Got DirecTV? If so, you’ll see the third-season premiere of “Friday Night Lights” on Oct. 1.
If not, you’ll have to wait until February.
Nobody seems to know how this strange new arrangement will work for “FNL.”
On the brink of being canceled because of low ratings, the Austin, Texas-based show was saved in spring when satellite company DirecTV stepped up to the plate to help finance the new season in exchange for an exclusive first-run in the fall.
Executive producer Jason Katims told TV critics recently that the 13 new episodes may be slightly different from the ones that will air on NBC.
Without some of the content restrictions of broadcast TV, the stories may have racier content and dialogue, and they could run longer.
Presumably NBC would then have to whittle and edit them for the February premiere.
“FNL” begins shooting in Austin on Aug. 6.
Zach Gilford (Matt) and Jesse Plemons (Landry) insist they’re not worried about shooting Panther football scenes in 100-degree heat. They say they’re looking forward to getting back to Austin.
Kyle Chandler, who stars as Coach Taylor, provided a few plot teases:
“I’ll continue to have marital problems and problems with my teenage daughter,” Chandler said, prompting Connie Britton, who plays his wife, to roll her eyes and mutter, “Yeah, that’s for sure.”
(These two may have the most genuine chemistry of any married couple in TV history.)
Plemons said he hopes Landry doesn’t commit any more murders but joked that maybe he and Tyra (Adrianne Palicki) should “start robbing stuff.”
And Minka Kelly, who plays Lyla, says her character’s born-again Christian phase is over, and she and Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) will be “out” as boyfriend-girlfriend.
You’d think all the series’ ups and downs would be devastating to the morale of this close-knit group, but they just keep plugging along.
“Maybe it’s the advantage of shooting in Austin,” said Britton, “because once we’re there and filming, we don’t pay attention to what’s going on.
“We’re just down there in our little Texas heaven and not worried about the future.”
Diane Holloway writes for the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman.
