NBC.com

October 03, 09:12 PM

Real Experience of Texas Football

We've gotten many comments form people expressing their appreciation over the realistic aspects of the show. You seem to feel that we've managed to capture in an authentic way life in Texas as it surrounds sports. I credit first and foremost the book by Buzz Bissinger, who had done a wonderful job of capturing small town American and sports.

For me, every decision made was, for the most part, influenced by Bissinger's work in the book. It provided us with a tremendous springboard with which to launch the show.

COMMENTS

THIS SHOW IS GREAT LIVED THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
@MOELLER HIGH CINCINNATI,OHIO IT BRING BACK GREAT MEMORIES
PLEASE KEEP THE SHOW ON T,V,

I really have been captivated by the show i live in a small town in Alabama that has a 3A football team that just lost going to the championship by losing in the 4th round of playoffs we love our team and the kids at our school just like it is potraid in your show. Your show reminds me so much of the football fever here in my home town and the family feeling i love how you all included the church/gospel music and the lords prayer in the show. Your showing is wonderful,spiritual,moving and just plain real keep up the great scripting...finally something worth watching...

I have enjoyed your show but having grown up in a west texas oil town and playing football in the 70s I beleve that your are missing the pressure that the linemen are having to put up with. The whole town can be upset if there is and offside or missed block and god forbid a tuchdown is called back for some reason. And you never stop getting advice from towns people who think they know why you missed a block or made a mistake. Please dont be like other shows and make the story all about the back field.I grew up just down the road from midland odessa and know what oil town ball was like and you are sure make me home sick. Go Buffalos !!!!!!

You had me with the show right up until the backup QB threw the TD pass & won the game. IMHO, it would have been a much better story if they had lost but you showed how the kid did his best, maybe by having a sure TD pass tipped away or dropped. How the characters deal with the added adversity of a loss on top the the starting QB's injury would have made for even better TV.

However since I am a 56 year old MWM former sandlot football player from Brooklyn, NY and rabid NY Jet fan, I don't think you are targeting me in your demographic planning.

Regards,
Kevin

one thing i did forget and so many have mentioned - nice to see the lords prayer used by the team, takes me back to when i played ball. also, the fact that you have established that not everyone is going to like each other on the team is accurate. never seen a team yet in which everyone likes everyone. i believe the show will only get stronger over time. got to ask one thing peter - the fact that he quarteback got hurt and could be paralyzed, did your role as dennis byrd (great movie) and what he went through inspire you to incorporate this into the show? would love to know!! - kilroy

I watched the show tonight and as the mother of a highschool football player I realize that some highschoolers drink alcohol but I do not think your show should glamorize drinking. At our school all atheletes sign a contract promising not to take drugs or alcohol. It would be inspiring if your show could reinforce this to the country's teenagers. My son just walked in from football practice and said to be at a party drinking the night before a game is rediculous. Thanks for listening

Peter;
I've read the comments about the religious aspect of the program- please keep that as a staple of the emotion that the team/community portrays! It is important that we remember who is giving us the opportunity to experience the level of spirit that you are bringing to your audience.

I think the premise of the show and the storyline are very good. It is obviously a subject very near and dear to all of us here in Texas. While we very much enjoyed the storyline and subplots, we feel the viewing experience was ruined by the shakey "documentary" style of camera work. It really makes the show tiresome to watch. I like the documentary style, but in most documentaries I have watched, the cameraman is able to hold the camera still! Please, tone this aspect down a bit so we can continue to watch, we like the show.

Love the show, BUT where's the BAND? that's a very big part of it where I live (a smallish town in central Texas) you don't know "nothing" until you've experienced the drama of band kids!!(also a part of Friday Night

Tonight's show was great. I was surprised that Hollywood actually captured an acurate portrait of Texas High School Football. I graduated from HS 20 years ago and Friday Night Football is still the same, and I am sure it was 50 years ago...the same. Great ball, tons of spirit in the stands, pretty & popular cheerleaders, and big competitive drill teams. Our quarter back had a similar football injury in a preseason game our senior year, as was featured on the show tonight. I still remember the pep rally when he was taking a few steps, it was very emotional for the whole school. I, too, as somebody previously wrote in, am glad that Faith appeared in the show. We, in the drill team, always recited a prayer before going onto the field. And any Texas game starts with a prayer. If you don't like it, move back to the country you came from. Because that is how we do it in TEXAS!

Oh my gosh, you nailed this one. I felt like I was at the high school stadium again instead of in my living room. As a mother of three boys raised in East Texas high school was a very important part of our lives. Texan's are very proud of their state and small town football is a big part of who we are.
Thank you for a very enjoyable show.

I Liked the unity of the players at the end of the game to pray for the injuries quarterback. Living in Alice Texas where we recently lost a football player to suicide. The game last friday against Rockport Fulton showed the same unity at the beginning of the game where both teams came together for a moment of silence in memory of the fallen player......Good job on showing the respect Texas High Schools have for each other.

I am Friday Nite lights, but the real story occured in the 50's. Dust off a copy of award winning "The Last Picture Show".I played for Pampa... no face guards, no water breaks, no blacks. 8 hour work outs, you get your bare butt busted by the coach at half time if you missed a tackle, tape over all players mouths if we lost a game .. on the bus ride home, Run along side of the bus for 5 miles if caught working with weights. Our coaches beat the crap out of us for nothing. Our coach went to A&M to coach with Bear Bryant. I have all my seniour year high school films if you want to use them. Then you will se what West Texas fooball was really like. We all hated it our senior year. Look and see how many good players from the West Texas high Scools went on to play in college. We just gave it all at such a young age. Good show but coaches dipetced as caring ...."just win baby!" I have enough true sories to keep you going for years.

