Guilty Pleasure # 1, Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose

Coach Taylor, usually says it all with his eyebrows.

So I thought I would pay a little tribute to my current favorite TV show, Friday Night Lights. Friday Night Lights is a show set in a small Texas town called Dillon that lives for its high school football team. The show centers around a few players on the team as well as their families. And while it is about football, it is really about the relationships between people. It is about the humanity and frailty of humans. It's about making mistakes and making up. It is a show of weekly lessons.......

1. Everyone makes mistakes, all the time, we're human. Even Tammy (the coach's wife/high school guidance counselor) who always knows the right thing to say to her students, makes mistakes. But we become better people by admitting our mistakes and apologizing.

2. it's not how good you are, but how much heart you put into your game. (This should not be confused with 'it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game'. Losing is not acceptable in FNL.) But, the lesson is that skill is not enough. Weekly, the Panthers are about to lose the game, and only by digging in deep and finding their hearts and passion are they able to turn the game around (usually in the last minute).

3. Everything sounds better with a Southern accent.

4. There is always a second chance. No matter how badly you mess up, if you're heart is in the right place, you will get to try again (I guess this is a corollary to lesson 1).

5. You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.

I'm guessing this all sounds a bit hoaky and formulaic, but watching Friday Night Lights makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and I hate football. The characters are real and complex. And after three seasons they haven't resorted to outlandish plots to keep bringing people back. It's just real people trying to make it work. And isn't that what we're all trying to do?