History Series / FridayNightLights

* ICouldaBeenAContender: Jason Street, in the accident that starts off the series.

In 1988, the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas had a football season. And it was good. Then a guy wrote [[FridayNightLights a book about it]] in 1990, and everyone could read about how it was good. Then in 2004, TheFilmOfTheBook BasedOnATrueStory, ''Film/FridayNightLights'', was brought to us by PeterBerg. And we could all ''see'' that it was good.

* TheWoobie: Matt Saracen. Also Jason Street and to a lesser extent J.D. in Season 3.

* OverprotectiveDad: If your QB1 had designs on your daughter, you'd probably be a bit wary, too.

* Jerkass: Joe [=McCoy=]. So much. His son JD doesn't start out this way, but becomes one in Season 4.

* NamesTheSame: The team's called the Panthers and the school colors are blue and gold, just like ''{{Degrassi}}''.

* OverprotectiveDad
* PortmanteauCoupleName: ''In-show'': "The Waverlash."
* PracticalVoiceover: As in the movie, a guy called Slammin' Sammy has a radio show that exposits 24/7 about the prospects of the Panthers on "Panther Radio," ideal for listening to in those tense driving-your-car scenes.

The series has completed airing four seasons on network television so far, and its fifth and final season has completed airing on [=~DirecTV~=]. Starting with the third season, it was subject to an unusual licensing agreement where each season would be exclusive to [=~DirecTV~=] for the fall, and then aired on NBC the following spring.

The series has completed airing four seasons so far, and has finished filming its fifth and final season. Starting with the third season, it was subject to an unusual licensing agreement where each season would be exclusive to DirecTV for the fall, and then was aired on NBC the following spring.

* AwardSnub: ''Finally'' averted with long-overdue Emmy nominations in 2010 for Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler.

* CrowningMomentofAwesome: Tami bitch-slapping a bratty Julie in season 2
** Coach chasing Julie's lecherous TA off his property

* DorkAge: The second season put Landry and Tyra into their own, completely isolated plotline for the first ten episodes that is studiously ignored by the writers at all other times, ''even while the plot was ongoing''.

* SophomoreSlump: The Tyra/Landry murder plot, Julie becomes a brat, Matt boinks his grandma's caregiver, etc. This has led to some DisContinuity and perhaps some CanonDisContinuity in the third season, as the show itself seems to be ignoring a lot of these things ever happening.
** Seriously, two of the main characters murdered someone and confessed to it, but after season two it's never mentioned again.

* TooGoodToLast: A notable [[AvertedTrope aversion]]; despite being near cancellation about four million times, strong viewer and network support -- ''[[NetworkToTheRescue network support!!]]'' -- kept it going for a respectable five years.

* TheWoobie: Matt Saracen

* Jerkass: Joe McCoy. So much. His son JD doesn't start out this way, but becomes one in Season 4.

** JD McCoy hasn't been mentioned at all in season 5.

* BrotherChuck: Rather obviously, despite the inter-seasonal TimeSkip: Smash's girlfriend Waverly from season one; Santiago (Buddy Garrity's ward, sorta) from season two.

Santiago, Waverly, and JD McCoy seem to have vanished into thin air

** Except in Texas, where it's more serious than SeriousBusiness.

* ButICantBePregnant - Tami: And so Gracie Belle Taylor was born. Later sorta-{{GenderFlip}}ped with [[spoiler:Jason Street]], who likewise thought ''he'' was infertile.
* BrotherChuck - Rather obviously, despite the inter-seasonal TimeSkip: Smash's girlfriend Waverly from season one; Santiago (Buddy Garrity's ward, sorta) from season two.

