and malomars, if I can find them.) After the completely appropriate and satisfying but still utterly sad end of Rory and Logan's relationship last week, I'm ready to say goodbye to the show, and eager to see what projects come next for all involved (particularly Matt Czuchry and Amy Sherman-Palladino).

With Gilmore off the schedule, it sounds like One Tree Hill may actually get a chance at another season--one in which they jump the action forward by 5 or so years. I'm all for it. This week's scene at the prom where the characters all make fun of the melodrama in their lives was priceless. O.C.-style self-aware irony. Love it.

I Dare You

I have made a convert. Fellow almost-lawyer AC told me that she caught a couple eps of Friday Night Lights that her TiVo had "suggested" for her. Since then, she's been streaming them obsessively on her computer. Recently, she was even questioned by a policeman at 2 am about this obsession. (Ok, so the policeman is her boyfriend and he was wondering why she hadn't come to bed, but still...)

All this leads me to my double dog dare of the week. NBC has posted the whole first season of FNL on its site. I double dog dare you to stream and watch two episodes without getting hooked. Go ahead, do it... you know you want to.

News on the Renewal Front...

A new report from Ausiello suggests that the death knell may not yet have sounded for the Stars Hollow gang, but I'll be shocked if this May's season finale doesn't wind up as the last word we have from Lorelei and Rory. It sounds like Rory and Logan are history in any case, and since I think Logan is the only reason I've bothered to watch the show this season, I think I'm ready to let GG head off into the great television heaven in a few weeks.

On the other hand, everyone seems convinced that Friday Night Lights will be back.

And in an amusing, eerily torch-passing coincidence, Lauren Graham was apparently once roommates with FNL's brilliant Connie Britton. Two of the smartest, most talented women on the small screen, in my humble opinion: I would have loved to hang out at that apartment!

Save(d) One Show?

Gilmore Girls . . . and Veronica Mars were both given the nod when Kristin at E! announced the Save One Show results last night. Despite the name of the contest, apparently saving just one show wasn't enough . . . and apparently more than 6 million votes were received this year (which is, of course, not to say that 6 million people voted). Ultimately, the Gilmore fans were the most effective at repeatedly clearing their cache and re-voting. It's probably a good thing that we don't elect our president on-line. And, unfortunately, it sounds like no matter how web-savvy and motivated the GG fans are, Rory and Lorelei are not going to be back next season: the cast and crew "couldn't be reached for comment" on their big SOS win.

In any case, I'm content that, as reported in my last post, Friday Night Lights got an order for 6 more scripts.

Boston Legal was highly amusing this week: a surprise visit from Phyllis Diller (rather than Racquel Welch, whom Denny was trying to conjure up with "The Secret") had Denny reeling and N and I rolling with laughter; it's always fun to see Alan Shore come up with new and creative ways to elicit jury nullification; and Julie Bowen was brilliant (as usual). I'm looking forward to seeing what (if anything) they can do with the film shot last week when she went into real-life labor on-set during filming. BL is generally worth watching, but it's rarely at the top of my TiVo to-do list. I'm not sure why not. It's really quite good.

In other TV amusement, I caught the pilot and first couple eps of The O.C. when it premiered on SoapNet this week. It's fun to go back and revisit those classic scenes -- the scene where Sandy drives Ryan away as Marissa looks on from the end of her driveway, the "welcome to the O.C., bitch" scene, the model home fire ... so many good scenes. And with the benefit of hindsight it's fun to see how some of the later iconic scenes from the show called back those early episodes. I hadn't remembered, for example, the scene from the pilot where Ryan scoops the passed-out Marissa off her driveway and tenderly carries her to the poolhouse. The exact same shot is in the episode where she dies. Kind of cool to have that kind of internal reference (and there are so many more, especially in the music). Makes the show kind of literary in a funny sort of way.

OTH SOS!

Every year, Kristin Veitch from E! has an on-line campaign to save one show from the network ax. She gives an excellent run-down of which shows are most likely safe, which ones are "on the bubble," and which are likely doomed. Then you get to vote. The campaign has, apparently, had an effect on network execs in the past.

So who to vote for this year? Three shows I love are theoretically on the list as in need of Kristin's life raft. They are, in order of affection: 1) Friday Night Lights, 2) Gilmore Girls, and 3) One Tree Hill. But I voted for One Tree Hill. Why? 1) Because I'm confident that FNL is safe -- the NBC network execs apparently see its virtues and will give it another season to build ratings. 2) Because I'm certain that the fate of GG rests exclusively on whether or not Alexis and Lauren will sign on for another season for an amount that the CW is willing to fork over -- and word on the street is that they won't. And 3) because OTH's show runner Mark Schwahn has announced that, if they get a 5th season, he'll jump the story ahead 5 years so that all the characters will have finished college. This is just plain smart: it allows actors who don't want to come back an easy way to bail out of their characters -- and I have a sneaking suspicion that Sophia Bush might not want to come back to work with her cheating ex-husband Chad Michael Murray. It will also line up the ages of the characters much more closely with the age of the actors who play them. So I voted for OTH.

