"Friday Night Lights" Finale Leaves Us in Withdrawal

The "Friday Night Lights" finale inevitably left many fans in tears this weekend. How in the world can this television show, armed with more character than any other drama on television, just fall out of bounds so quickly.
As a fan of the show, I was sad to see the finale put an official end to the show. Although there are rumors that a "Friday Night Lights" movie is in the works, it's still completely pathetic that one of the few "real" shows on television takes a seat while others move on.

NBC didn't do the show any favors-by allowing it to be sent to Direct TV and putting it on the shelf in lieu of other programming earlier this year. While I am not sure why that decision was made, it certainly didn't help the show keep consistency among its fans. Still, my guess is fans found "Friday Night Lights" just fine-even if the show didn't air for the majority of viewers during football season-a natural fit.

How this touching drama didn't air during the colder months surrounding football season is beyond me. A Thursday night showcase would have been as natural as football season itself. Yet, here we are in the summer months preceeding a football season watching the show come to a close. Perhaps critics will say the show had run its official course. Kids have to grow up and graduate-that's inevitable. "Glee" is facing those same hurdles as we speak. But as fans of FNL many of us fell in love with the Coach Eric Taylor and Tami relationship. The series ended on Friday with the two moving to Philadelphia. Their daughter got engaged to former quarterback Matt. The Riggins brothers were getting along. The Panthers won the state title-with one hitch. We didn't get to see the catch in the end zone from the hail mary pass. In fact, with just 3 ticks left Vince tossed up a ball and the show cut to the next clip of Coach Taylor working out his new team in Philly. They were down 26-21 before Vince tossed up that miracle pass. The tease of the win or lose scenario only unfolded when a state title ring appeared on the hands of Vince at the new combined county team practice.

Still, despite the ending that didn't reveal the glory of winning the state title and the aftermath-the show really finished quite brilliantly. The finale, much like the rest of the series, was a touching piece of art not often seen in todays television landscape. NBC definitely seemed to pull the plug way too early on a show that is deserving of several emmy nominations. The writing sometimes got outlandish(like when the football player and girl killed a guy). But overall, it was always a strong plot and provided many compelling moments to bring fans back. It captivated football fans just as much as it did non-football fans. In fact, I would say it was a drama first and then a football show second. For that, I applaud the writers.

In the end, it was about real true life stories with an incredible cast of likable characters. From the car salesman booster Buddy to the lovable loser Riggins-"Friday Night Lights" provided characters that somehow pulled you in like a giant Texas magnet. It was magical and I think many fans will be sad to see it go. For once, a television show ended way before it should have. "Lost" could have ended 2 seasons earlier and fans probably wouldn't have missed it. That show ran its course and then some-not taking anything away from the fact that it was a guilty pleasure for many people including me. I found myself growing tired of the over-extended plot and the completely confusing characters who didn't grow or transform but were altered for the sake of an odd ending.

With "Friday Night Lights", we actually witnessed nearly real characters growing up, making changes and adjusting in real life fashion. It was almost so scary and so real that fans had not other choice than to buckle up and go along for the ride. In the end, it wasn't just one of our favorite shows on TV-it was the best show on a weekly basis. When there is so much junk thrown our way these days, "Friday Night Lights" offered a perfect glimpse of family life surrounding those with high school kids, friends or neighbors. It was American life at its best and sometimes worst. While rumors of a future FNL movie could be false or true-one thing is for sure-the "Friday Night Lights" finale came about 3 seasons to soon. NBC probably won't suffer any backlash from that. Fans will probably just struggle to find something to take its place. But like many other fans who are coming to grips with this fact, there probably won't be many more shows like "Friday Night Lights" in the future. It was one of a kind and I am horribly sad to see something that is so true to life come to an end. I kind of feel like I've moved 800 miles to college-except the big hitch is that I can't call the Taylors anymore. And that's going to take a lot of getting used to.