I’ve been using some of my newfound free time to do a rewatch of the “Friday Night Lights” television series.
I often cite FNL among my favorite TV shows ever, right up there with “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” “The Office” and “Succession.”
But the truth is that I’ve really only watched it all the way through once.
The series, which ran for five seasons between 2006 and 2011, is based on a fictional high school football team in Texas. It centers around Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his wife Tami (Connie Britton). Their talent anchors what grows into a wonderful ensemble cast over the years.
Michael B. Jordan was on the show. So was Jesse Plemons. Taylor Kitsch used the show as a platform to become Hollywood’s next big thing (until he wasn’t) and Zach Gilford may have put on the best performance of all as an unsure and shifty backup thrust into becoming “QB1.”
Adrianne Palicki, Aimee Teegarden and Minka Kelly, meanwhile, all aced fully formed roles for teenaged females … something that didn’t always exist in popular media then. (Can you say Superbad?)
Looking back, it’s amazing the show gave us 75 great episodes when you consider …
The big writer’s strike of 2007, which more or less torpedoed season two and stuck it with one cringy storyline that didn’t match the tone or tenor of the other four seasons.
A weird multi-network existence in which it lived exclusively on NBC its first two seasons and would’ve headed into cancellation had DirecTV not stepped up and saved the day for the show’s loyal fans.
It had to make a risky mid-series shift to a new crop of high schoolers after the first class graduated while also keeping the original actors involved. And they pretty much nailed it.
I’m happy to report the show still holds up, even 15 years after the final episode.
The through line for any of my favorite television series is obvious to me. I always get sucked into the world and believe they’re real to a certain degree. The best shows are the ones with characters who don’t freeze when one season ends, but the ones who keep living in a fourth dimension until the next one starts. The best showrunners are the ones who write and manage characters so that you feel like you’re dropping in on lives that were being lived before and after you spent time with them.
Fifteen years later and I still really enjoy sitting down to spend time with Coach and Mrs. Coach. Clear eyes, full hearts can never lose.
Where am I going with all of this?
My binge re-watch of Friday Night Lights has reminded me of the Sopranos rewatch I did a few years back. I told my friend Pat why I liked spending time with the crew from New Jersey for the fourth or fifth time rather than try out any of the endless new-to-me content on our countless streaming services.
“After a long day, I don’t want to have to make another choice,” I told him. “I just want to visit with some characters I know and like.”
“Be careful,” he cracked. “That’s why my parents watch ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ every night. It’s their comfort food.”
Am I getting older and becoming more like our parents? Yes.
Do I feel bad about it? Not really.
The truth is that comfort should play a big role in anything you set out to build.
Comfort is not an attribute that ever gets brought up as a core driver of value, yet it’s the desired end result of almost any value prop.
Let’s think about why people want to interact with you or your publication.
You provide information → They’re comforted with knowledge.
You fix a problem → They’re comforted with the solution.
You make great content → They’re comforted with quality.
You build a community → They’re comforted with a feeling of solidarity and companionship.
You earn their trust → They’re comforted with the sense of being heard.
And when you do all of these again and again? They’re comforted by your consistency.
The counterargument to all of this is that some of the best art is based on making you feel uncomfortable.
When you watch The Sopranos, you can find yourself rooting for a murderer.
When you watch The Wire, you’re watching a capitalistic society fail its weakest members again and again.
To that, I’d say that David Chase and David Simon respected their audiences by bringing up these hard discussions. And that respect itself turned into a source of comfort.
I don’t think Jason Katims ever reached Chase or Simon-level heights with Friday Night Lights. It definitely doesn’t reach that level of brilliance.
But it’s the way FNL’s characters approach their everyday relationships and problems that makes for a nice place for me to spend some time every few years.
As a wise stranger in another well-formed universe once said …
“I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.”
The Dude Abides
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Notes 🙌
• If you want to start a FNL re-watch, it’s currently on Amazon Prime. I lasted about seven episodes before begrudgingly ponying up $2.99 a month to watch it without ads. I just got an email this morning saying it’s going up to $4.99 a month. Turns out all those rocket joyrides for Katy Perry and “I rented out all of Venice for my wedding” aren’t going to pay for themselves.
• I went super viral on Twitter this week, which was unexpected and really got me thinking about why it went viral. Maybe a topic for a future newsletter?
Things I’m Currently Enjoying 🥇
• The Big Ten tournament and all of March Madness. Let’s go Badgers.
• My fantasy baseball keeper league, especially since Aaron Judge is on my team.
Have a great weekend everyone!
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