Saturday, October 31, 2009
By TODD MARTENS
HOLLYWOOD — When the third season of “Friday Night Lights” wrapped in late 2008, star Kyle Chandler was under the belief that he would be hanging up his coaching cleats for good.
The series, which touches on political, social and familial issues in a football-obsessed but beleaguered town, has a small but dedicated audience. Last year, it also became somewhat of a network experiment.
Now a partnership between DirecTV and NBC, “Friday Night Lights” had been trimmed last season from a full 22-episode run to one that capped at 13 episodes. Chandler was convinced that number would become zero.
“It was fatigue,” Chandler says, explaining the reason for the negativity. “The first year, we were up against ‘American Idol.’ The second year was the writers’ strike. The third year, we get cut down to 13 episodes. I just assumed that while we had a solid base, the numbers wouldn’t go out the roof. ... I just didn’t expect that we would overcome a network’s desire for something fresh.”
As “Friday Night Lights” kicked off its fourth season Wednesday night on DirecTV’s 101 Network, Chandler is experiencing something he’s never had on the show before: stability. NBC and DirecTV renewed their partnership for a two-season run of 13 episodes apiece.
Yet a sense of uncertainty surrounds practically everything else in the world of “Friday Night Lights.” Set in the fictional Texas town of Dillon, Season 4 serves as a major restructuring.
A plot line involving a town redistricting has provided an opportunity to introduce a host of new characters, as well as disrupt the heart of the show.
Chandler’s Eric Taylor, fired as the coach of the Dillon Panthers, is now heading the East Dillon Tigers, a team representing a school made up of kids from the wrong (read: poorer, more ethnically diverse) side of town.
His wife, Connie Britton’s Tami, remains principal of Dillon High and its glorious, well-funded football program.
“It’s a little bit of a Horatio Alger story. He’s going from rags to riches, at least, he hopefully is,” Chandler says.
Chandler says he called the writers and thanked them after reading Season 3’s finale.
“If it were to come back, there was a whole new show,” he says. “If the show didn’t come back, they ended it really nicely. I don’t want to say it’s more fun to play, but it’s more fun playing this guy now than still playing the other guy.”
The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.