Friday Night Lights

We know Friday Night Lights' ratings weren't stellar last week ... but is that cause for concern? TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, in his weekly mailbag, hints that the show may be destined for yet another new night and time. See below ...

Question: Should we be worried about Friday Night Lights' ratings drop-off?

Answer: Depends. If you like the show in its current Friday time slot, then yes, you should probably be worried. If you'd prefer it air, oh, say, Mondays at 10 pm after Heroes, then you should be thrilled. According to an informant, the Peacock recently sent out a reader survey and one of the questions was, "Would you be more likely to watch Friday Night Lights if it followed Heroes on Monday?"  

Friday Night Lights Insider Note: Don't tease us like this, Mike!

Follow the jump for a few more Friday Night Lights spoilers ...

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After an overblown season debut — in which Landry accidentally kills the stalker who tried to rape Tyra — it was time to restore peace to Dillon in episode two, writes New York Magazine. As peaceful as things can get, anyway.

Seeds are now in the ground for a season's worth of blowups, heartaches, and wounds that can only be mended by winning football games.

First of all, Landry and Tyra, in the afterglow of his heroism, got it on, a budding romance that, like all teenage romances, is surely doomed.

Given that this is Friday Night Lights, doom will take some crushing form, no doubt related to poor decisions, on the part of both the characters and the writers, to dispose of the body and cover up the death.

Meanwhile, Landry's pal Matt Saracen, the brooding backup-turned star QB, was just dumped unceremoniously by Coach Taylor's daughter, Julie.

Who didn't see this coming? How a cutie like her ever went for such a sad sack we'll never understand. Fortunately, a new love interest arrived on the scene for Matt Saracen in the person of the Latina caring for his grandma.

At least, we're pretty sure she's going to be his love interest because she's kind of hot (naturally) and has already busted his balls.

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Last week's ratings didn't bode well for Friday Night Lights. Here are a few notes on the ratings of FNL and other shows from the Orange County Register ...

The swap: The new "Women's Murder Club," starring former "Law & Order" stunner Angie Harmon, racked up huge numbers in its debut - huge for a Friday night, anyway. A rating of 6 is usually enough to win a Friday; "Women's Murder Club" pulled a 7.3. Meanwhile, the male-centered "Big Shots" gives away half of the female-heavy "Grey's Anatomy" audience at 10 p.m. Thursdays. How many weeks until "Women's" takes over for the men?

The flop: ABC promoted the heck out of "Cavemen" before the season, but to little use. The premiere hardly turned in startling ratings - and about 20 percent of the audience didn't bother to come back for week two. It's not as if the competition - "NCIS," "Bones" and "The Singing Bee" can't be beat; "Cavemen" just makes it look that way. Because ABC invested so much capital, "Cavemen" might get a little extra rope, but chances are the show will be extinct soon.

The sadness: Loyal-viewer anguish and critical support helped "Friday Night Lights" get a second season. NBC even did what so many hopefuls had asked: moved the show to Friday nights. This didn't help the ratings, which were about level with season one the first week and fell to "Women's Murder Club" in week two. It doesn't help the case for "Friday Night Lights" that its lead-in, "Deal or No Deal" wins at 8 p.m. while it runs third at 9.

Other notes: NBC had great hopes for "Bionic Woman," but it is settling into a disappointing third in its Wednesday slot, behind "Criminal Minds" and "Private Practice." Meanwhile, NBC's Monday night sci-fi lineup is slipping with "Heroes" way off from last season, and "Chuck" and "Journeyman" third in their slots.

At the forefront of Friday Night Lights since its 2006 debut is talented actor Scott Porter, whose nuanced portrayal of fallen quarterback Jason Street earned him overwhelming praise and adoration in Season One.

Women love him and men want to be him. The man can sing, beat box and dance professionally. And, oh yeah, he's also a huge comic book fan!

With the new season underway and all eyes on Friday Night Lights in its new Friday night time slot, Porter's is busy... but never too busy for comics!

"Our shoot schedule on Friday Night Lights is a lot more hectic then your regular program," Scott Porter told Marvel.Com. "We move at a pace that few other series can, simply because we have three handheld cameras, at least, for every shot. No rehearsals, no marks, a ton of improv. Most shows are allowed 8-10 days to shoot an episode, whereas we are given six."

"That being said, I try to get to my shop, Bee Cave Comics and Games here in Austin, every Wednesday. I pick up my books and head to Rudy's BBQ and eat and read. It's a great time to decompress. If I'm way too busy on a Wednesday, we always have weekends off, so I'll pick them up then."

You might be surprised to learn that on the set of Friday Night Lights, Scott Porter is far from the only comic book fan.

"Adrianne Palicki is a huge comic fan, her brother Eric writes cool online books. She played Kara on Smallville for one episode and is a huge Supergirl fan."

"I play a game called Heroclix and Zach Gilford (Scott's roommate and fellow Friday Night Lights star) and Minka Kelly both were pretty interested in it and they followed me to my local shop to see what it was all about."

