There’s trouble brewing in Dillon, Texas, and it’s not just caused by the literal split of the town. There are other splits coming, including a few of our favorite TV couples, who have some rocky roads ahead.
We sat down with Friday Night Lights’ Connie Britton prior to her Conversations session at the SAG Foundation, and she dished what’s in store for the citizens of Dillon in season four, which kicks off production on Sept. 2.
A rather glorious thing happened in March, when TV’s acclaimed if undersampled Friday Night Lights was renewed for not one but two more seasons. Although the series’ NBC return is a small eternity away (summer 2010) and its DirecTV premiere is still “TBD,” we tackled the opportunity to speak with Connie Britton about Tami’s “roller coaster” past, and apparently finite future.
TVGuide.com: I want you to know that my wife got hooked on Friday Night Lights this past season — and I think it’s largely due to the tactile and real performances given by you, Kyle Chandler, et al.
Connie Britton: Aw, that’s so awesome! That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what we need to do.
TVGuide.com: Hey, every head counts. What was your favorite thing about playing Tami last year?
Britton: For me, it felt like a roller coaster. The whole aspect of being principal was really interesting, because when I first heard about that, I was heady with power! I was like, “This is the be-all and end-all,” Kyle was jealous. … It was fantastic. And then they were like, “Yeah, but you’re going to have a huge head-to-head issue with Buddy, and ultimately you’ll lose.” [Laughs] I was like, “No fair!”
For the fans who worked really hard to keep Friday Night Lights on the air, don’t fret. The announcement of the series ending after two more seasons isn’t necessarily set in stone.
Although FNL star Connie Britton recently said the original two-season pickup would likely be the end of the show, she told us, “You never know—if it does do really, really well, maybe they would go on for more seasons.”
So what do the possible final seasons hold for the Taylors and the rest of Dillon?
Connie teased bad news for the couples in Dillon in season four, which goes into production on Sept. 2. FNL veteran Peter Berg is directing the first episode, which will likely have a time lapse similar to season two. Said Connie, “I bet that they will do it from that three-month ending to the beginning of the new school season, which would be September.”
From executive producers Peter Berg (The Kingdom) and Brian Grazer (The Da Vinci Code), the third season of the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning series Friday Night Lights, currently airing on NBC, is coming to DVD on May 19.
Inspired by the best-selling book and theatrical film of the same name, the show features a great ensemble cast led by Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton and provides a heartfelt look at life, love and football in the small West Texas town of Dillon.
All 13 episodes of Season Three of Friday Night Lights will be featured on the four-disc set along with bonus features. Seasons Four and Five (2009-2010 and 2010-2011) will each contain 13 episodes as well, airing on DirecTV in the fall and NBC in spring.
US Release Date: April 28 2009
If you want a poster child for why reality shows replaced traditional sitcoms at the turn of this century, look no further than Spin City. It was a show fueled by predictable jokes preceded by predictable set-ups, complex problems that can always be solved within 20-minutes without fail, story arcs that never last longer than two episodes, and conversations that could never be described as “authentic”. It’s no wonder that it got replaced by shows that where people eat bugs for money.