*** In season five[[spoiler: it pretty much becomes BoringInvincibleHero; the Lions decide they want to go to State, and apparently nothing can slow them down.]]
* DownToTheLastPlay - With the twist that, since there's more than just one BigGame, sometimes they ''actually lose''.
* DawsonCasting - with the exceptions of Julie and Landry.
* DorkAge - The second season put Landry and Tyra into their own, completely isolated plotline for the first ten episodes that is studiously ignored by the writers at all other times, ''even while the plot was ongoing''.
* DyingTown - Dillon
* EstrogenBrigadeBait - Tim Riggins
* AFatherToHisMen - Non-military, but Coach Taylor qualifies easily, especially with the boys from broken families.
* GretzkyHasTheBall - Like anyone watching cares about the football, anyway.
* HappilyMarried - Eric and Tami. Yes, they have their fights (like most real couples), but it's obvious how much they truly love, care for, and support each other. In some ways, it's the centerpiece of the show.

* ICouldaBeenAContender - Jason Street, in the accident that starts off the series.
* JitterCam - And oops-gotta-refocus-cam.
* AManIsNotAVirgin - There were exactly three known virgins on the show; season two was quick to make sure the two boys didn't qualify anymore.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood - Coach Taylor calls Landry ''Lance'' more often then not

* NewOldFlame - Tami's high school ex-boyfriend, played by director Peter Berg. And so the jealous male bitchfest commenced.

* OedipusRex - Matt Saracen has his distant Dad stationed in Iraq. Tim Riggins's father left, leaving him in the care of his brother. Both come back to live with their kid for a few episodes, and neither ends well.
* OnlyBarelyRenewed - Twice. Fans have blamed the DorkAge on ExecutiveMeddling related to the show's poor ratings. The third season explored premium cable and syndication as a way to make the show profitable.
* OpposingSportsTeam - A nastily racist team is the Panthers' opponent at the end of a racism-based two-parter plot, who then attempt to sic cops on one of the Panthers' black players for a brawl ''they'd'' instigated. In a more typical and unintentionally hilarious example, the other finalist team in "State," having recruited the talented not-a-team-player Tatum, appear to offer Smash some kind of DealWithTheDevil to join them, or something.

* PracticalVoiceover - As in the movie, a guy called Slammin' Sammy has a radio show that exposits 24/7 about the prospects of the Panthers on "Panther Radio," ideal for listening to in those tense driving-your-car scenes.

* SeriousBusiness - TruthInTelevision: American football is ''serious business''.

* ShirtlessScene - In the second season, apparently having realized where their true demographic is, the frequency of these has ''exploded''. In particular, Panther-ama involves the team putting on effectively a surprise striptease dance for the school.

* TheirFirstTime - The first season episode "I Think We Should Have Sex" (talk about it) and the third season episode "It Ain't Easy Being J.D. [=McCoy=]" (actually did it).

* TroubledButCute - Tim Riggins
* UnderdogsNeverLose - Played straight, contrary to the movie. But between seasons two and three, it was apparently averted offscreen.
* UndisclosedFunds - First season: The lawsuit is seeking UndisclosedFunds; it gets a counteroffer of UndisclosedFunds; it's ultimately settled for UndisclosedFunds...

* VerySpecialEpisode - The Very Special Two-Parter "Blinders"/"Black Eyes & Broken Hearts" is triggered by an offhand racist remark by a coach involving an analogy to a "junkyard dog."

* TheWoobie - Matt Saracen
* WrittenInInfirmity - Landry's second-season leg injury that put a hold on his football-playing subplot; appropriately enough, Jesse Plemons had ''actually'' injured himself in a pick-up game of football.

In 1988, the Permian Panthers of Odessa, Texas had a football season. And it was good. Then a guy wrote [[Main/FridayNightLights a book about it]] in 1990, and everyone could read about how it was good. Then in 2004, Main/TheFilmOfTheBook BasedOnATrueStory, ''Film/FridayNightLights'', was brought to us by PeterBerg. And we could all ''see'' that it was good.

And in 2006, because the movie was far too short a window into what was good, Berg made ''Friday Night Lights'': [[Main/RecycledTheSeries The Series]]. Where the previous were merely Main/BasedOnATrueStory, the series has essentially all new characters with familiar problems in a fictional Texas town called Dillon, for maximum storytelling flexibility.

* Main/BigGame

* Main/DawsonCasting - with the exceptions of Julie and Landry.
* Main/DorkAge - The second season put Landry and Tyra into their own, completely isolated plotline for the first ten episodes that is studiously ignored by the writers at all other times, ''even while the plot was ongoing''.

