Inside TV+Movies with Daniel Fienberg
Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 59 - 'Friday Night Lights' Finale Edition
Dan and Alan discuss the series run of 'Friday Night Lights' for the duration
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Happy, but melancholy Thursday, Boys & Girls!
It's time for a special All-"Friday Night Lights" Finale installment of the Firewall & Iceberg Podcast.
There's no need for a time breakdown because all 84 minutes of this podcast are dedicated to the world of Dillon (East & West) high school football and its surrounding drama.
If you haven't seen the "FNL" finale, which aired on Wednesday on DirecTV, DO NOT LISTEN. Whatever there is to spoil, we spoil it. Just wait until you've watched on DVD or NBC or whatever viewing option best fits your fancy.
And a special "Thanks!" to all of the readers who sent in questions for the podcast. The response was overwhelming and the questions were pretty fantastic. We must have answered 10 or 15 of them during the podcast and I'm sure several others inspired us in tangential conversations.
Anyway, if you like this type of podcast, we'll probably do it again in the future when one of our favorites departs. This May? An All-"Chase" Finale Firewall & Iceberg!
Here's the podcast. If you're an "FNL" fan, we hope you enjoy!
As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed.]
And here's the podcast...
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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February 10, 2011 at 1:46PM EST Reply to CommentTV watching folks love ranking shows, so a hypothetical: if FNL had been one season only would it be above or below Freaks and Geeks?
Gareth Evans Friday night lights is a better show than Freaks and Geeks, and the first season of FNL in particular was incredible, so, for me at least, there is no competition.
February 10, 2011 at 2:05PM ESTI haven't seen the wire or the shield (which many people seem to agree are 2 of the best tv shows of the last ten years), but for me there's no beating Friday Night Lights. The acting's incredible, the characters are incredible. I think a better question would be whether Freaks and Geeks would've been as good a show in season 5 as it was in season 1? I don't think it would've.
February 10, 2011 at 2:22PM ESTgareth evans Yeah, I can agree with that. IT seems to have been forgotten just how good Jesse Plemons was in that season 2. Yes, he was given a terrible story, but he acted it out of the park.
February 10, 2011 at 5:01PM ESTAs far who can have the best career post FNL - It looks like Kyle Chandler might be able to get a bit of a movie career out of it and I'd imagine Connie Britton will be given the lead in some new TV show. As for the kids, I'm really upset that Gauis Charles doesn't seem to have been in anything since he left the show, and while both Gilford and Porter have been in movies since, the movies have tended to be terrible. I gave Off the Map a chance when it premiered because I think Gilford is a top actor, but it's a shame that's such a poor show. I think Kitsch will have the best career, but I think Gilford is the better actor so I hope he's cast in a good show pretty soon. Any news what the ratings for Off the Map have been like? I hope it gets cancelled soon, or maybe it'll get better. I might give it another shot.
Texas Forever Gaius Charles was in a play in New York right after he left the show. Most recently he's stopped acting and is now in seminary, so that's why you haven't seen him in anything.
February 10, 2011 at 5:05PM ESTTyler M
February 10, 2011 at 2:44PM EST Reply to Commentwhich team do you think was the best team in FNL, the team in season 1, season 2, etc....?
sepinwall You may want to listen to the podcast for our thoughts on that topic...
February 10, 2011 at 2:45PM ESTTyler M well I listened and now I have to go to class. So I didn't know if it was answered? Thanks.
February 10, 2011 at 2:49PM ESTGeorge I'd throw in on this discussion that S1 Panthers probably dominate pre-Street injury, as they're referenced as the #1 team in the country and you have a QB heading to Notre Dame, a RB who ends up at TAMU and a fullback who gets D-1 offers.
February 11, 2011 at 12:19AM ESTdan George - Well *sure*... Pre-injury, the Street-led Panthers clearly are the best-looking team. In theory. It's still unclear to me who Street was going to be passing to on a regular basis...
