dispatches from quilt city

Ok, listen up

I'm going to make this easy. Stop what you are doing. Stop. Right now. Got to nbc.com and watch Friday Night Lights. All of it. The whole season.

Here I'll even provide the link.

It is the sweetest, most affecting show since The West Wing. It's not the hard brilliance of The Sopranos or the political genius of Battlestar Galactica. But I laugh out loud every time and end every episode in tears. I cannot put this too strongly. This show is the most authentic, yet still entertaining portrayal of small town life I have ever seen. If you don't watch this show - you WILL watch this show.

I'll give someone else a try. From Salon, "If only more people knew what a rare and beautiful thing they're missing: a drama that sets the bar much higher than it has to, daring to take on the romance and heartbreak of being a teenager with honesty, compassion and wit. The writers don't take shortcuts with pointless fisticuffs and cliques and ironic asides; they stick to the emotional center of the story at all times. As a result, over the course of its short season (which ends on Wednesday, April 11 -- well before May sweeps, which isn't a good sign for its survival), "Friday Night Lights" has evolved from a strikingly original, lively little story about a football team to an evocative portrayal of life in a small American town, a narrative with so much sweetness and authenticity to it that, once you abandon yourself to its undeniable charms, you'll find it has the power to make you cringe and grit your teeth and laugh and cry each week, without fail."

Or how about The Sports Guy, "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)."

You don't have to know or like football. Ya'll my hatred of football is well-documented. You don't have to have grown up in a small town either. You just have to have a heart and a brain. And if you don't, you will also need protection because I will hunt each and everyone of you down if this show is canceled.

Ya'll have a great day now!

UPDATE: Oh my God! Yes, Dylan told me about this show and really let's be honest - all that growing up together, going to high school, loving me despite how I acted in high school only gets you so far. Now, NOW, that he has give me Friday Night Lights - well it's just taken our friendship to a whole new level. (And cost a ton in text messages, since about every 5 minutes it's "OMG! I love Buddy Garrity!" or "I want Tami Taylor to adopt me!")