44INAROW
11-10-2006, 09:24 AM
My mom saw this article in the Houston Press and sent to me - it is pretty long....... but I enjoyed reading it........
From houstonpress.com
Originally published by Houston Press 2006-11-09
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lights On or Off?
The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football
By RUTH SAMUELSON
Lights On or Off? The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football
Courtesy Pflugerville High School
In the center are real-life principals Larry Bradley and David Wuest -- surrounded by (left to right) actors Scott Porter, Aimee Teegarden, Jesse Plemons and Taylor Kitsch (#33).
Prep Sports Online
This is a real cheerleader for Pflugerville High School...
Michael Muller
...and actress Minka Kelly playing Lyla Garrity.
Da Capo Press
Friday Night Lights author H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger was fascinated by high school football.
Who / What:
Friday Night Lights
What does it feel like to be under those lights? What does it feel like to have everyone watching you and expecting gold? At Kuempel Stadium outside Austin, dreams are either realized or crushed. This football field usually belongs to Pflugerville High School. But last February, a different team walked onto the grass in the same blue jerseys and helmets glaring under the lights. They had aspirations and expectations, too -- but not the same ones.
The Dillon Panthers are the fictional team on NBC's Friday Night Lights. The actors are from New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and Canada. But when they step onto the field to film their game scenes, they look exactly like their Pflugerville counterparts. Their cheerleaders match Pflugerville's, too. This is not a coincidence; the show's producers use Pflugerville's uniforms and tape Pflugerville's games, splicing in the real footage with shots of the actors doing choreographed plays.
Pflugerville's ninth grade principal, David Wuest, says that the show's actors seem exactly like the kids in his school.
"It's almost like they could pick any high school, walk down the hallways and just fit in."
After producers shot the pilot last February, NBC picked up the show, ordering 13 episodes to run this fall. The first season follows Coach Taylor, played by Kyle Chandler, during his first year as the leader of a high school football team somewhere in West Texas -- but not Odessa. Unlike the 1990 book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. 'Buzz' Bissinger, and the 2004 movie Friday Night Lights, directed by Peter Berg, the television series does not follow the Permian High School Panthers through their 1988 season. The show takes place today. One character has a father in Iraq; another is a Katrina refugee who shops around for a team and eventually settles at Dillon High School. Topics and themes from the original work -- racism, the local oil economy and educational issues -- permeate the show. The series has also retained another crucial element: Peter Berg, who developed the show for TV and remains an executive producer, visiting Austin between other projects.
go to the link for the conclusion......... too long to post............... Friday Night Lights (http://houstonpress.com/Issues/2006-11-09/news/feature2.html)
From houstonpress.com
Originally published by Houston Press 2006-11-09
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lights On or Off?
The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football
By RUTH SAMUELSON
Lights On or Off? The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football
Courtesy Pflugerville High School
In the center are real-life principals Larry Bradley and David Wuest -- surrounded by (left to right) actors Scott Porter, Aimee Teegarden, Jesse Plemons and Taylor Kitsch (#33).
Prep Sports Online
This is a real cheerleader for Pflugerville High School...
Michael Muller
...and actress Minka Kelly playing Lyla Garrity.
Da Capo Press
Friday Night Lights author H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger was fascinated by high school football.
Who / What:
Friday Night Lights
What does it feel like to be under those lights? What does it feel like to have everyone watching you and expecting gold? At Kuempel Stadium outside Austin, dreams are either realized or crushed. This football field usually belongs to Pflugerville High School. But last February, a different team walked onto the grass in the same blue jerseys and helmets glaring under the lights. They had aspirations and expectations, too -- but not the same ones.
The Dillon Panthers are the fictional team on NBC's Friday Night Lights. The actors are from New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and Canada. But when they step onto the field to film their game scenes, they look exactly like their Pflugerville counterparts. Their cheerleaders match Pflugerville's, too. This is not a coincidence; the show's producers use Pflugerville's uniforms and tape Pflugerville's games, splicing in the real footage with shots of the actors doing choreographed plays.
Pflugerville's ninth grade principal, David Wuest, says that the show's actors seem exactly like the kids in his school.
"It's almost like they could pick any high school, walk down the hallways and just fit in."
After producers shot the pilot last February, NBC picked up the show, ordering 13 episodes to run this fall. The first season follows Coach Taylor, played by Kyle Chandler, during his first year as the leader of a high school football team somewhere in West Texas -- but not Odessa. Unlike the 1990 book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by H.G. 'Buzz' Bissinger, and the 2004 movie Friday Night Lights, directed by Peter Berg, the television series does not follow the Permian High School Panthers through their 1988 season. The show takes place today. One character has a father in Iraq; another is a Katrina refugee who shops around for a team and eventually settles at Dillon High School. Topics and themes from the original work -- racism, the local oil economy and educational issues -- permeate the show. The series has also retained another crucial element: Peter Berg, who developed the show for TV and remains an executive producer, visiting Austin between other projects.
go to the link for the conclusion......... too long to post............... Friday Night Lights (http://houstonpress.com/Issues/2006-11-09/news/feature2.html)