February 11, 2011 at 12:30AM EST-Daniel
Oy
February 10, 2011 at 7:04PM EST Reply to CommentAn 84-minute laundry list of all the ways in which this show failed, yet you both still insist it's one of the greatest of all-time. Likable characters and scenes that are brilliant in isolation are not enough to rise to that level. How those things combine to make a coherent whole *matters*.
dan OY - Hmmm... *I* didn't record an 84-minute laundry list of all the ways in which the show failed. Did I post the wrong podcast? CRAP.
February 10, 2011 at 7:07PM EST-Daniel
February 11, 2011 at 7:08PM EST Reply to CommentYou forgot about Bobby Reyes (angry hispanic kid who got kicked off the team) from season 1!
dan Jan-Michael - Bobby was, if memory serves, also a defensive player, wasn't he? I remember he served multiple token roles in that first season...
February 11, 2011 at 7:11PM EST-Daniel
Haynie
July 16, 2011 at 3:27PM EST Reply to CommentGotta take exception with one point you guys made. It's not fair to compare Eric's problems with moving to Philly to Tammy's acceptance of the Florida job. For one, I'm sure there wasn't a history of Tammy turning down dream jobs from college admissions offices for Eric's sake. Two, Tammy WANTED to go to Florida and was actually disappointed when Eric decided to stay in Dillon.
Three, and most importantly, the prospect of Eric having to go to Philly to coach football is awful. Inner-city schools in Philly make East Dillon look like Bayside High. He probably couldn't be a full-time coach and would also have to teach a class, which should have been addressed and would've been an interesting thing for them to discuss in his reluctance to go.
Overall, awesome podcast and great tribute to the series. Hopefully you actually see this these many months later and respond.
Tausif Khan
July 21, 2011 at 7:12PM EST Reply to CommentI have a big problem with critics referring to “Landry’s Killing Spree Storyline†as “Landry’s Killing Spree Storyline†because to me it is none of those things.
1)To me it is the “Tyra Collette Rape Storyline†because the most graphic and important event occurring in that scene is that a young girl was raped. If the show failed in any way, it was not to highlight enough how Tyra’s experienced the traumatic event and its resulting aftermath within the visual story telling of the show.
2) Landry did not commit murder. He did not have a premeditated intention to kill this person (just compare his reaction to that of Reyes against Matt and Landry’s friend in the first season). It is clear his intention was to protect Tyra because he asks about her condition to make sure she is alright. At best Landry committed a form of manslaughter in which some sort of malice may have manifested from Landry after he saw what had happened to Tyra. Most of his actions in the scene seem scared and hoping to keep everyone safe. Because his father was the chief of police any wrong doing that Landry was involved with would either get back to his father or impact his father negatively. He was trying to do the best in a bad situation.
3)Landry did not go on a killing spree. He only tried to cover up the one horrible situation he had accidentally become a part of after the man who raped Tyra died.
4)For me the storyline was about the character interactions between Landry, Tyra and Landry’s father where Tyra is reminded once again (as Mama Williams told her in the first season) that she will bring nothing but trouble. This again is a comment on Tyra’s reputation affected by her gender and the way people perceive her would result in their judging of whether she is worthy of their sympathy or not (it must be pointed out that no matter her reputation what happened to her is something no one should encounter). It was a terrible circumstance for all of them to work through.
5) It is horrible that this storyline did not do more to increase discussions of sexual violence. In the most recent podcast before the FNL finale Alan mentioned that he went back and looked at Tyra character highlights and said as a comment pertaining to the rape scene that there are just some people who need to be killed.
When I was in college I took a film class and we watched Thelma and Louise. The professor mentioned that this film was criticized for the amount of violence it depicted (and the implication was that this violence was a product of raging feminists angry about sexual assaults perpetrated by men). The professor noted that while there are large explosions there is not a single dead body left in their wake. My point in bringing this anecdote up is that the impression that Landry’s scared protective reaction to Tyra’s rape lead to an exagerated responses by critics and buried the actual issue the actual storyline. A teenager, Tyra Collette was raped, and a friend did the best he could to prevent the attacker from repeating his crime. The burying of the actual storyline by exagerating the impression was for me problematic as I did not come to the show until season 4.