Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!
Let’s be honest, the lives of the students in Dillon, Texas in “Fright Night Lights” were filled with a lot of loss, a few wins and way too many teen scandals. But that’s what made Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) such an inspiration, modern-day hero and, for many, a first crush. He was always there to nonchalantly and oh-so unenthusiastically push the kids to do — and to be — better.
“Friday Night Lights” did not deliver huge ratings during it early-aughts run on NBC. In fact, despite its critical acclaim, it was on the brink of cancelation after Season 2 and was only saved due to a new co-production deal that pushed the original run of the show’s third through fifth seasons to DirecTV’s 101 network. (They were aired on NBC later.) The show developed a loyal following that did grow once it hit streaming. And, with Netflix’s announcement that it had once again acquired the series (to return to the service on Aug. 1), there is no doubt that there will be even more new fans cheering for the Dillon Panthers and eventually the East Dillon Lions.
Ahead of that reintroduction to the rural lives of Dillon’s upper crust (and in that we do count Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), who was a football god but lived in his girlfriend’s mom’s trailer), Variety is ranking the 10 episodes that made us fall in love with Dillon and all of its small town heroes.