friday night lights

Having cable and Tivo this year has meant that I watch too much TV. I watch so much TV that I would kick major ass at any game that required me to identify actors acting in different shows at the same time. For example, Peter Petrelli's wife in Heroes is Jack Bauer's sister-in-law/former flame in 24; the former mistress in Brothers and Sisters is the president of the United States in Prison Break; the seamstress in Ugly Betty is Ricky Gervais' lady friend in Extras; Charlie from Ugly Betty is Charlie from Heroes; and I could go on. It's sort of a sick skill that I'm not particularly proud of, but I'm a third year, dammit, and I can rot my brain if I want to.

If I had to give up all my TV shows only to watch one, there's no question about which show I would pick: Friday Night Lights. It is, without a doubt, the absolute best show on TV today, better than Heroes or Lost or Grey's Anatomy or 24 or any other popular show. At the beginning of the season, I had no intention of watch a drama involving (1) football, (2) teenagers, and (3) Texas. But Gary had seen the pilot on a flight, and he was really pushing for me to watch it when it aired on television. Within a few episodes, I was hooked. Now, not only do I look forward to new episodes every Wednesday, but I also re-play each episode to savor each nuanced moment for a second and sometimes third time.

What explains this devotion? First, the show's not really about football. Of course, football provides an important backdrop to the stories, and part of the drama comes from wondering whether the football team will win the state championships, but to say that Friday Night Light is about football is like saying that Brokeback Mountain was about ranching. This appeals to me because, no matter how much Gary tries to sway me, I do not really enjoy football. I don't hate it, but I definitely won't derive pleasure from watching a show all about it.

What I like about the show, oddly enough, is that it's about teenagers in Texas. The high school thing, I admit, has been done to death on television, but none of the shows that come to mind (90210, Dawson's Creek, The OC) manage to portray teenagers in such a nuanced way. One story, for example, centers on an offensive comment made by an assistant coach. In an interview, the coach referred to his black players as "junkyard dogs" and suggested that the quarterbacks tend to be white because of their mental agility. Black players became outraged and threatened to walk out if that coach was not fired. Fearing a loss that would cost them the state championship, the white players suggest that the black players just drop the issue. On most shows, the head coach would either side with his players by firing the assistant coach or side with the coach by keeping him on board. This show, however, went beyond a superficial resolution and managed to accomplish a grey-area ending that I never saw coming. Can you think of what that ending could be? Chances are you can't, which is why you should be watching this show.

There's another reason why I like the show: when I grow up, I want to be Coach Taylor. This may seem ironic because Coach Taylor is a man and his wife is an admirably strong, confident, and outspoken woman. But I know who I am, and try as I might, I'm not an extrovert who can win people over with charm and a smile. I don't really like talking too much, but Coach Taylor shows that you can be a person of few words and still stand up against people and fight for what you believe in. I know that sounds cheesy, but those traits really are what I love best about that character. And they're played out impressively by Kyle Chandler, who is so much more than "that guy who got blown up in Grey's Anatomy."

If you're at all curious about the show, Bravo will run Friday Night Lights marathons every Friday and Saturday during March and April. That way, you can start from the very beginning. If you make your way through the season, then you can watch the last three episodes of the season on Wednesdays at 8PST/7CST. And if you want to see all the other critics and viewers who love love love this show, see the Fight for Lights website. No, I'm not getting a commission from NBC for this pitch, but I am hoping that more people will watch the show so that it comes back next season. Chances seem slim, but I really don't want Friday Night Lights to be the next Freaks and Geeks.

the perfect monday

Like gas prices, temperatures in Southern California are on the rise. Yesterday, LA broke records, which my friends and I could feel all too well on our downtown LA campus. So, like any self-respecting student in her last year of law school, I cajoled my friends to ditch their afternoon class and spend the day with me at the beach. We arrived at 2, ate lunch on the pier, set our towels down at 3, and laid there -- talking, making fun of other beach-goers, pretending to read, laughing -- until sunset (7pm, courtesy of daylight savings!). After a nice dinner at P.F. Chang's, we ended the day very exhausted yet very happy by the amount of sun we absorbed and the amount of food we ate. Days like this are numbered for me because (1) my future employer probably won't look kindly upon me taking off on a Monday afternoon, and (2) I don't know when I'll ever live in LA after this year. So if you ever try calling me on a Monday from now until June and I don't pick up, you'll know why.