Friday Night Lights
Spoilers

The fourth season of Friday Night Lights will feature a number of new characters, as viewers were introduced to Vince Howard on this week's premiere.

But fan favorites such as Saracen and Riggins are still around. What will they be up to this season? Producer Jason Katims spoke on these characters and more in a new interview with E! News...

On the future of Riggins: One of the things we've always talked about for Tim is he might be a guy who winds up in Dillon for life, but not necessarily in a sad way or tragic way. That's one of the notions that I've always liked, was the idea that maybe at the end of the show he might be one of the few people who end up in Dillon, but not in the way that "He never got out of the small town," but more in a way that "He loves that town and wants to embrace it."

On the return of Lyla: She comes back for at least two episodes this year, so far, visiting from college... she and Tim sort of rekindle their relationship and try to figure out what to do about that... they maybe realize it's not so easy to move on.

On Buddy's dilemma: Buddy certainly starts out a Panther - but things happen along the way that make him question his allegiance to the Panthers. Are they still the Panthers at all? And he also has a deep friendship and bond with Coach Taylor, so his journey this season is about which side is he on.

On Saracen's decision to remain in Dillon: That's very much a story this season, not only about his grandmother but his relationship with Julie. It's a story about somebody who has made a lot of choices about making those around him happy and then what comes into question for him is what is right for him?

We're just a little over a week away from the season four premiere of Friday Night Lights on DIRECTV.

Considering the way season three ended - Coach Taylor fired by Dillon?!? Tyra and Riggins off to college?!? - fans have many questions as we head into a new set of episodes.

Producer Jason Katims provides a few answers in a new Entertainment Weekly features. Excerpts from it follow...

A community divided: "The whole idea of this season is about this town being divided in two because of this new team,” says Katims. “And over the course of the season, the lines are literally drawn between these two teams. At times it’s funny but it eventually gets really ugly.”

A New Eric Taylor: “He’s got to figure out how to make something out of nothing,” says Katims. “It’s tougher than he can even imagine because with all the obstacles he’s had in the past, it came with a group of football players who all wanted to please this guy. When he walked into a room, they took a knee. These guys don’t... It becomes less about winning a championship [than] winning a game.”

A New, Questionable Character: “[Vince is] trying to toe that line of becoming a rising star and at the same time doing whatever he needs to do to support his family while his father’s in prison,” says Katims. “And sometimes that puts him in [the position of] doing very questionable things.”

What About Luke? “He’s a charming, outspoken, upbeat guy who’s been put into a very difficult situation,” says Katims: “He immediately has conflicts with Vince on the team, and these two guys are like oil and water.”

On October 28, Friday Night Lights kicks off on NBC.

The show has released a few stills from the episode, each of which reveals something about the drama and where certain characters are at when it returns...

• East Dillon's main color appears to be red.
• Riggins is less than enthralled about life in college.
• Matt is still with Julie.

Check out a few promos for the series and click on the photos below to enlarge each one...

When Friday Night Lights returns on October 28, viewers will meet a slew of new character, led by Michael Jordan's Vince.

But what about the old favorites fans have grown attached to? Producer Jason Katims spoke to E! News about a couple of big returns; and one possibly troubled marriage:

On the return of Tim Riggins: One of the things we've always talked about for Tim is he might be a guy who winds up in Dillon for life but not necessarily in a sad way or tragic way. That's one of the notions that I've always liked, was the idea that maybe at the end of the show he might be one of the few people who end up in Dillon, but not in the way that "He never got out of the small town," but more in a way that "He loves that town and wants to embrace it." That's partly the direction we're going in.

On the return of Lyla: She comes back for at least two episodes this year, so far, visiting from college. We will watch as she and Tim sort of rekindle their relationship and try to figure out what to do about that. The two of them have, in one way, really moved on, but once they see each other, they maybe realize it's not so easy to move on.

On the East Dillon Lions: We will absolutely see them play football, they might not play quite as well as the Panthers, but we will see them play. We will follow their season; that will be the show this year.

On Tami and Eric: The [town] split definitely creates some tense moments between them. The thing that I love so much about Coach and Tami, as they've been realized by Kyle and Connie, is what a beautiful relationship they have and how well they overcome obstacles. What's fun for us as writers is try to throw as many things at them to watch them emerge with their marriage intact.

We try to find new things to throw at them. We knew Coach was moving to this new school, so we decided to keep Tami at West Dillon and to have that be a story point throughout the season for these two people who are in these two very different worlds now and at certain times those worlds very directly collide.

Check out the first pair of Friday Night Lights season four promos NOW!