"No one has jumped into reading, but I have gotten Adrianne Palicki to read more than just Supergirl. She's been digging Invincible... in fact I think she still has my 1st Hardcover Collection of it. I gotta get that back."

Continue reading this Scott Porter article at Marvel.com ...

Welcome to the Friday Night Lights Caption Contest, in which all you have to do is take a look at the picture below, think of the best caption, click on "comments" below and fill out our quick form. Your responses will go live immediately, and you can fill out as many as you like! We announce the winner each Monday.

It was a close race, with a half dozen quality replies (including some Bryan Adams lyrics straight out of 1991), but we chose SuperSaracen as this week's winner. This caption seems to sum up what Matt Saracen is truly thinking.

The winning reply appears beneath the photo below. Scroll down for the full list of captions we were sent this week, and good luck in this week's contest. Thanks for making Friday Night Lights Insider the #1 Friday Night Lights site online.

This week's Caption Contest image:

"Julie, I love you almost as much as a play-action fake that pulls the safety away from the slot receiver."

In this emotional and all-too realistic scene from the second episode of the second season of Friday Night Lights, "Bad Ideas." In a tearful conversation, Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) has his heart broken by Julie Taylor (Aimee Teegarden), who seems to be completely confused as to what she wants.

The Insider has compiled its episode guide to the second episode of the Friday Night Lights season, "Bad Ideas," for those of you who missed or want to relive the drama. It was vintage Friday Night Lights - terrific characters, believable story lines - even the one that we cast so much doubt on.

We've put together a photo gallery, as well as our exclusive forum thread, where fans can share their thoughts. We're working on a list of the memorable Friday Night Lights quotes from "Bad Ideas." Check back often for more updates!

Thanks for visiting and for making Friday Night Lights Insider the #1 Friday Night Lights website online. We appreciate your support!

A trio of Friday Night Lights stars - Minka Kelly, Adrianne Palicki (pictured) and Scott Porter - are among the host of young faces currently taking part in director George Miller's casting session for Justice League of America.

According to TV Guide, Miller has some 40 up-and-comers on his radar for the comic book-based film, which is looking to fill the roles of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter.

Others on yesterday and today's short list include Adam Brody (The OC), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Grindhouse), Michael Anganaro (Will & Grace), Teresa Palmer (Wolf Creek) and rapper Common.

Last week, Friday Night Lights returned with a vengeance - and a shocking plot twist - in the Season 2 premiere "Last Days of Summer." This week, it's on to a new episode, "Bad Ideas," in which the new season continues to take shape.

You can discuss it with fellow Friday Night Lights fans before and after the show in our FORUM. Share your thoughts on your favorite players, the relationships we love and the things we're not sure about just yet. Let your voice be heard!

After the show airs, Friday Night Lights Insider will post its official episode guide recapping the night's drama. We'll also compile a photo gallery, list of memorable quotes and more. As the #1 Friday Night Lights fan site online, we strive to make your viewing experience as enjoyable as possible!

Last week's second season premiere of Friday Night Lights offered a development so wildly off-pitch that it could conceivably cast a pall over the series for the rest of its run, according to an MSNBC column.

The plot twist, as anybody who watches Friday Night Lights knows by now, was the accidental beating death of a man who attempted to rape Tyra (Adrianne Palicki) last season, then resurfaced in the Season 2 opener.

After would-be suitor Landry (Jesse Plemons) killed the man, the freaked teens decided to dump the body in a river instead of notifying police.

For a series that constantly tried to make an end run around audience resistance by insisting that it was about its small-town Texas characters and not football, the killing added a level of sensationalism that wasn't helped by the fact that Tyra and Landry are both high school students.

Make no mistake about it: the first season of Friday Night Lights was about as perfect as any season can possibly be. The pilot laid it out fairly clearly.

When star Jason Street (Scott Porter) was injured and the confidence-lacking second-stringer Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) was sent into action in his place, it could have simply been another example of the underdog that nobody ever saw coming winning the big game in front of the entire town of Dillon.

But the fact that that all happened in the show's first very episode subverted the clichés through the recognition of one simple fact: victory over overwhelming odds was the beginning of the story, not the end of it.

The rest of the season chronicled the fallout from every angle. Rookie coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler), already feeling pressure from the football-crazy town to deliver a state championship, found the season much more difficult with an untested quarterback anchoring the squad.

Matt Saracen had to deal with sudden celebrity he wasn't prepared to assume and expectations that he wasn't sure he could meet.

Street, meanwhile, had to adjust to his new life in a wheelchair, which had ripple effects in the lives of his girlfriend, ever-optimistic cheerleader Lyla Garrity (Minka Kelly), and his best friend, monosyllabic fullback Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), who ended up in each others' arms.

And so on, and so forth, as the reverberations from the events of the pilot echoed through the lives of the people of Dillon. The show explored racism, steroids, mental illness, team loyalty and first love with intelligence and heart.

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