Netflix Movie Monday

It's always my mission to find a TV show that both I and Mary likes.  That way, I can watch it with her, rather than stay up for an extra hour or two to watch it on my own and go into chronic sleep deprivation mode.  I've been wanting to start Friday Night Lights for a while and finally got around to it last week.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but I was actually sucked into it pretty quickly (and Mary liked it as well, to boot).  I feel like I'm sitting back watching high school drama, but hey, it's rated at 8.3 on imdb, so it can't be too bad.

The show centers around the Dillon High School football team in Texas.  You'll quickly learn that in Texas, football isn't just a sport but a major religion, with most of the townspeople being fundamentalists.  Coach Taylor is the new coach in town and quickly feels the pressure as he is expected to do nothing less than compete for a state championship.  He does his best to fulfill his role as coach without selling his soul and sticking to his morals.

The athletes on the team see their role as football players as being their main focus and destiny in life.  But like all high schoolers, they struggle with many issues, such as: performance enhancing drugs, "regular" drugs, bullying, trying to fit in, economical issues, etc, etc.

I'm surprised I like it so much because I only like a few of the characters.  I'm also surprised the show did so poorly with ratings, despite performing really well with critics and winning a lot of awards. But I've enjoyed most of the first season so far and look forward to finishing it.