* Main/EstrogenBrigadeBait - Tim Riggins

* Main/GretzkyHasTheBall - Like anyone watching cares about the football, anyway.

* Main/ICouldaBeenAContender - Jason Street, in the accident that starts off the series.

* Main/MiracleRally

* Main/OedipusRex - Matt Saracen has his distant Dad stationed in Iraq. Tim Riggins's father left, leaving him in the care of his brother. Both come back to live with their kid for a few episodes, and neither ends well.
* Main/OnlyBarelyRenewed - Twice. Fans have blamed the Main/DorkAge on Main/ExecutiveMeddling related to the show's poor ratings. The third season explored premium cable and syndication as a way to make the show profitable.
* Main/OpposingSportsTeam - A nastily racist team is the Panthers' opponent at the end of a racism-based two-parter plot, who then attempt to sic cops on one of the Panthers' black players for a brawl ''they'd'' instigated. In a more typical and unintentionally hilarious example, the other finalist team in "State," having recruited the talented not-a-team-player Tatum, appear to offer Smash some kind of Main/DealWithTheDevil to join them, or something.

* Main/PracticalVoiceover - As in the movie, a guy called Slammin' Sammy has a radio show that exposits 24/7 about the prospects of the Panthers on "Panther Radio," ideal for listening to in those tense driving-your-car scenes.
* Main/ProductPlacement: the Main/LocalHangout is an Applebee's, for starters. If you're charitable, it's both realistic and a subtle commentary on rural corporatization as well as a blatant money-maker.

* Main/PutMeInCoach

* Main/SophomoreSlump: The Tyra/Landry murder plot, Julie becomes a brat, Matt boinks his grandma's caregiver, etc. This has led to some Main/DisContinuity and perhaps some Main/CanonDisContinuity in the third season, as the show itself seems to be ignoring a lot of these things ever happening.

* Main/SeriousBusiness - Main/TruthInTelevision: American football is ''serious business''.

* Main/ShirtlessScene - In the second season, apparently having realized where their true demographic is, the frequency of these has ''exploded''. In particular, Panther-ama involves the team putting on effectively a surprise striptease dance for the school.
* Main/TeamSpirit
* Main/TheirFirstTime - The first season episode "I Think We Should Have Sex" (talk about it) and the third season episode "It Ain't Easy Being J.D. [=McCoy=]" (actually did it).

* Main/TroubledButCute - Tim Riggins

* Main/UndisclosedFunds - First season: The lawsuit is seeking UndisclosedFunds; it gets a counteroffer of UndisclosedFunds; it's ultimately settled for UndisclosedFunds...
* Main/UnnecessaryRoughness
* Main/VerySpecialEpisode - The Very Special Two-Parter "Blinders"/"Black Eyes & Broken Hearts" is triggered by an offhand racist remark by a coach involving an analogy to a "junkyard dog."

* TooGoodToLast: A notable [[AvertedTrope aversion]]; despite being near cancellation about four million times, strong viewer and network support -- ''network support!!'' -- kept it going for a respectable five years.

* AFatherToHisMen - Non-military, but Coach Taylor qualifies easily, especially with the boys from broken families.
* AManIsNotAVirgin - There were exactly three known virgins on the show; season two was quick to make sure the two boys didn't qualify anymore.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Uses a lot of the truly epic and beautiful Explosions in the Sky songs that were present in the movie.

* HeyItsThatGuy: This is where [[TheWire Wallace]] is at.

* TheCaseyEffect - With the twist that, since there's more than just one BigGame, sometimes they ''actually lose''.

The 13-episode third season began on October 1st, 2008 on {{DirecTV}} only; airing on {{NBC}} (and therefore [[http://www.hulu.com/friday-night-lights Hulu]]) started January 2009. As of March, [[http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/03/26/friday-night-lights-will-be-back-for-two-more-seasons/ two more seasons have been ordered.]]

*BoringFailureHero: The Lions stink. That out of the way, they are almost always guaranteed a loss on any given game, but the trick is spotting how much fight they give on any given game.