Hello. My name is Dave. I'm addicted. Hopelessly addicted.
Hello, Dave.
No, seriously. I'm a junkie. I've got it bad for Friday Night Lights, man. Really bad. Last year around this time, I got a terrible case of the flu. I missed a couple days of work. It was ugly. Sweatpants. Couch. No shower. You get the picture. Bored, with not much else to do, I started watching Friday Night Lights on Hulu.com. And I couldn't stop. And then, shortly after I'd finished watching the last episode of season two, I caught wind that the show's future was hanging in the balance. NBC was giving it the hook. That was the word.
I was severely bummed. But then I read about some unorthodox deal that had been brokered between DirectTV and NBC, where the satellite service would air the new episodes and The Peacock would rebroadcast them at some point later. I was stoked. And since then, I've recorded every single episode.
Worse, I refuse to delete them afterward. Does that make me shallow? Probably. But SFW. It's a great show.
Frankly, I'm surprised to find myself admitting to being such an unabashed fan. I dug the movie and blanched at the prospect of it being adapted for television. When anything gets adapted, the subsequent vehicle is usually inferior. So I avoided the show like a call from a bill collector when it debuted. But now that I've finally caved, I can say, for the most part, that's not the case here. Granted, I've frequently had to suspend disbelief for some
story lines to seem palatable (I'd provide you with specific examples, but
I don't want to
spoil it for you if you haven't seen the new episodes). Even so, I have to say I was hooked from the first time I heard the theme music.
And the music has continued to be pretty choice throughout. I'm consistently surprised and impressed. The promos that preceded the premier this past summer, for instance, featured Bright Eyes' take of "Devil Town" by Daniel Johnston. He does it justice. And this past week's episode featured a song I hadn't heard before but one that I cannot stop listening to now: "Revival" by Soulsavers. A mournful dirge, the song sounds like heartbreak personified to me, and it bolstered the emotional tension of this week's show superbly. Not to mention, the video (posted below) is simply stellar.
Look, I know my obsession is mindless. I should probably be reading a book or something. It's junk food for the eyes. Nonetheless, sometimes the music makes it seem less so. Now if only the soundtrack supervisor could be convinced to start playing some music from the Mile High City... I'd love to hear that. What do you say, Liza Richardson? Denver's a pretty big football town in case you haven't heard. (Here's to hoping she have a Google alert set up, eh?) -- Dave Herrera
