Friday Night Lights

As NBC rolls out season four of Friday Night Lights, we have major, exciting casting news on what will likely be the final season of this incredible drama.

Despite their characters having exited Dillon for various reasons over the last year or two, the following actors will make appearances on season five of the show, which is currently filming in Austin:

• Scott Porter will reprise the role of Jason Street on episode seven.
• Adrianne Palicki will return as Tyra for the final two installments.
• As Riggins, Taylor Kitsch will make the ladies swoon for four episodes.
• Zach Gilford (pictured), who is receiving Emmy buzz for his performance on "The Son," will appear for a multi-episode arc as everyone's favorite former quarterback.

Michael Ausiello of Entertainment Weekly talked with Gilford this week about his Emmy attention, FNL return and more. Excerpts from the interview are below:

On Emmy consideration: It’s nice to draw this kind of attention to the show. We’ve got a lot of street cred, but we’ve never really gotten the industry recognition. It’s nice that people are so excited and determined to get us [some Emmy love].

On shooting The Son: In my opinion, it’s the best script we’ve ever had... We have a lot of freedom to improv on our show and stray from the dialogue. We’re given the story and then we come up with the words. But with this one, we stuck pretty close to the script. It helped a lot to not have to be worrying about, 'How can I adjust the dialogue to make it seem more real or less cheesy.'

Why will Matt return to the show? I think it’s his relationship with Julie. They don’t tell us anything. I just found out last week that I was coming back for sure.

Will season five be the final season? To my knowledge, it’s pretty much done and they’re writing an ending to the show. I know a lot of people were not satisfied with the Lost finale - I personally loved it - but I think it’s nice when they can write towards a [series finale]. If you have a finite amount of episodes then you can come up with a satisfying ending.

Buddy Garrity's son will look and act very differently when season five of Friday Night Lights premieres.

The role will be filled by newcomer Jeff Rosick, whose version of the character will be a lot more troubled than the Buddy Jr. viewers last saw in Dillon.

He's been away for two years in California and has developed quite the attitude there. When the fifth season of this drama returns to DirecTV in the fall, we'll see Buddy Jr. back in Dillon - and very unhappy about that fact.

This is Rosick's first TV gig. He'll play a role in the upcoming movie about the rise of Facebook, The Social Network.

Friday Night Lights, meanwhile, premieres season four on NBC this Friday.

Emily Rios is the latest actress/actor to come aboard Friday Night Lights.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Lynn Blackburn would play Tami's new friend and co-worker on season five of the show. Before that, Grey Damon was revealed to be the next stud wide received for the Lions.

Now, say hello to Rios. She played the character of Maria on Men of a Certain Age this year, and appeared on a 2008 episode of House. She'll star on FNL for at least six episodes as Epyck, a rebellious, goth student.

The fifth season of the incredible drama begins production this month. Season four, after finishing its run on DIRECTV, premieres on NBC on May 7.

Lynn Blackburn has landed her first television role, and it's a biggie.

The actress will play a character named Laurel on season five of Friday Night Lights. According to Entertainment Weekly, she'll be an intelligent, tough teacher at East Dillon who befriends [FNL spoiler alert!] the school’s newest hire, Tami.

Earlier this week, Grey Damon was cast as the Lions’ new wide receiver.

Production on the show's fifth and final season is now taking place in Austin.

Might Friday Night Lights have found its next Tim Riggins?

Following the departures of series regulars Zach Gilford, Taylor Kitsch and Jesse Plemmons, the drama has added Grey Damon to its fifth season cast.

The actor - who has appeared on episodes of 90210 and Greek - will portray Hastings Ruckle, an East Dillon basketball player who joins the Lions as a wide receiver.

In casting for the role, producers sought a “super, super hot guy who must be over 6 feet tall with a strong athletic build," as the characters possesses a “dark, hippie, party-guy vibe. Look for Hastings to be one of the more popular kids at school.

Friday Night Lights debuts its fourth season on NBC on May 7.

When Friday Night Lights returns for its fifth (and almost definitely final) season, Jesse Plemons won't be a full-time cast member.

The character of Landry (SPOILER ALERT!) left for college on the season four finale (which recently aired on DirecTV) and executive producer Jason Katims says the actor's contract option wasn't picked up.

“With Jesse - as with previous cast members who have moved on - Pete Berg, myself and the producers of the show let the storytelling guide us,” Katims said, “and we feel we didn’t have substantial enough storylines to justify keeping such an immensely talented actor from pursuing what we know will continue to be a very successful career.

Plemons might appear as a guest star before the series calls it quits, Katims added. The producer has nothing but good things to say about his young star:

“Jesse has created one of Friday Night Lights finest and most beloved characters, and I can tell you this was not an easy decision.”

Friday Night Lights debuts its fourth season on NBC on April 30. As the show goes on, Taylor Kitsch will also been seen less regularly on it.

He hasn't been placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list, but Taylor Kitsch's status for season five of Friday Night Lights is questionable.

The incredible drama - which is currently airing on DIRECT and will premiere on NBC this spring - will start working on its likely final season in March.

But that coincides with Kitsch's filming schedule on the movie John Carter of Mars. As a result, he says Kitsch “will miss part” of the season, producer Jason Katims told Michael Ausiello.

“[But] we are communicating with the [John Carter] production to work out the schedule so that Taylor can be in as much of season 5 as possible," he said.

There’s been no official announcement that the show will go off the air after its fifth season, but Katims added that “everybody is operating under that assumption.”

As for the current season, which we've been watching on DIRECTV, we won't give away any Friday Night Lights spoilers, except for this: it's tremendous.

The new season of Friday Night Lights continues to expand its cast.

The latest addition is former The Practice star Steve Harris, who Michael Ausiello reports has booked a recurring role on the NBC drama.

The two-time Emmy nominee will portray Vernon Merriweather, an ex-football star and the father of East Dillon student Jess.

Friday Night Lights returns to DIRECTV on October 28. It will air on NBC some time in the spring.

Football players are suddenly trading in their cleats for acting shoes.

First, Jerry Rice appeared on One Tree Hill this season. Then, it was confirmed that NFL Hall of Famer John Riggins has landed a recurring role on the same CW hit.

Now, we can report that Oakland Raiders Pro Bowl corner Nnamdi Asomugha will make a cameo in an upcoming episode of Friday Night Lights.

The star player will try to appeal to Vince, a troubled member of Eric Taylor's new team. The character is played by Michael B. Jordan and this great series returns to DIRECTV on Octobeer 28.