Good Job.... John Cantrell

Dear Mr. Berg, A special thank you for all that friday nite has done for my seventy two year old father, Odell Grant. He has been working as an extra. He bleeds football and I cannot think of a better way for him to spend his late years surrounded by all that is football. He is quite the celeb in his community. He was highlighted in the Austin Cronicle last month for his participation in the show. This whole experience has done more for my father than you will ever know. I thank you and thank all those that are behind the scene that have taken such good care of him.

I grew up playing football in west Texas (Amarillo High Sandies)Born in Pampa, TX.

We played teams like Permian-Basin, etc...

Wow...your pilot show captured the quessential essence and pressure of living up to Texas athletics expectations.

Not implying that is a bad thing, but when the only opportunity you have for success in small town Texas is becoming a super-hero, over coming your fears, and stepping-up to the plate when needed then it is do-or-die.

And yes, it is a very scary moment when one of your own goes down.

IU particularly embraced the moment when when the oppossing team was on one knee during the analysis of the oppossing qaurterback. Not only is this showing our youth about respect, it is what actually occurs in Texas football.

Gary W. Honaker
Grapevine Tx.
Applications Engineer, Sr. Staff
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

I currently live in Midland, TX, very close to Odessa, the home of Friday Night Lights. I grew up in West Texas, and for those of you that think this is not really how it is, think again. All of the emphasis of sports is placed on football. Not as much now as back in the eighties, but it is still very dominant. I agree with someone above who said the scenery looks real. That is refreshing that someone got it right.

I thought the show was great. I wish it wouldn't have followed the plot of the book quite so much, but I am hoping it will get away from that in coming episodes. I also was pleased with the prayer emphasis. Hollywood may be anti-religion, but here in Texas, we are still practicing it and proud of it!

I loved the show!

The most realistic aspect of the show for me tonight was the scene involving the neck injury. Just a few weeks ago a young man at Rock Island HS in Rock Island Illinois suffered a c4 spinal cord inury during a football game. The local teams have all banded together to help raise money to help his family. It would sure be appreciated if NBC could do something to help this family out.
Loved the show even though it hit a little clopse to home.

Love the show, especially all the football action!!! Having lived in the vicinity of the Permian Basin in the '80s, I am very familiar with the role of football there. Great job in the transition from film to television, too. Our family and friends are thrilled by the use of prayer on the premiere and hope to see that weekly! This gives me a great reason to talk about the show on The Morning Cruise With Suz, my daily radio show on Christian Family Radio, 90.7 FM in Bowling Green, KY, 91.9 FM in Owensboro, KY, and worldwide at www.christianfamilyradio.com --perhaps I could have you as a guest to talk about the show!

Great job with both the movie and the t.v. show. I grew up in Midland, Texas and played H.S. football there in the late 70's. I look forward to watching the rest of the season.

This show was refreshing! I watched it with my teenage children and we all enjoyed it. Thanks for producing something worth watching!

A great production and a 'must see' each Tuesday! I enjoyed the book greatly and question whether or not the economic and racial divides wihtin the community will be explored? Thank you!!

Whay did you do take the Movie Friday night lights and Varsity Blues and steal a plot?? What a hack job!!

I didn't think it possible, but this show lived up to all the hype. 15 min in, I was hooked. Great job of introducing the characters-does Sarazin have parents, or just his grandmother?

The area where the movie is filmed looks like West Texas. Where is the show filmed?

This show brought back great memories since we had 3 boys that played football.
Kyle Chandler was Outstanding!

I'm a 51 year old female and I've supported our high school football program for 35 years. My husband, myself and both our children graduated from West Monroe High. We loved the show!!!

Thank you! I appreciate the realism of the show on so many aspects. Texas football takes High School football to the extreme, around here it's a great time, albeit more laid back

So far so good as far as authenticity. Having grown up around the 'friday night lights' enviroment the completly resonates with my adolescence. So much so I recently graduated from Texas A & M Kingsville with my Bachelors in Communications Television/Radio and had brainstormed with a friend on how a teen drama in primetime centered around Texas High School Football would be an ingenious idea. Good to know I wasn't too far off.

Very realistic for the football action ... but don't forget the small details ... in the final drive of tonight's game, doesn't the RB dive out of bounds with seven seconds left?? If so, the clock stops. Texas high school football fans will nail you on details like that ... just like the silly mistakes in the movie, e.g. Jesuit in the playoffs, using Midland's uniforms for Marshall, etc.

what a wonderful beginning. realistic, warm, captivating. loved it!count on me for ongoing viewer

The area where the movie is filmed looks like West Texas. Where is the show filmed?

I appreciate the fact that Faith was portrayed positively on a national network. Thank you for that! And for not flinching from saying the name "Jesus" in a positive way as well...truly refreshing!

Enjoyed the show. Realistic not only for Texas h.s. football but I suspect the rest of the south as well. The story line reminds me of the Chucky Mullins story at Ole Miss.

I have a question why is it Dillion but still permian panthers?

You have Kyle Chandler...that alone is enough to get me watching...who takes the credit for hiring him as the lead?

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