FEATURE: "Watch Me, Damnit!" vol. 01

We're starting a limited weekly feature here at R&R highlighting TV shows that garner poor ratings but are nonetheless of such quality that we demand you start watching. In fact, tell your friends, classmates, co-workers, hell, even your old and vision-impaired relatives to all start watching. Save Good TV!

We kick off our inaugural edition with Friday Night Lights.

Those unfamiliar with the television incarnation of the property may recall the 2004 Peter Berg-directed feature of the same name. Originally based on the book by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, the movie was then ported into a hour-long television drama by essentially the same creative team behind the film. Those who have come to know Berg's work through movies such as The Kingdom and Hancock will recognize his trademark visceral style, replete with a lot of documentary-esque handheld camera work, and plenty of dirty frames. The show is known for a run-and-gun type of production, letting the acting as opposed to the production design or any plot twists carry the bulk of the cinematic weight. And boy, does it.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better acted show on television, and it's a mystery how this show has failed to garner any serious Emmy consideration. A critical darling, the show has nonetheless had a hard time attracting the attention of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences when it comes to the higher profile awards that would earn it some much deserved respect and attention. But we can get into all that later. First, let me tell you why you should be watching this show.

The most common reply I hear when I ask people why they're not watching this show is that they're simply not interested in football. Well, this is a show about football like M*A*S*H* was a show about the Army. Sure it serves as the backdrop and provides a good deal of the tensions and drama that power the narrative, but really what the show is about is a small town in Texas and the people in it. You absolutely do not need to be interested in football to enjoy the show, you just need the ability to understand how someone else can be so interested in something that they let it dictate and define the shape of their lives.

These people have dreams and aspirations, fears and insecurities--sure, commonly tied to football--but it is the humanness of their experiences that make them so compelling. In fact, Friday Night Lights gives perhaps the most convincing portrayal of modern American life. Let me qualify that statement, though. It may not be about the kind of community you or I live in, but it is a distinctly realistic and organic community that is undeniably American. The people in it struggle with success, including the kind that is well deserved, the kind that comes too early, and the kind that we fear may not come at all. We may not necessarily have experienced the exact same things they go through, but we have all felt the emotions that resonate so strongly from their stories.

This is a show that is great like so few are. It is engaging, funny, moving, elating, and above all, uncompromisingly honest. The family at the heart of the story, the Taylors, is the most believable TV family I have ever seen. They argue, fight, support, and love each other in a disarmingly real fashion. And though the show strayed a bit during the strike-strickened second season, diving into some rather questionable plot developments, we were still able to at least believe the characters' reactions to the sometimes-unbelievable situations they found themselves in. Still, the unmatched first season and the strong return to form in the ongoing third season provide more than enough instances of deft and nuanced storytelling to attract even the most dubious viewer.

But believability isn't the only thing that is great about the show. When it comes down to it, the show is simply able to make us feel for a cast of characters like no other show is able to. It portrays ordinary American life in an extraordinary manner, and gets audiences so emotionally involved that we no longer care if we like football or not, but damnit the team needs this win and we're right there on the edges of our seats, screaming our heads off at the screen like the most ardent red-blooded fan. It is drama at its best, and good in a way that is so hard to sell, it's no wonder the show has been struggling to attract an audience in an era where quick-cutting shows like The Hills or digestible procedurals like CSI command the public attention span. But those who do find their way to the show are richly rewarded with one of the most genuinely enjoyable shows on TV.

The show creates a raw and powerful reaction. When you laugh, it's not because of a shticky joke, it's because the life you are seeing is genuinely funny in that moment. You laugh the way you would laugh at your little niece when she ebulliently cries nonsensical baby talk--as inexplicably funny as it is moving. You cry the way you would cry if someone you loved lost something unfathomably important to them. You are touched to the core by the lives portrayed in this show, both in times of joy and sadness. When the star quarterback is injured and paralyzed in the very first episode, you feel how shaken his loved ones are as they await the inevitable diagnosis in the waiting room. And you crumble when the team comes to visit him later on before a game, crushed by the sight of their shattered leader but still trying so hard to offer him their support.

I could go on and on, even more so than I have already, but I think you get the point. This show exposes everything human within us and makes us once again believe in the sweeping idealism we all once held. It's brilliantly produced, and on a completely basic level, is just engrossing to watch. You don't have to be a cinephile or sports geek to appreciate its power, it's a show that can be enjoyed by everyone. Anyone with a heart will feel the show's beating right back.

So where can you see it? It's currently being aired on Wednesdays on DirecTV's Channel 101, stemming from a deal the satellite television service struck with NBC. By splitting the costs of production with NBC, DirecTV will get to air new episodes first, and then NBC will start to air them starting in January. So those without DirecTV may be hard pressed to find a way to watch it now, but hopefully new audiences will find their way to it come January. It's simply the best sports drama, and one of the best dramas, period, to have ever been made, and it'd be a true pity if you missed it. Though it's been given the doomed Friday timeslot by NBC, those of us who've followed it for three seasons, and those who are joining the show for the first time will inevitably find themselves believing in the mantra of the team--Clear eyes, full hearts...can't lose!

Editor's Note: Those of you looking to play catch up can check out Amazon.com for Season 1 and Season 2, or watch episodes on Hulu.