When Friday Night Lights returns for a fourth season, Tyra will be in college.

While actress Adrianne Palicki might make a mid-season return, she'll have her hands full with Supernatural events in the meantime.

But, don't worry Landry fans, your man won't just sit around and pine for her. The character will be involved in a love triangle when the series kicks off on DirecTV on October 28.

According to TV Guide Magazine, Landry will fight over the same girl with African-American teammate Vince (played by Michael B. Jordan). The female in question? Jess (Jurnee Smollett), who works with her dad at a local hangout.

“It’s good to see mixed couples on TV,” Jesse Plemons said. “The last girl I dated [in real life] was mixed race. Texas has come a long way, but there’s still racism.”

While NBC viewers will need to wait until the summer of 2010 to watch season four of Friday Night Lights, DirecTV subscribers will be privy to new episodes starting on October 28.

For the second year in a row, that network's channel 101 will show new episodes of the acclaimed drama, commercial-free, on Wednesday nights.

Following the events of the third season finale, during which coach Eric Taylor took a job at East Dillon high school, fans will meet new members of his school and his team.

“This season opener is practically a pilot in itself. It puts Coach Taylor at the center of the action in a new school, with a new team, and many new challenges,” said executive producer Jason Katims. “In addition to the returning cast, we are introducing a host of new characters who will become integral to the fourth and fifth season of the show.”

Get to know a few of these characters below...

• Vince (Michael B. Jordan): Great speed, undisciplined skills and unpredictable temper.
• Luke (Matt Lauria): Running back, former Dillon Panter, now a member of the Easy Dillon Lions due to new redistricting lines.
• Jess (Jurnee Smollett): Daughter of a former NFL hopeful.
• Becky (Madison Burge): Fifteen-year-old beauty queen, very popular at school.

With the return of Friday Night Lights right around the corner, discussion has centered on how the critically acclaimed NBC and DirecTV series will wrap up the story lines of all the kids who graduated from Dillon High School and are now going to college.

Not even the actors know the answer to that.

Jesse Plemons (Landry Clarke) revealed that the cast isn't even shooting the new season until the beginning of September. Until then, all we can do is speculate.

"They kind of left everything up in the air," said Plemons. "I think Tyra's not going to be there the first season, but she might be there the second (of the two remaining)."

He joked, "Maybe we'll be texting back and forth, or I'll get an email from Tyra."

What does the future hold for Julie, Matt and Landry?

As for the show's storybook romance, Aimee Teegarden has high hopes for Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) and her character, Julie in Season 4 of Friday Night Lights:

"I do [want to see them together]. There's something special and sweet about Julie and Matt's relationship that it has to stay together, or else I feel like we'll have a lot of upset fans."

"Hopefully Matt breaks up with Julie though, so fans can't blame me."

Are Matt and Julie's romantic days over, or at least numbered, on Friday Night Lights?

Not according to cast member Aimee Teegarden, who said that even Zach Gilford’s reduced role on Friday Night Lights this season can keep Matt and Julie apart.

“It’s all about Matt and Julie,” she professed, “it’s forever-after love.”

Swoon. Check out EW's interview with the talented teen post-jump ...

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As one of the few original cast members set to star on the fourth season of Friday Night Lights full time, what's next for Taylor Kitsch's Tim Riggins on the show?

When E! suggested Riggins become an assistant coach for East Dillon's new rag tag football team, Friday Night Lights star Connie Britton replied enthusiastically:

"That's not a bad idea. They tried to do that with Scott Porter's character (Jason Street, in Season Two) so it would be funny if it was Tim Riggins doing it this time."

We also saw Riggins do some impromptu coaching during his short-lived suspension from the team (below), so maybe it's more of a natural fit than we might think.

What do you think? Should #33 help coach the team? On another Riggins note, rumor has it he does not stay faithful to Lyla while she's away at college. Shocked?

While no guest stars for Friday Night Lights' upcoming fourth season have been set yet, Connie Britton admitted she's already campaigning for a visit by her friend Ron Perlman, whom fans of FX's Sons of Anarchy know needs no introduction.

"It would be so fun if he came in and was some awful coach, a really hardass coach," Connie said in an interview with E!. "Of course, Ron is busy doing Sons of Anarchy."

Connie also said she would love to show up on Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims' new NBC show Parenthood, but scheduling conflicts won't allow it.

Similarly, the outstanding actress who plays Tami Taylor said. "At some point they were talking to me about doing some stuff on Californication, which I would really love. It couldn't work out, scheduling-wise, but if it ever did, it would be fun."