Who's going to win? I'd guess Veronica Mars may well be able to muster the most votes this year (and oddly enough, show runner Rob Thomas has apparently borrowed Mark Schwahn's plan to jump Veronica ahead 5 years to be an FBI agent if she comes back). The winner will be announced April 13.

Two Redeeming Features

This is the second time this year that I have wanted to (even planned to) really, really love a show and been utterly disappointed. This week's episode of October Road had only two redeeming features: 1) the cat in heat that was meowing outside Nick's window turned out to be Hannah and Sam's cat -- that made me grin -- a relatively clever little detail; 2) the final montage and last scene had GNR's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" playing behind it -- it was fun to hear something other than the brand new indie/small label rock that gets played (and then promo'd) on One Tree Hill and the O.C. (may it rest in peace).

Other than that, the show was utter disappointment. The writing is forced and poorly delivered. The plot is rather predictable and uninspired. I'll give it just one more episode to redeem itself ... and only because I loved Bryan Greenberg as Jake Jieglski on One Tree Hill.

Have I mentioned that you really ought to be watching Friday Night Lights? Oh, and Brothers and Sisters too.

Another Pitch for Friday Night Lights

Go watch this interview with actors Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton of Friday Night Lights from this morning's Today Show. Then watch Friday Night Lights tonight. It really is the most under-appreciated new show this year. I was pleased to see NBC promoting it this morning on Today. With a little luck it just might get the second season order it deserves. (For the uninitiated who would like to begin at the beginning, the pilot is available as a free download on iTunes. The most recent 5 episodes can be streamed through NBC's site.)

Studio 60, on the other hand, just needs to be put out of its misery. Better luck next time, Aaron! UPDATE: Funny, looks like I got my wish: one more week of S60 before NBC pulls the plug.

Why I Love Sweeps

What a good week in TV! This is a post for true TV geeks like me.

Since last Sunday, there have been some big doings in my favorite fantasy worlds on the small screen. Some of the highlights:

• Emily Gilmore made me cry. The show has been such a disappointment this season, but this episode was perfect. Simply perfect.
  
• Meredith Grey went for an unexpected swim. Yikes. I love that this twist was never leaked on the spoiler sites. (I know, it would be simpler if I just didn't read the spoiler sites, but what fun would that be.)
  
• Lucas Scott has apparently written a novel. I want to read it. How cheesy is that?
• An earthquake has obliterated Orange County. Has any other show ended its run by literally blowing up the set? Oh, maybe 24, but I think they actually began the season by blowing up the set! With only two episodes left, Josh Schwartz and co. are going all out!
  
• After more than 12 weeks with the tension lurking below the surface, this week's episode was the first to really explore the racial issues in Dillon, Texas: a white assistant coach said way more than he should have to a crafty reporter and the black players walked off the field in disgust. It was a great way to get the conflict between Riggins and Smash to come to a head without either of them really doing anything wrong.
• There's a couch on Survivor!? Really?
• And finally, tonight, Kitty and the Senator kissed (and more)... and he's running for president. This show has really hit its stride with great characters and great writing. Plus, I love Rob Lowe. (And the line about him always liking Demi Moore was hilarious! Did anyone else catch that?)
  

Friday Night Lights: The Best Show on TV that You're Not Watching

So it really ought to come as no surprise to anyone that I would be excited about a show about both football and the lives of teenagers. But despite that, I didn't start this season by tuning in for Friday Night Lights because it was up against Gilmore on Tuesday nights at 8pm. (I have TiVo but only a single-tuner TiVo; I try to make it a habit never to watch TV in real-time any more, so I really can only watch one thing at a time.) Well, one week this fall, NBC moved FNL to the Studio 60 slot on Monday night so my TiVo was free to record and I was free to watch... and I was hooked. The writing is smart; the characters are intriguing; and the plots are believable. The show does a nice job dealing with the game-within-the-show challenge too... several episodes don't feature a football game at all, so it's not always about the amazing last minute touchdown or crushing loss or whatever. It's much more about the characters with football only coming to play when it actually advances the plot. So, I've been keeping up since then by streaming the shows from NBC's website. Starting in January, FNL is thankfully moving to Wednesday nights at 8, and, really, what else would you want to watch in that slot? So if you want to catch up, set your TiVo for the Bravo marathon on December 30 from 9 am to 7 pm. Then the shows will all be sitting there waiting for you, and you won't have to deal with anything akin to my 24 dilemma. What did you say? You don't have a TiVo? Really? Really? You're kidding, right?