Thank God It's Friday Night Lights

So now Friday Night Lights is a few episodes into its second season. It's quite depressing that there was ever really any question of the show not returning, even though it was the most critically-acclaimed new show of last season.

The world would probably be a better place if television could just do away with the ratings system, and instead they'd have to rate each show on its real merits rather than on how many people tune in ... just think about it. Joss Whedon's Firefly would be now entering its sixth season, and we wouldn't have had to suffer Joey for more than a couple of episodes before it was cancelled on suspicion of extreme crappiness.

Friday Night Lights centers on a high school football team in a small town in Texas, but it's about football only in the same way that Aaron Sorkin's Sports Night was about sports. The football team is just a backdrop for well-written stories about believable characters, and above all it's refreshing to see a show set in an american high school which not only avoids but actively rebels against the usual clichés. In the first season the stories incorporated everything from conservative racism to the flooding in New Orleans.

The one major aspect of life in red-state Texas which seemed to be curiously absent was religion, but this is something which has now been introduced in the second season. There have also been some eyebrows raised over a new somewhat melodramatic plot-thread which isn't really in keeping with the shows realistic, everyday tone. They might have a point, but I doubt it will detract too much from the show as a whole. It's just too damn good.