I, for one, applaud. Having (miraculously) lived through high school sports myself, I find the show continuously ringing true at every level. The unnatural pressures put on high school athletes, the little cultural things surrounding high school sports, the middle aged fans who seem to be living vicariously through the players on the field. No show is better at showing the pressures and oddities of small-town American life like Friday Night Lights.

That said, it can’t go on like this forever. Or can it? NBC agreed to show FNL’s third season after making a deal with DirecTV. The show will be aired first exclusively on DirecTV before being shown later on NBC.

Is this a one time deal that will fall by the wayside before people start talking about season 4 of Friday Night? Or is DirecTV onto something? A loyal fan base will bring in guaranteed viewers every week. While their numbers might not be big enough to attract broadcast networks, offering exclusive cult shows like FNL might be a way for DirecTV to win subscribers away from the competition.

The little show about life in small town America might be at the forefront of something that will change the way people watch TV.

Except by Friday Night Lights. The show is challenging because it’s not neat. I mean that in a good way. The show lets us in on small town Texas; a place that eats and sleeps football. The relationships are complex: a head coach and his supportive (?) wife, a team and their star running back (who seems to be playing for himself more than his field-mates). The hand-held style in which FNL is shot just adds to rawness/realism of the story lines. I find the whole effect brilliant.

The problems with this show? Ratings.

Perhaps NBC is trying to be too true to the name by actually airing the show on Friday night, which is broadcast TV’s graveyard shift. Perhaps the show is a bit too raw, with too many downers. Most people probably have enough reality in their own lives. TV is escapism and FNL isn’t escapist enough.

It seems that the show’s writers (may they come back to work soon) are edging the narrative a little more towards mainstream. Season Two features a murder/death mystery and a heavier dose of romance. But these new angles won’t make-or-break the show. There are enough people in the audience who feel that FNL is an excellent window into small town America.

Unfortunately, it’s ratings are currently flagging, and have been since it first aired. I was somewhat amazed when NBC decided to bring it back for Season 2 and we were thrown straight into some big story lines, perhaps an attempt to bump the shows viewers, but unfortunately this hasn’t happened.

Three changes in time slots and Kevin Reilly (entertainment president at Fox) calling the show a womans show don’t bode well for the show, but there is hope! ESPN is desperate to add more original content to it’s portfolio. Playmakers, it’s early attempt at a scripted drama following the lives of players in a fictional football team, was canceled as a result of pressure from the NFL.

So perhaps Friday Night Lights could be the perfect replacement for Playmakers? The NFL can’t complain about the way it depicts players like it did with Playmakers, because the players aren’t pros and their not really depicted that badly anyway.

I’ll be interested to see how this rumour plays out, hopefully ESPN will give FNL the adrenaline boost it needs