Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Friday Night Lights wins a Peabody

Regular readers will be familiar with my passion for Friday Night Lights, an American TV drama series set in a small Texas town. It was developed by writer, director and actor Peter Berg, who did much the same when FNL was adapted from a non-fiction book into an acclaimed film starring Billy Bob Thornton a few years back. Critics have been raving about the FNL TV series all season across the Atlantic, but its ratings still haven't been good enough to guarantee it a second season. Perhaps today's news will help: FNL has been awarded a Peabody, a prestigious commendation given by independent board to a range of electronic media.

The exact wording of the citation for Friday Night Lights is: No dramatic series, broadcast or cable, is more grounded in contemporary American reality than this clear eyed serial about the hopes, dreams, livelihoods and egos intertwined with the fate of high-school football in a Texas town. Couldn't agree more. Shame on ITV for burying this great show on one of its digital spin-off channels. Fingers crossed FNL gets a second seaon - and a swift DVD boxed set release for its first run of 22 episodes.

No comments: